On April 9th 2017, United Airlines faced a PR crisis when videos of a man being dragged off of a plane went viral.
Doctor dragged unconscious because #UnitedAIRLINES overbooked flight, their apology is worse. via @hasanthehun pic.twitter.com/odWUhorWAk
— The Young Turks (@TheYoungTurks) April 11, 2017
I am flying with United on a 25-hour flight to Thailand… and back to New York in June. Customers have already expressed the concerns that I am feeling about this upcoming trip.
#UnitedAirlines
United: we should just offer more money for volunteers to get off the plane
United to United: knock him out cold pic.twitter.com/M7KxCQlfpx— United Memes🛩 (@UNlTEDAIRLlNES) April 13, 2017
My Dad has to fly United. He’s ready. #unitedAIRLINES pic.twitter.com/sDRiJBuFmT
— Aubrey Kelly (@aub_kelly) April 13, 2017
United has already had a negative reputation with the public but the way they handled the situation on Flight 3411 seems irreparable.
If this is really what you wrote privately, then you are just a trash. #OscarMunoz #UnitedAirlines pic.twitter.com/ezqcIZyALu
— Zhuorui Gao (@Godfrey927) April 11, 2017
A timeline leading up to @united CEO’s apology today. Does this make it all better? Or, is it too little, too late? #UnitedAirlines pic.twitter.com/4yFJaPYKLi
— Joseph La Rue (@Joseph_La_Rue) April 11, 2017
My friends and I booked this flight on March 5th because it was the cheapest rate. A month prior to this occurrence, we could never have imagined that the airline we selected would end up assaulting a man. When watching this video the afternoon after the incident occurred in our COM 427 class, I felt sick as the guards dragged the innocent man out. While majority of the public were disgusted and appalled by this situation, some still pledged loyalty to the airline.
imma need y’all to keep on boycotting #unitedAIRLINES cause all y’all doing is making it cheaper for me to get the hell out of this town pic.twitter.com/LYZJvVG2ey
— erik bonnét (@szzurrp) April 12, 2017
Although United will definitely be doing a 360 on their business model, I don’t think that much will be accomplished before our flight in June. We are seriously considering changing our flight but if not, maybe we will become viral!
This really shows the power of social media. If cellphones and the ability to share video wasn’t around this issue probably wouldn’t have gained as much attention. Social media activism is becoming more and more popular, and I think that it’s starting to impact the real world even more than expected. Just a few years ago posting something on social media that upset you was just complaining now it can actually make a difference.