First it trolled Donald Trump. Then the in-flight electronics ban. Now Royal Jordanian is trolling United Airlines.
The Royal Jordanian social team seems to have a lot of fun. In response to a trending story of United Airlines dragging a passenger off a flight, RJ has posted this on Twitter–
https://twitter.com/RoyalJordanian/status/851526371327311873
Hilarious.
And yet I cannot help but to shake my head. I’ll be discussing the United dragging incident again in at least two posts. The whole nation is talking about it. For all the work United Airlines has done to restore its battered image, this battering of a passenger has made United a laughingstock. As if the leggings incident was not enough.
The sad thing is United is not directly responsible for both incidents. But it sure screwed up the PR in both cases.
Across the internet you can find United at the butt of a myriad of jokes. The Daily Mail provides several examples.
Like this–
United Airlines is pleased to announce new seating on all domestic flights- in addition to United First and Economy Plus we introduce…. pic.twitter.com/KQjPClU2d2
— McNeil (@Reflog_18) April 10, 2017
or this–
Oh my. Things aren't getting better for United. pic.twitter.com/Jj4iYd9kKw
— Mike Gibbs (@Mikeggibbs) April 10, 2017
And another–
Come fly the friendly skies on @united! #united3411 pic.twitter.com/IvAahRth9e
— Brianna Wu (@Spacekatgal) April 10, 2017
You get the picture. And I doubt United can do anything to salvage this other than hope for a short attention span from the public.
CONCLUSION
We get a chuckle at these, but the bottom line is that United finds itself in hot water again…and the heat is being turned up.
To be honest, they should sue their PR agency and/or anyone in their crises management team for gross incompetence. They could have easily acknowledged that they screwed up in the handling of the situation…somehow common sense has become extinct in our culture…just because you have the right to do something doesn’t give you Carte Blanche to do it.
There are things you can do and how you do it that make the difference between a non event and a nightmare…a nightmare that is all United’s doing. Yes, the passenger should have complied with authorities, but United should have continued to up the ante on the compensation…they would have found someone else at some point…now their unwillingness to shell out a few more dollars is going to end up costing them way way more.
United deserves every bit of the negative attention. Glad I bailed out on UAL in 2012!
Not to worry, there will be something new next week! Average attention span is a few seconds lol
I’m already sensing that Oscar Munoz should have “softened” his opinion of what has happened, especially before a thorough investigation has been done (options, actions, witnesses, etc.). Already the press has twisted his thoughts into a very defensive tone. He is right that the employees followed protocol but he should have certainly been adamant about swat team tactics to “take down” a passenger for refusing to give up his seat. At that point there were other escalated options that should have been done (offer more money).
>>> The sad thing is United is not directly responsible for both incidents…
Yes they are. This latest incident rests solely with Oscar Munoz and his indifferent and disconnected management style. Had he set the corporate expectations for United and United contractors like Republic (United Express) for dealing with people – fellow employees, customers, suppliers, etc – this never would have happened. Munoz needs to go. No company should get a pass for treating fellow human beings this way.