United Airlines PR Dept Had a Rough Week
We all know that sometimes when it rains, it pours. United Airlines had the pour last week with a string of events that had to cause some gray hairs in their public relations department.
It began last week with this event about leaving a dog out in the rain. Then they tanked even further after a family alleged that United humiliated them and their special needs child. But wait, there’s more. Before the week ended, United also had to deal with upsetting a monk trying to visit his sick mother.
Like all airlines, United has had some customer relations issues but I can’t recall any one week where there were so many high profile instances. Maybe as the carrier continues to work on saving the $2 billion that CEO Jeff Spisek said is necessary, they could set aside just a few additional dollars for customer service. Either that or they will have to dramatically increase their budget for the PR department that has to work overtime to quell these outbreaks.
Or maybe, just maybe, try to do a good job, you know, like not humiliating people or mistreating non-human animals instead of trying to hide their lack of customer service from the public eye behind a big pile of PR money.
Jeff is spending the 2 billion on is corporate friends through share buybacks, rather than investing in the company product and staff. Here we see the fruits of labors.
It would appear the egg isn’t on the airline’s face as it relates to the special needs child. Many posts are pointing out the parents tried to pull a fast one, purchasing F class tickets for themselves and a Y ticket for the child, which they never intended to use. There were pics on their facebook showing the daughter sitting in a car seat unassisted just fine, so they could have all sat in Y and used her car seat.
with every singe United flight I was on in 2014 being late… can it be long before the declare bankruptcy again?
As a UA 1k, I flew United quite a bit last year. Yes, some flights were delayed for one reason or another — sometimes only minutes, other times for hours — but despite this, it is doubtful that they will declare bankruptcy anytime in the reasonable future. The carrier still has internal issues but unlike only a year ago, they are quite profitable now. I believe they still lag their competition (AA/DL) as they squeeze more resources but they will eventually get through this, much to the benefit of the flying public.