(Thanks to United #flight3411 passenger @JayseDavid for the first video below which includes the picture used for this article. Thanks to @kaylyn_davis for sharing the second video, taken by her husband who was on the flight.)
On Sunday, United Airlines needed to get four of its employees from Chicago to Louisville. To do so, they had to boot four people already seated on a flight. A couple went willingly after being "randomly" selected, but one man, a 69-year old man who is reported as either being Chinese or Chinese-American, said he is a doctor and needed to get home to see patients in the morning. The police ripped him out of his seat, bloodied his mouth by banging his face against an arm rest, and dragged him off the plane. He later returned to the plane somehow, dazed and still bloody, saying repeatedly "I have to go home."
It's a PR disaster for United although oddly their stock was up on Monday. The CEO of the company is standing behind the employees in a way which I'm sure some employees appreciate but which will no doubt further public anger. It is reported that one of the three police officers violated protocol and has been suspended.
Here are some of the relevant rules:
https://www.transportation.gov/airconsumer/fly-rights
United CEO's original statement:
And the note from Oscar Munoz, United's CEO, to employees later Monday evening:
(Click on the image of the letter to get a better view.)
Seems like Delta Airlines has a better approach, at least for PR:
Why Delta Air Lines Paid Me $11,000 Not To Fly To Florida This Weekend
Social media is absolutely wrecking United, in some ways that are very funny and in some ways that are just angry.
Meanwhile, the award for the biggest cojones of all goes to former Continental Airlines CEO Gordon Bethune, who called the bloodied passenger "immature." Way to make the folks love the CEO class, Gordon.
Of course there are other ways to get bad publicity, such as a lawsuit alleging that your computer techs are FBI informants searching PCs they're repairing for child pornography and reporting any back to the G-Men.
A few tweets going after United with grim humor: