Videos of a passenger being forcibly dragged from a United

Videos of a passenger being forcibly dragged from a United Airlines flight sent the public’s faith in the airline into a nosedive. The airline CEO’s apology statement lacked substance and sincerity and failed to address the underlying issues of bumping passengers off flights. Some PR experts said the airline decided not to offer an apology due to fears of a potential lawsuit – a mistaken strategy.

Compounding the problem, CEO Oscar Munoz described the passenger as “disruptive and belligerent” in a message to employees. He also said employees “followed established procedures for dealing with situations like this.” Assuming that the internal letter would remain private was another mistake.

According to a survey of 500 consumers, 68 percent of survey participants said they would buy tickets from United before the incident. The percentage dropped to 42 percent immediately after the crisis, then rebounded to 52 percent seven months later. Almost a third said they lost a sense of safety and trust in United Airlines immediately after its PR crisis.

1- What was wrong with the company apology?

2- How did it affect the company’s reputation?

3- which primary form of public relations research did the company used and how?