Battling Chaos

Transparency and quick response are key while handling crises, especially in the age of social media.

- Venke Sharma And Hushidar Kharas

On 9th April 2017, officials realised that United Express Flight 3411 from Chicago to Louisville, Kentucky was overbooked. They first asked passengers if any of them would like to volunteer to deboard. Since that did not get the desired response, the airline staff started randomly evicting passengers. One such passenger Dr David Dao resisted. Multiple smartphone videos captured the confrontation between him and the officials. In those videos, it was seen that Dr Dao was literally dragged from the airplane. He was subsequently hospitalised. The videos of the incident went viral globally within minutes. United was trending on social media for all the wrong reasons. Shocked and angry, passengers commented that they will never fly United again. '“If it could happen to Dr Dao, it could happen to any of us,” was the sentiment that resonated around the world. This impacted the company’s stock price, with reports attributing almost $1billion value of stock (4%) being wiped out in a day following the incident.

United’s response to this worsened the situation making it a global PR disaster. They initially issued statements that deflected legal blame, and then resorted to abject apologies that further incensed the public over what was seen as corporate bullying and indifference. Dr Dao filed a suit against United which was subsequently settled out of court for an undisclosed amount.

The incident raises some key questions: how do organisations be prepared to deal with crisis? What does it take to be crisis-ready in today’s social media age?