Crisis and Image Repair at United Airlines: Fly the Unfriendly Skies
In April 2017, United Airlines had a passenger removed from one of its airplanes. Video of the bleeding man being dragged off through the aisle went viral the next day. United’s initial response attempted to downplay this offensive act (relying primarily on differentiation and mortification, but not...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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The Netherlands Press
2018-03-01
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| Series: | Journal of International Crisis and Risk Communication Research |
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| Online Access: | https://stars.library.ucf.edu/jicrcr/vol1/iss1/2 |
| _version_ | 1797721961795682304 |
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| author | William Benoit |
| author_facet | William Benoit |
| author_sort | William Benoit |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In April 2017, United Airlines had a passenger removed from one of its airplanes. Video of the bleeding man being dragged off through the aisle went viral the next day. United’s initial response attempted to downplay this offensive act (relying primarily on differentiation and mortification, but not really apologizing for this offensive act). This stance provoked outrage and ridicule. This study applies image repair theory (Benoit, 2015) to the discourse in this case study. United’s CEO, Oscar Munoz, was forced to offer a “do-over,” stressing mortification and corrective action that were actually directed to the offensive act. United finally arrived at the proper response, but it came too late to realize its full potential. This essay argues that corrective action can be an important strategy in crisis communication theory; it also explains that social media have changed the crisis situation (with nearly instant and widespread criticism) and compressed the time in which those accused of wrongdoing can respond. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T09:41:39Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-01fe9eb4c9c94749b4e973568cec8186 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2576-0017 2576-0025 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T09:41:39Z |
| publishDate | 2018-03-01 |
| publisher | The Netherlands Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of International Crisis and Risk Communication Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-01fe9eb4c9c94749b4e973568cec81862023-09-02T13:11:27ZengThe Netherlands PressJournal of International Crisis and Risk Communication Research2576-00172576-00252018-03-01111126https://doi.org/10.30658/jicrcr.1.1.2Crisis and Image Repair at United Airlines: Fly the Unfriendly SkiesWilliam Benoit0University of Alabama-BirminghamIn April 2017, United Airlines had a passenger removed from one of its airplanes. Video of the bleeding man being dragged off through the aisle went viral the next day. United’s initial response attempted to downplay this offensive act (relying primarily on differentiation and mortification, but not really apologizing for this offensive act). This stance provoked outrage and ridicule. This study applies image repair theory (Benoit, 2015) to the discourse in this case study. United’s CEO, Oscar Munoz, was forced to offer a “do-over,” stressing mortification and corrective action that were actually directed to the offensive act. United finally arrived at the proper response, but it came too late to realize its full potential. This essay argues that corrective action can be an important strategy in crisis communication theory; it also explains that social media have changed the crisis situation (with nearly instant and widespread criticism) and compressed the time in which those accused of wrongdoing can respond.https://stars.library.ucf.edu/jicrcr/vol1/iss1/2image repaircase studyunited airlinessocial mediacorrective action |
| spellingShingle | William Benoit Crisis and Image Repair at United Airlines: Fly the Unfriendly Skies Journal of International Crisis and Risk Communication Research image repair case study united airlines social media corrective action |
| title | Crisis and Image Repair at United Airlines: Fly the Unfriendly Skies |
| title_full | Crisis and Image Repair at United Airlines: Fly the Unfriendly Skies |
| title_fullStr | Crisis and Image Repair at United Airlines: Fly the Unfriendly Skies |
| title_full_unstemmed | Crisis and Image Repair at United Airlines: Fly the Unfriendly Skies |
| title_short | Crisis and Image Repair at United Airlines: Fly the Unfriendly Skies |
| title_sort | crisis and image repair at united airlines fly the unfriendly skies |
| topic | image repair case study united airlines social media corrective action |
| url | https://stars.library.ucf.edu/jicrcr/vol1/iss1/2 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT williambenoit crisisandimagerepairatunitedairlinesflytheunfriendlyskies |