Lessons From the United Airlines Debacle

United Airlines is in the midst of a major reputational crisis after it decided to forcefully “re-accommodate” a passenger from a sold-out flight on Sunday. Yet judging from a series of informal conversations I had with passengers at United’s Los Angeles terminal and on one of its cross-country flights this week, the airline’s frequent fliers don’t seem to share the sense of outrage that’s ubiquitous on social media. Some of the reasons for this discrepancy speak to important lessons about crisis management and prevention that United, and other companies, should take away from this now-notorious event.1492032517355

Frequent travelers do not appear as shocked as others. They know that airlines fill their planes to the limit almost routinely, betting that some passengers will change their travel plans at the last minute. They know that airlines offer passengers incentives to give up their seats when flights end up oversold or sold out, that sometimes passengers are involuntarily bumped off a flight, and that the airline has a legal right to do so.