An Analysis of the Ethical Challenge Presented by United Airlines

This individual case paper analyzes the ethical challenges presented by United Airlines' involuntary de-boarding policy, specifically focusing on an incident in 2017 where a passenger was forcibly removed from a flight. The paper explores the airline's ethical failures, leadership and followership issues, and the violation of stakeholder interests. It examines the misuse of power and authority by the airline's staff, highlighting the lack of ethical considerations in their actions. The paper also discusses the resolution of the incident, including the Department of Transportation's involvement and the penalties imposed on United Airlines. Furthermore, the paper presents the author's perspective on how the situation could have been handled differently using ethical principles and concludes by emphasizing the importance of business ethics in the contemporary corporate world.

Running head: INDIVIDUAL CASE PAPER
INDIVIDUAL CASE PAPER: AN ANALYSIS OF THE ETHICAL CHALLENGE
PRESENTED BY THE INVOLUNTARY DE-BOARDING SITUATION
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

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Introduction
As stated by Shaw (2016), the contemporary business corporations need to fulfill their
social, environmental and the economic obligations as business corporations and also take into
account the aspects of moral and ethics for the conduct of their business operations. Crane et al.
(2019) are of the viewpoint that the corporations are use the entities of ethics and morals for the
purpose of maximizing the interests of their stakeholders and thereby to conduct their business
operations in an ethical manner. This in turn helps the corporations to create a positive brand
image which in turn helps them to influence the buying behavior of their consumers and thereby
attain the required amount of success or growth (Trevino & Nelson, 2016). However, at the same
time it had been seem that the majority of the corporations do not take into account the concepts
of ethics and morals for the purpose of conducting their business operations which in turn had
adversely affected the interests of their stakeholders (Pearson, 2017). Thus, it becomes important
for the corporations to take into consideration the concepts of ethics and morals for maximizing
the interests of their stakeholders which in turn would enable them to attain long-term growth as
well as sustainability. The purpose of this paper is to undertake an analysis of the ethical practice
followed by United Airline wherein the passengers are forced to board off the airplanes in case
of overload in the particular context of the incident of a man who was brutally assaulted by the
airport guards for protesting against this policy followed by the corporation in 2017.
Background
United Airlines, which had been operational since the year 1931, is one of the largest
airline corporations of the nation of USA which is known for offering high quality of airline
services to its customers (United.com, 2020). The airline corporation presently has around 797

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fleets and has an alliance with Star Alliance which in turn had substantially expanded the range
as well as the quality of the airline services that are being offered by the concerned corporation
(Koval, 2020). The airline corporation under discussion here offers both domestic airline services
in all the states of USA and also international airline services as well in the six continents
(United.com, 2020). More importantly, in terms of its fleet size and also on the basis of the route
that it covers, United Airlines is the third largest airline corporation of the world (Cnn.com,
2020). The revenue earned by the corporation under discussion here for the year 2019 was more
than $43.259 billion and for the same year it offered employment services to more than 96,000
people from the different nations of the world (United.com, 2020). In this relation, it needs to be
said that the high quality airline services as well as the customer management approaches which
are being followed by the corporation had directly contributed towards the success attained by
the concerned corporation over the years. However, at the same time it needs to be said that the
policy of “involuntary passenger de-boarding” followed by it had drawn a substantial amount of
criticism as well as backlash in the recent years especially after the incident in the year 2017
wherein a man was physically assaulted for not willing to board off the airplane after it became
overcrowded.
Ethical Challenge related to involuntary de-boarding of the passengers
In April, 2017, a passenger on United Airlines’ flight from “Chicago's O'Hare
International Airport to Louisville, Ky” was forced to board off the place as per the “involuntary
passenger de-boarding” policy of the concerned corporation (Koval, 2020). Although the man
had made prior reservation yet he was being asked to leave the place and offered compensation
for the same since the plane got overcrowded because some of the cabin crew of the concerned
airline had to travel in the same plane (Cnn.com, 2020). The man protested against this and said

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that he had to be in Louisville however the guards warned all the passengers that if the man does
not board off the plane then the flight might get cancelled. The rest of the passengers watched in
horror as the man was being physically dragged by the guards and some of the passengers even
made videos of the same incident from their cellphones which got viral in the next day
(Nbcnews.com, 2020). In addition to these, after being dragged out the man again forced his way
into the plane and at this point the passengers saw in horror that the man from bleeding from his
face and no medical help or assistance was being offered by the flight attendants to the man
(Chicagotribune.com, 2020). This particular incident raised serious questions regarding the
ethicality of the involuntary de-boarding policy followed by the airline under discussion here and
also the manner in which the concerned corporation dealt with its customers or the stakeholders
who are the major source of its revenue. In this relation, it needs to be said that power, privilege,
responsibility, information management, consistency, and loyalty are some of the most important
attributes which can be used for analyzing the ethicality of a particular situation. In the particular
context of the situation under discussion here, it is seen that the guards completely miss-utilized
their power, privilege, fail to perform their responsibility with loyalty and respect towards the
customer or the stakeholder and also fail to adequate manage information as well. These in turn
have directly contributed towards the ethical challenge under discussion here.
Leadership and Followership issues involved in the case
Chell et al. (2016) are of the viewpoint that as per the stakeholder theory of management
the corporations are required to take the help of the actions which are likely to maximize the
interests of the different stakeholders who are related to them. Adding to this, Werhane (2019)
has noted that this particular theory of management also finds adequate amount of of support
from the utilitarianism theory of ethics which states that the corporations are required to indulge

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in the kind of actions which are likely to cause the maximum amount of good or benefit to the
maximum number of people. Furthermore, the leader of the corporation United Airlines had
power, broader authority, and more responsibility for the overall direction of the workers of the
concerned corporation. On the other hand, the followers are primarily entrusted with the work of
carrying out the orders or the decisions made by the leaders. In addition to these, the leaders are
required to take into perspective the six important moral factors, namely, power, privilege,
responsibility, information management, consistency, and loyalty for the formulation of different
decisions. However, in the particular context of the incident under discussion here it is seen that
the precepts of both of these theories were being violated by the United Airlines which in turn
gave rise to the concerned incidents. In this relation, it needs to be said that the workers of the
concerned corporation and also its leader were guilty in the incident. For instance, the policy of
involuntary de-boarding of the passenger was formulated by the leaders of the corporation under
discussion here without taking into account the interests of its stakeholders and also the six moral
factors. On the other hand, the workers of the corporation had no other choice but to follow the
policy of involuntary de-boarding formulated by the leaders of the corporation however they
should not have resorted to the usage of force. As a matter of fact, it was seen that failure of the
leaders of the corporation to adhere to the concepts of ethics and morals gave rise to the situation
wherein the followers also started to miss-utilize the power or the authority which was vested in
them.
In the particular context of the incident it is seen that there is a clear miss-utilization of
the power as well as the authority which had been given to the guards and the cabin crew of the
airplanes. For instance, the situation of the plane being over-weight arose in the first place
because of the cabin crew who were initially not scheduled to fly in the concerned flight wanted

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to take the same flight (Chicagotribune.com, 2020). Furthermore, rather than politely asking the
man they tried to bully him and when this did not yield any results then they resorted to the
usage of violence and force which in turn resulted in the incident under discussion here
(Cnn.com, 2020). More importantly, the workers of the corporation completely disregarded the
aspect of ethics for dealing with the situation which could have been handled in a better manner
had they taken the help of the concerned concept.
Resolution of the Issue
The incident under discussion here was reviewed by the “Department of Transportation”,
USA in the face of the increasing amount of protest from the public post the launch of the video
captured by the other passengers of the airplane (Koval, 2020). Furthermore, the “Department of
Transportation” found the workers of United Airlines to be at fault and thereby criticized the
concerned corporation for the unethical behavior which was displayed by its workers
(Nbcnews.com, 2020). More importantly, the concerned corporation was asked to pay
compensation to the passenger who was assaulted by the workers corporation and also take care
of the medical expenses. In addition to these, one of the security officers, who was involved in
the incident was suspended and asked to serve community service as well (Chicagotribune.com,
2020). However, at the same time it needs to be said that despite these penalties imposed by the
“Department of Transportation” on United Airlines no stringent measures were being undertaken
for the resolution of the issue under discussion here (Cnn.com, 2020). As a matter of fact, it is
seen that the policy of involuntary de-boarding is still being followed by the concerned
corporation and also the different airline corporations of the world and the passengers had to
undergo similar kinds of incidents almost on a regular basis.

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Things I would have done in the situation
I think that had I been involved in the situation under discussion here I would have acted
in a different manner so as to ensure the fact that the outcomes of the incident are different. For
instance, I would have taken the help of the concept of ethics for the purpose of guiding my
behavior during the entire course of the incident. I would have undertaken a conversation with
the passenger wherein I would have tried to make him realize the gravity of the situation and also
made him realize the fact that it would be completely unethical on his part to not board off the
plane since he would be endangering the safety of the other passengers. Furthermore, by not
boarding off the plane he was delaying the departure of the plane which in turn was causing
serious inconvenience to the other passengers and also throwing off the timings of the other
planes. I am optimistic that by making the passenger realize these aspects I would have been able
to convince him to board off the plane peacefully and thus the situation under discussion here
would not have taken place.
Future Plan
I would like to say at this juncture that this course had been a very informative one for me
and had also helped me to gain insightful knowledge regarding the concept of business ethics
along with the manner in which the business corporations are required to use the same. I think
that the concept of business ethics is important from the perspective of the contemporary
business world since the majority of the corporations are regarding it and thereby taking the help
of the business activities which rather than facilitated the growth of their corporation are
adversely affecting the same. Thus, I am hoping that the knowledge which I have acquired
through this course would help to contribute positively towards the growth of the organization in
which I would work. More importantly, I also intend to utilize the concept of ethics for

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improving my leadership style. For instance, after I start to work in the professional business
world as a leader, I would manage my relations with my followers in an ethical manner and also
resolve the different situations which I am likely to face in an ethical manner by taking into
account the perspective of all the individuals invoked in the case or the incident. In addition to
these, I would also encourage my followers to do the same.
Conclusion
To conclude, business ethics is an important construct that the contemporary corporations
are required to take into account for maintaining an effective relationship with their stakeholders.
However, it had been seen that the majority of the corporations fail to utilize the same which in
turn leads to the dissatisfaction of their stakeholders and thereby adversely affects their
prospects. Thus, it becomes important for the corporations to take into account the framework of
business ethics. These aspects of business ethics become apparent from the above analysis of the
same in the particular context of the incident related to involuntary de-boarding policy that
United Airlines faced in the year 2017.

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References
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ethics: Does social equal ethical?. Journal of business ethics, 133(4), 619-625.
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passenger-dragging-anniversary-20180405-story.html
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from https://edition.cnn.com/2017/04/10/travel/passenger-removed-united-flight-trnd/
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Crane, A., Matten, D., Glozer, S., & Spence, L. (2019). Business ethics: Managing corporate
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Nbcnews.com, (2020). Two officers fired after man is dragged from United flight in April.
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