United Airlines PR Crisis Analysis

This assignment requires you to analyze the public relations crisis that United Airlines faced in 2017 following an incident where a passenger was forcibly removed from an overbooked flight. The analysis should encompass ethical considerations related to the airline's actions, examine their communication strategies during the crisis, and assess the long-term impact on the brand's reputation. You are expected to draw upon relevant theories and concepts from public relations literature to support your arguments.

Running head: PUBLIC RELATIONS THEORY AND PRACTICES
Public relations theory and practices
Name of the University
Name of the student
Authors note

1PUBLIC RELATIONS THEORY AND PRACTICES
Executive summary:
The report is prepared to develop an understanding of the public relation theory and its
applicability in dealing with crisis. Organization selected for analyzing the public relations error
is United Airlines that has indulged in many controversies. Report demonstrates the discussion
of public relation model that is presently employed by organization in addition to
recommended model. Strategies for improving public relation at United Airline has been
discussed and methods for improving relations with customers is demonstrated. Later part of
report provides with the recommendation to improve the public relation and to avoid such
controversies.

2PUBLIC RELATIONS THEORY AND PRACTICES
Table of Contents
Introduction:.................................................................................................................................. 4
Discussion:..................................................................................................................................... 5
Public relations errors of United Airline:.......................................................................................5
Some of the public relationship theory that is employed by organization:...................................7
Recommended model:.................................................................................................................. 9
Public relations strategy for United Airlines:...............................................................................10
Methods of improving public relations in Airlines:......................................................................11
Recommendation:....................................................................................................................... 12
Conclusion:.................................................................................................................................. 13
References list:............................................................................................................................ 14

3PUBLIC RELATIONS THEORY AND PRACTICES

4PUBLIC RELATIONS THEORY AND PRACTICES
Introduction:
Public relations is the strategic communication process that assist organizations is
building mutually beneficial relationships between public and organizations. Public relations is
the way organizations manage their relationships with public and communicates with public
and media. There exist different organizational contexts in which public relationship is
practiced through their management and communication planning. A guiding theory is
required by practitioners of public relation theory for effectively managing relationship with
internal and external stakeholders (Black, 2013).
Report is prepared to demonstrate the public relations controversy for United Airlines
that dragged and removed one of its passenger Dr. David Dao from Flight 3411, from the
overbooked flight who was awaiting departure from Chicago to Louisville. United airlines is the
third largest airlines that is headquartered in Chicago. It is certainly possible for Airline
Company to have overbooked flight that results mainly from large part to the action of
customer advocates. In event of passengers, involuntarily denying boarding or removing from
seats should not be treated the way doctor has been treated (Guth & Marsh, 2016). In
reference to this particular incident, discussion part incorporates several public relations
theories, how the organizations should adhere to it for maintaining mutual relationship with
public.

5PUBLIC RELATIONS THEORY AND PRACTICES
Discussion:
United airlines violent passenger incident about removal of one of its passenger who
was left bruised and bloodied. Incident took place when volunteers was asked to give up their
seats on Louisville. Airline was willing to compensate any passengers who are voluntarily giving
up their seats. As per the contract of carriage, in event of overbooked flight, United airline
enjoys freedom to deny ticketed passengers to travel. This happens from an agreement when
all customers assent to booking. Furthermore, organization also hold the rights to remove
passenger from flights in the event when they are interfering or complying with duties of
member of flight crew. This particular incident is backed by another public relation controversy
that has questioned the public relation department of United Airline. Previous controversy has
ridiculed their slogan of “Fly the friendly skies” by refusing two teenage girls wearing leggings to
board (theguardian.com, 2017). Public have slammed the airline online for facing such
controversies. In light of such public relation controversies and crisis communication, it is
required by organization to critically handle the public relation. It is difficult for public to view
what actually communication strategies of organization is hoping to achieve and whether they
have been able to make it at all. United Airline have been casually disregarding their customers
and their negligence is leading to stress an opportunity for their competitors to step in airline
market.

6PUBLIC RELATIONS THEORY AND PRACTICES
Public relations errors of United Airline:
Public relation errors in United Airlines kept mounting as depicted from several
incidents of public controversy. Fiasco of public relation at United Airline began with a viral
video of dragging of one of its passenger and this has mounted a drop in market value and
further the reputation of brand. After the incident took place, CEO of airlines presented a
poorly executed statement. As per the standard practice, it was required by CEO to explain
publicly to sufferers of the reparation they would be offered. Seriousness as portrayed in the
viral video or the incident of dragging from the seat was not adequately matching the apology
of CEO. In his statement of apology, CEO regarded passenger as confrontational and disruptive
and he contradicted his own statement in the next statement provided, he mentioned his
deepest apology. Public read into every word in such delicate issues of management
(edition.cnn.com, 2017).
It has been perceived by public that organization is not serious about consequence of
mistreating customers. However, concerning the incident, it was mentioned by CEO that to
remove a booked, paid and seated passengers would not use law enforcement by organization.
As seeing and reviewing several articles presented on the incident of public controversy of
united airlines, it was depicted that there were no appropriate response of CEO relating to the
incidents. The appropriate response and the one sought by public was posted too late that has
further damaged the reputation of organization. United airlines made huge and serious public
relation errors and there were no adequate apology on their part. From the perspective of
customer service, organization has not been promptly acknowledging the failing of airlines as

7PUBLIC RELATIONS THEORY AND PRACTICES
such failure was breathtakingly bad. Organization having good crisis management practice
would have promptly and seriously addressed such public relation error (cnbc.com, 2017).
Removing a payable customer from seats by dragging is considered as social injustice of
the situation. Management of crisis is considered both ways, on one hand, it involves
perception of public and on other hand, and it is related with operational issues. All the
incidents of public relations have imparted some learnings for United Airlines. People and
customers should be first priority of airline as it is a service organization and the effect of
potential crisis can be defused by sympathetic and emphatic communication.
One of the plain sight in this case is use of terrible language in media statement as
magnified by leadership and their irresponsibility depicted that they are not in touch with the
issue. Opinion of public cannot be shaped by releasing public relations as the social media has
the potential of exponentially augmenting any crisis. Seat overbooking is an issue of standard
operational practice does not mean that such incident would be tolerated in public and is
considered as right in court of public opinion.
Some of the public relationship theory that is employed by organization:
System theory- This theory provides a framework for managing for viewing organization
and their relationship with environment. It is one of the guiding theories for public relation
practice and theories. This depicts how an organization manage and understand its relationship
with public and stakeholders who make up their environment. A boundary exist that separates
environment from its organization is to be spanned and boundary is required to be monitored
on the ongoing basis while keeping one foot outside and one foot inside the organization. As

8PUBLIC RELATIONS THEORY AND PRACTICES
the organizations plan their strategies and goals, the important factor that is considered by
organization is knowledge of behavior and key attitude of public (Johnston, 2014). It has been
envisaged that public relations managers of United Airline are actively engaged in
communication with public. However, due to sustained media interests and the ongoing
incident is testing their strategic intent. On 11th, April, 2017, one of the event relating to
managing publics involved publicity for managing unexpected and certainly unplanned media
and public interest in flight being overbooked and rescheduling of flights. An analytical function
is undertaken by organization considering the value and source of information gained that is
regarded as relevant for short-term plans so that they are able to act promptly in future and
influence their long-term plan for managing their relations with public (nytimes.com, 2017). As
an organization is always faced with arising of conflicting positions and it is not easy for them
straddle the edges.
Publicity model/ Press agentry- Publicity model was the earliest model to be developed
that involves diversion of public attention using some systematic effort. It involves a one-way
communication where the work of organization is focused on propaganda and publicity. An
organization practicing this particular model employ any possible way to seek attention of their
organization. Goal of organization is communicated to target audience through use of
distorted, half-true and incomplete information. The application of this model is done by
organization that strives for favorable publicity in mass media in their communication
programs. For controlling, dominating the environment and to achieve their own ends,
organization relies on mass media. They monitor the media seeking to place favorable articles
and they do not place attention to the credibility and truth of news.

9PUBLIC RELATIONS THEORY AND PRACTICES
Public information model- Organization using on this model relies on in hose journalists
to distribute relatively objective information using controlled information such as brochures,
newspaper and news latter and mass media. Journalist does not volunteer negative
information. Organization issuing this model is limited readership studies and readability
analyses. A top down approach to communication is related to this particular model of public
relation where agent creates a message and information’s are send to publics while they do not
seek any feedback. Dissemination of information is the main role of communication in this
particular model (Van Wart, 2014).
Recommended model:
Two-way symmetric model- Organizations practicing excellent working relation mainly
adopt this model and it argues that public relation practiced by organization is effective and
excellent. Effects of any incident impact public are managed in both ways as both public and
organizations are involved in finding way to get change for each other accommodation. It
makes greater emphasis on the use of negotiation and dialogue between public and
organization. Promoting mutual understanding, seeking a balanced purpose and management
of conflict between public and organization making alterations in both entities is the objective
of this model. Application of this model might enable persuasion of public to organization to
change their attitude and behavior change the behavior and attitude of people (Macnamara,
2016). It is required by organization such as United Airline understand the root cause of
ongoing contention and the issues affecting public.

10PUBLIC RELATIONS THEORY AND PRACTICES
Two-way asymmetric model- This particular model involves two-way communication
and describes the effect of communication to receiver from source and back to source. It helps
organization employing this model in retaining their position in the society and is effective in
serving the interest of public. Views of public inside the organization is advocated by the
application of this model by communicating management about the facts accepted by public.
Model does not depicts how organization should change for pleasing public resulting from any
confrontation (Toth, 2013).
Public relations strategy for United Airlines:
At any level, public relation strategy directs the way in which organization is exchanging
information with public for creating a win-win scenario. An organization is required recognize
the importance of strategy of public relations intends to achieve the success of organization.
Since, airline is a service company and for them public relation strategy is incorporated in their
corporate strategy. Operations consideration must be included in the strategy decisions. United
airline needs to develop an effective public relating strategy for effectively managing such
controversies and avoiding them in near future (Parsons, 2016). They needs to evaluate public
opinion by using an array of techniques such as opinion polling, direct mail, social events,
speaking arrangements and media relations.
Staffs should be made an integral part of the process of public relation- Role played by
employees and staff members in any organization should be well acquainted. Putting staff on
front lines would help in internal promotion of brand and they should be able to realize the
importance of their part in promoting the company. An instant spiral into the public relation

11PUBLIC RELATIONS THEORY AND PRACTICES
crisis of airline companies arises from the frustration of travelers that would have a damaging
impact on their business (Jain et al., 2014).
Employing communication strategy- Communication strategy of United Airlines should
be horizontally linked to other part of organization and it should vertically linked to customers.
It helps in designing of effective proves of business communication. An integral part of planning
of organization is crisis communication and they are regarded as authentic communication
channel. Principles of strategic communication process should be created that helps in
providing framework for addressing communication issues and are aligned with mission and
vision statement of organization (Stacks & Salwen, 2014).
Methods of improving public relations in Airlines:
It the current situation, United Airline is required to implement the methods that should
aim at improving the relations with customer for maintaining their loyalty and trust. Recent
incidents have embarked outrages among customers and it is of utmost importance to address
the ongoing threats faced by United Airlines.
High quality of service would help in ensuring and simultaneously creating good public
relations. Poor service delivery and mistreating with customers will not be compensated by any
amounts of cheers and propaganda.
Listening to customers- The need of key customers regarding communication and
products should be identified. Their needs should be addressed without mistreating.

12PUBLIC RELATIONS THEORY AND PRACTICES
Be creative- Customers in airline industry is rewarded on their multiple purchases and it
is required by United Airline to be creative in delighting customers and surprising them. They
are required to offer unexpected amenities and rewards, running sweepstakes for
accommodation and remembering customer’s birthdays.
Keeping the customers in the loop- Travel plans are endangered to some unexpected
changes, although such changes are not entertained. For any changes to the itinerary of the
airline companies, they must be prepared for keeping customers in the loop. Real time data
instrumentation must be enabled for communicating with customers in event of any changes
based on events.
Treating customers as King- During travel window, needs of customers should be
supported and recognized. The most important time for consumers is real or actual travel
consumption. Airline Company has the opportunities to impress their customers by providing
customers support and excellent services.
Recommendation:
In light of the above discussed issue of public relations of United airline, it is essential for
organization to adopt the model of public relation, making a significant change in their current
associated department. The issue of removing passenger from flight has not been addressed in
a proper and adequate way, as the communication strategy is not efficient enough to resolve
such issues. The appropriate model to be adopted by organization in current situation is two
was metric model that will help in addressing the conflicts with the passengers or customers.
Airline is required to bring change in their public relations department by enabling them to take

13PUBLIC RELATIONS THEORY AND PRACTICES
responsibility to communicate the matter to public and rebuilding it so that they are able to
effectively address crisis management. They need to develop public relations strategy by
aligning it with their corporate strategy to establish a mutual beneficial relationship between
organization and public.
Conclusion:
From the above analysis and discussion of the case of public relation, it was ascertained
that public relation controversy was attributable to organization’s behavior. The most widely
used model by organization is public information model and it is required by organization to
employ tow way model. They did not promptly addresses such conflict and did not provide with
adequate apology in their statements. Organization does not make the implementation of
appropriate public relation model. Employing two way symmetrical is appropriate in creating
transparency and setting up the strategies and plan for dealing with public. Therefore, united
Airlines needs to incorporate appropriate model and public relation strategy development for
dealing with public relation controversies and addressing them in a way to regain their trust
and loyalty.

14PUBLIC RELATIONS THEORY AND PRACTICES
References list:
Black, S. (2013). Practice of public relations. Routledge.
Euan McKirdy, C. (2017). United Airlines incident: David Dao swung fists violently, officers'
reports say. CNN. Retrieved 7 October 2017, from
http://edition.cnn.com/2017/04/25/us/united-airlines-incident-officers-report/
index.html
Guth, D. W., & Marsh, C. (2016). Public relations: A values-driven approach. Pearson.
Jain, R., De Moya, M., & Molleda, J. C. (2014). State of international public relations research:
Narrowing the knowledge gap about the practice across borders. Public Relations
Review, 40(3), 595-597.
Johnston, K. A. (2014). Public relations and engagement: Theoretical imperatives of a
multidimensional concept. Journal of Public Relations Research, 26(5), 381-383.
Macnamara, J. (2016). Organizational listening: Addressing a major gap in public relations
theory and practice. Journal of Public Relations Research, 28(3-4), 146-169.

15PUBLIC RELATIONS THEORY AND PRACTICES
Maheshwari, J. (2017). United Grapples With PR Crisis Over Videos of Man Being Dragged Off
Plane. Nytimes.com. Retrieved 7 October 2017, from
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/11/business/united-airline-passenger-overbooked-
flights.html
Parsons, P. J. (2016). Ethics in public relations: A guide to best practice. Kogan Page Publishers.
Pizam, A. (2017). The practice of overbooking: Lessons learned from United Airlines flight 3411.
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and research. Routledge.
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building. Public Relations Journal, 7(4), 1-17.
Thomas, L. (2017). Video surfaces of man being dragged from overbooked United flight. CNBC.
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man-being-dragged-from-overbooked-united-flight.html
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systems perspectives. Rhetorical and critical approaches to public relations, 3-15.
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apologizes-dragging-kentucky-doctor-flight-n745161

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