After a horrific video surfaced of #United Airlines staff and police officers essentially dragging a man to remove him from his seat – he suffered a Broken Nose and lost two teeth, according to his lawyer – the beleaguered company is still trying to win back Customer Support in one of the airline's most shocking pubic relations fiascos to date.
The embattled airline company gave its most explanative account of the #traumatic event in an effort to win back customer support and confidence by announcing a raft of points and steps that apparently will ensure such an ugly incident will never happen again.
Customers wondered online this past week whether anything can repair the massive dent in the #airline's reputation, as the world watched an established doctor, a man who wanted to go to work the next morning to treat a patient, be treated like an animal. The issue has brought up issues of class and economic inequality, since it is those passengers who buy the cheapest tickets and travel less – essentially they spend less money on travelling – that are more likely to be bumped – and in this case beaten – from the plane.
A raft of new measures
The new steps that #United announced include fresh restrictions on how and when flying clients can be taken off the planes. There were also huge financial rewards announced, sometimes up to $10,000 in airline certificates, for those passengers who voluntarily offer to remove themselves from the plane.
A new report announced
Announcing a new report into the appalling and needlessly incident, United once again apologized for the episode involving #Doctor David Dao, who had a concussion as well as the broken nose and two lost teeth, as his lawyer Thomas Demetrio announced this week. The complications that followed his violent and aggressive ejection from the plane meant that the flight was stranded for many more hours on the tarmac; if the airline had listened to Dr Dao's reasoning and logic and offered more money to another passenger then the flight would have taken off sooner.
But there is nothing logical about the way we fly these days. Technology is meant to have made the whole process of booking and boarding a flight cheaper and easier, but it has in fact made it nastier and more stressful. In the never-ending quest for profits and margin maximization, #American airline companies are becoming cannier and more ruthless, and this is creating suffering and stress for paying customers, who are essentially treated like a nuisance in the quest to raise profit margins.
The seats on #American domestic planes are the closest together than other international domestic planes, and the service has always been seen as second rate to other airlines such as Qantas and Emirates.
The fact that a passenger had his rights violated has put more focus onto the entitlements of passengers. Essentially, as the airlines have sought more and more profits, the infringements of every day consumer's rights have been tampered with. It is a slippery slope, since customers do get cheaper flights than a few decades ago, and with that a new and less glamorous set of circumstances around the act of flying.
#United on Thursday also said it would review and change some of its booking and boarding procedures, but that would happen later this year.
By that time rolls around, many are wondering whether the airline will even bother, such is the lack of confidence in passengers these days.
#United agreed that those paying flyers who have actually climbed onto the plane shouldn't have to ever remove themselves from the flight, unless of course there is an issue of safety or security.
