Service Failures at United Airlines (UA) Flight 3411
Note: Assignments are subject to change during this course by the professor
Case Study: HBR Case Study: David Dao on United Airlines
Grade: This assignment is 70% of your final grade.
Canvas Attempts: You will have 2 attempts to submit this assignment in Canvas. The most recent submission will be graded.
Deliverable: Use Microsoft Word only. Pages will not be accepted. 3 pages maximum. This paper is single-spaced using 11-point font Ariel ONLY. Do not use any other font.
Case Study Prep: To prepare for this assignment, read the questions below and then skim the case once to get an overview. Afterward, re-read the case more carefully for details so you can answer the questions completely.
The purpose of the case is to understand the critical issues while eliminating any extraneous details. Like real business situations, the cases give you more information than you need. You need to understand what information is relevant for a given context.
Make sure you are not using any outside material to help you with this case. Use only the facts given in this case and what you understand from class readings and discussion. Do not surf the web for outside answers, look at other sources, or share your work/collaborate with other students in the course. This is an independent assignment and as the honor code applies suspected similarity in work will be referred to the Academic Integrity Committee (AIC).
Some of these questions, like in real business situations do not have clear answers but require you to develop a position and argument that can be defended to defend your position. However, there are answers that are better reasoned than other answers.
Make sure that you can FACTUALLY defend your answers using facts from the case.
In a variety of industries, we use quantitative and qualitative proof if available in the case to make a case. Therefore, cite facts from the case to draw conclusions and recommendations. This means you're required to use APA in-text citation and referencing in your submission. Incorrect APA use or a Turn It In similarity score of 15% or higher will be flagged and reviewed for plagiarism by the Academic Integrity Committee (AIC).
Questions
What happened on UA flight 3411 and what were the causes of service failures?
What service expectations do customers have of Airlines such as UA? How did these expectations develop over time?
What steps can UA take to rebuild its tarnished brand image?
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United Airlines Case Study Write-up
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United Airlines (UA) Flight 3411
The events of 9th April 2017 were a significant setback for United Airlines (UA). UA had maintained a good legacy and was among the largest airlines in the world until that date. On that fateful day, a fiasco led to a massive, negative public uproar on social media platforms and mass media. The airline needed to bump four passengers from UA flight 3411 into another flight to create space for four staff members (Puri et al., 2018). According to the crew, this was an emergency. Despite offering the passengers vouchers as compensation for four of them to leave the flight voluntarily, no one was willing. The crew, therefore, resulted to using a computer algorithm that would randomly select four passengers who would have to involuntarily depart and move to the next scheduled flight (Puri et al., 2018). Four passengers were selected and had to leave flight 3411. Though disappointed, three passengers left without struggle and objection, while the fourth refused to alight on the claims that he was a doctor and needed to attend to several patients the following day (Puri, 2018). Therefore, a Chicago department aviation officer forcefully dragged him from the flight undignifiedly, leaving him bruised and injured. According to Puri et al. (2018), the scenario was captured by onlookers and surfaced on social media within twenty-four hours after the incident, causing UA to lose a significant number of its customers and its good reputation. UA’s customers were completely dissatisfied with their operating procedures, stemming from that incident. According to Puri (2018), the company lost $250 million in value within two days after the incident.
There were several causes of service failures. First, forcibly dragging out an innocent passenger in the sight of onlookers was shameful. The fact that the man was even bloodied and bruised made it worse, increasing the heat and wrath of the public. Social platforms blazed with negative comments, condemning the unjust and ruthless act. Just like President Donald Trump suggested, it would have been better if they had increased the rate of compensation before they resulted in using such kind of force and disregard for an innocent passenger (Puri, 2018). Another cause of service failure was the delay of UA’s executives addressing the issue and apologizing. The executive officer apologized the following day after numerous negative posts about the incident surfaced on Twitter. In his statement, he used the term ‘re-accommodate,’ which Twitter users found to be significantly unacceptable and insensitive since how they treated the fourth passenger was nowhere near re-accommodation (Puri, 2018). According to Puri (2018), public relations experts felt that if the executive officer had released an apology promptly, the massive uproar and negative comments about UA would not have been as severe as it was. Further, the executive officer’s statement to the employees acknowledged that they had followed protocol by bumping the passengers and expressed that the fourth one was ‘disruptive’ and ‘belligerent’ (Puri, 2018). Though the statement was meant for internal consumption, it somehow made its way to the public, which made the uproar worse. The company clearly showed no willingness to correct its mistake, and it became dismissive and insensitive to the public. According to a crisis management expert, UA created a problematic situation and mishandled the outcome (Puri et al., 2018). Therefore, their competitors found an excellent opportunity to maximize their advertising and public relations strategies.
Service Expectations
Customers have several service expectations of airlines such as the UA. One of these is the commitment to top-notch customer service and satisfaction. Who would not want a spectacular flight where they are treated respectfully and in warm regard? Good customer service and satisfaction with customer service are expectations of airlines su...