Despite its claim to “fly the friendly skies”, United Airlines has hit severe turbulence over a decidedly unfriendly incident on the ground. As every social-media user knows, a passenger who refused to get off an overbooked aircraft in Chicago was pulled from his seat and dragged, bleeding, down the aisle.
Disturbing videos have gone viral, and Twitter and Facebook are full of memes about the incident – including a clip from the comedy film Airplane! claiming to be a "United training video" in which a delirious passenger is continually slapped. On the serious side, the incident reminded many of us that airlines often overbook flights and can remove fare-paying customers in this manner.
United, which received bad press last month when it barred two girls for wearing leggings, is one of the American airlines trying to limit the extent to which Gulf carriers can operate in the United States. Perhaps it’s no wonder that a parody United slogan reads: “If we cannot beat our competitors, we beat our customers.”