This is a white paper I wrote for my Business writing class at the University of Idaho. This white paper taught me how to analyze crisis communication surrounding crisis events.

1. Crisis Communication Analysis
United Airlines Flight 3411
Samantha Rae
April 15, 2018

2. 1
Executive Summary:
On April 9th, 2017 passengers on board United Airlines Flight 3411 were told the flight had been
overbooked and were offered compensation to give up their seats. When no one accepted the
offer United Airlines employees randomly chose four people to get off the aircraft. After he was
randomly chosen, David Dao refused to give up his seat resulting in security officers forcefully
removing him from the plane. Dao was physically injured in the process and the video showing
Dao being drug down the aisle went viral within hours of the incident, sparking outrage across
the country.
This white paper analyzes the crisis communication that followed the United Airlines Flight
3411 crisis event. It is very important to analyze crisis communication events because
companies’ reputations can be seriously damaged if a crisis event is not handled the right way.
To avoid ruining the reputation of a company it is important to communicate effectively to the
public after the crisis has occurred.
The crisis communication surrounding the United Airlines flight 3411 crisis event was broken
into three distinct phases in this paper using Coombs’ situational crisis communication theory.
The three phases are deny, diminish, and repair. Data collected from public comments by readers
following the crisis event was coded inductively using Grounded Theory Methodology.
In the deny phase, United Airlines issued a public statement but did not accept responsibility for
harming Dao. They chose to say they were sorry for having to re-accommodate passengers. The
public was outraged by United’s word choice with many saying if that is how United was going
to treat their customers they would not be flying with them.
In the diminish phase, United Airlines had issued an apology regarding the incident and knew
that they did wrong. During this stage they were trying to make up for their initial response and
make their company look better. The public was still mad at United and many customers posted
photos of their cut up United Airlines cards.
In the repair phase, United Airlines accepted full responsibility of the incident and issued another
apology to the world and to Dao. They reached a settlement in court with Dao and made a list of
ten things they vow their company is going to change. Even though they repaired the crisis with
Dao, the public was still mad at the company and felt that their CEO should be fired.
When dealing with a crisis event it is very important to follow three rules after the crisis has
occurred. The first rule is to focus on word choice when releasing the initial statement following
the crisis. The second rule is to accept responsibility if the company is at fault. The third rule is
to make change after the crisis event. If a company follows these three rules after a crisis event
the public will be more understanding towards the company. Media outlets will not have as much
to report following the crisis and some of the coverage will be positive.

3. 2
Table of Contents
Executive Summary:.........................................................................................................................1
Introduction:....................................................................................................................................3
Summary ......................................................................................................................................3
Purpose.........................................................................................................................................3
Objectives .....................................................................................................................................3
Methods:...........................................................................................................................................3
Results/ Discussion:...........................................................................................................................4
Phase 1: Deny................................................................................................................................4
1. First Statement Issued by CEO Munoz..............................................................................4
2. Immediate Public Response ...............................................................................................4
3. Positive Response Following Crisis.....................................................................................4
4. Passenger on the Flight ......................................................................................................4
Phase 2: Diminish..........................................................................................................................5
1. Second Statement Issued by CEO Munoz..........................................................................5
2. Internal Communication Sent by Munoz...........................................................................5
3. Public Responds to Re-accommodating..............................................................................5
4. Customers Cutting Cards in Response to Crisis.................................................................5
5. Positive Response by Fellow Pilot.......................................................................................6
Phase 3: Repair.............................................................................................................................6
1. Third Statement Issued by CEO Munoz ............................................................................6
2. Dao and United Reach an Agreement ................................................................................6
3. United Airlines Announces 10 Policy Changes ...................................................................6
4. Munoz Declines Planned Promotion...................................................................................6
5. Public Responds to CEO’s Denied Promotion....................................................................7
Public Comments:.........................................................................................................................7
Conclusion:.......................................................................................................................................8
Works Cited:....................................................................................................................................9

4. 3
Introduction:
Summary: On April 9th, 2017 United Airlines flight 3411 was at O’Hare International Airport
in Chicago, Illinois set to fly passengers to Louisville, Kentucky. Before the flight departed the
airport, United Airlines announced the flight was overbooked and offered travel vouchers to
passengers to vacate their seats to make room for four airline employees who needed to travel to
the destination, but no one accepted. Four passengers were selected to involuntarily be removed
from the flight. David Dao, a doctor from Kentucky, was one of those four but refused to leave
the aircraft. That is when police forcibly removed Dao from the plane, bloodying him up in the
process. Video footage of officers dragging Dao of the plane was posted on social media and
within twenty-four hours United Airlines was the talk of the country.
Although Dao and United Airlines did reach a settlement in court on April 27th, 2017, the way
United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz responded to the incident caused a crisis event that damaged
the company reputation in less than a month.
Purpose: This white paper presents the communication surrounding this crisis event and the
findings from analyzing it.
Objectives: The research objectives included investigating the following:
 how CEO Munoz and United Airlines responded to this crisis,
 how the media reported about this crisis,
 how the public responded to this crisis.
Methods:
Communication data was gathered from popular digital sources, popular online social media
sites, and includes excerpts from articles about the incident found in online news sources, as well
as some public comments from readers about the crisis event.
The data was organized according to Coombs’ situational crisis communication theory as
described by Hillary Fussell Sisco in The Acorn Story: an analysis of crisis response strategies in
a non-profit organization.
Phase 1: Deny
Phase 2: Diminish
Phase 3: Repair
The data was coded inductively using Grounded Theory Methodology.

5. 4
Results/ Discussion:
April 9 to April 10, 2017
Phase 1: Deny
The denial stage is when United Airlines is not accepting the blame for the crisis event. They
have not issued an apology at this point in the timeline of events and do not think that they
handled the situation wrong.
1. First Statement Issued by CEO Munoz: Oscar Munoz issued a statement
on April 10 regarding the crisis event incident. In this statement Munoz
apologized for re-accommodating passengers but did not apologize for
injuring a passenger. He went on to explain the company was doing a
review of their own and trying to resolve the situation (Czarnecki). Munoz
accepted that the incident occurred but denied the fact that a passenger was
forcibly removed off the aircraft and had his face split open in the process.
2. Immediate Public Response: Since the video of Dao being drug of the
plane went viral the whole country was waiting to see how United Airlines
would address the situation. The response following the first statement
issued by Munoz was not a pleasant one. Many people stated if that was
how United treats their customers then they would not use that airline ever
again. Others posted that Munoz is not customer friendly and he should get
fired (Twitter). The comments that were posted on Twitter are in the deny
phase because they show how the public responded to Munoz’s denial in his
first statement.
3. Positive Response Following Crisis: Consumer advocate Christopher Elliot
stated that airlines do have broad discretion to remove paying passengers
from planes (Domonoske). He notes that since Dao did not leave his seat
when asked he was being uncooperative. He points out that an airline has
the legal right to remove a passenger from an aircraft at any time
(Domonoske). This is one of the first positive reactions to the United
Airlines crisis event. This statement was released a day after the incident
occurred. This comment is in the deny stage because it shows a positive
public response that occurred right after Munoz issued his first statement.
4. Passengeron the Flight: A personal letter from a passenger on flight 3411
described how they felt about witnessing the situation unfold. They
highlighted that there was a rude ticket agent and that one of the officers
was laughing while they were dragging Dao off the plane (Powell). They
define the incident as traumatizing to those who were so close to the event
(Powell). This is in the deny category because United Airlines never
addressed the actions of the ticket agent or the security officer. In that aspect
they denied the comments made by this passenger.

6. 5
April 11 to April 12, 2017
Phase 2: Diminish
The diminish stage is when United Airlines had issued an apology regarding the incident and
know that they did wrong. During this stage they are trying to make up for their initial response
and make their company look better.
1. Second Statement Issued by CEO Munoz: Oscar Munoz issued a second
statement a day after his initial statement because of the widespread
negative feedback the company received over the first one. In the second
statement Munoz apologizes for what happened, to the customers aboard the
plane, and to Dao for being forcibly removed (Czarnecki). He states that the
company takes full responsibility for the event and that they will make it
right (Czarnecki). Munoz is diminishing the situation by accepting
responsibility and apologizing to everyone on board. At this point United is
trying to make their company look better so they can survive this crisis.
2. Internal Communication Sent by Munoz: Two separate pieces of internal
communication were sent out to United Airlines employees by Munoz
following the incident. The first one contained a summary of the incident
and explained to employees that he stood behind them and felt they did the
right thing, however there were things the company could learn from this
situation (Boston.com). The second one apologized to the employees, to
everyone involved, and contained a specific list of things the company was
going to change in response to the incident (Boston.com). In this situation
Munoz is apologizing deeply to employees and stating the company will
change in an effort to diminish the situation and keep his employees
onboard and happy.
3. Public Responds to Re-accommodating: The public had quite the reaction
to United Airlines word choice of “re-accommodating” Dao. Many took to
public social media platforms to express their outrage. People posted their
own definitions of the word which included “knock a man out and drag him
away” (Hawkins). One man even said the use of re-accommodating in this
situation is like using the word water landing to describe a plane crash
(Hawkins). These comments are in the diminish phase because it shows that
even after Munoz sent out his second statement apologizing to Dao, the
public was still reeling from his choice of words in his first statement.
4. Customers Cutting Cards in Response to Crisis: Only two days after this
crisis event, United Airlines card holders took to social media to post
pictures of them cutting up their United Airlines credit and flyer cards
(Zdanowicz). Clearly United Airlines customers were still very upset over
the crisis event. Many of them also added the comment that they would not
being flying with United again. Although at this point Munoz did offer an
apology, his customers are still upset and are not ready to forgive the airline
for the incident.

7. 6
5. Positive Response by Fellow Pilot: There are not many positive responses
following this event but one such response came from fellow pilot Denny
Kelly. He stated he believed it was the passenger who made the error, and
the United employees did the right thing (Fox). He also noted that just
because you buy a ticket doesn’t mean that you are going to get to travel
(Fox).
April 12 to April 27, 2017
Phase 3: Repair
The repair stage is when United Airlines has issued another apology to the world and to Dao.
They reached a settlement in court with Dao and made a list of ten things they vow their
company is going to change. During this time Munoz has decided to not accept his planned
promotion.
1. Third Statement Issued by CEO Munoz: On April 12, Munoz made his
first television appearance on Good Morning America to issue a third
statement and apology to the world. In the video Munoz talks about how he
feels about the situation. He said the word that comes to mind is ashamed
(Czarnecki). Munoz went on to apologize to Dao, his family, the passengers
on the plane, his employees, and customers around the world (Czarnecki). In
this statement Munoz is full on accepting responsibility, offering an apology
to everyone affected, and is trying to repair his company.
2. Dao and United Reachan Agreement: By April 27th, Dao and United
Airlines reached a settlement in court. The attorney stated that Dao suffered
two lost teeth, a broken nose, and a concussion from the incident (Silva). In
the terms of the settlement the amount that Dao received would remain
undisclosed. Dao’s attorney offered praise to Munoz and said he did the
right thing (Silva). He also applauded United for taking full responsibility of
what happened and not blaming others (Silva). United Airlines repaired the
situation by reaching the agreement with Dao and handling the proceedings
professionally.
3. United Airlines Announces 10 Policy Changes: Following the crisis
United announced 10 policy changes that they made to make sure an
incident like this would never happen again on one of their aircrafts. Some
of the policies include limiting the use of law enforcement and to not require
customers seated on the plane to give up their seat involuntarily unless
safety or security is at risk (Bacardi). These policy changes made by United
highlight the resolution of this crisis event.
4. Munoz Declines Planned Promotion: Although the media reported that
Munoz got denied his planned promotion to board chairman, it was Munoz
himself who declined the position. Munoz asked that his employment
agreement be changed so he would not be made chairman of the board of
directors (Wattles). Munoz did not want the promotion following the
incident, he was trying to repair his reputation by stepping down. The media

8. 7
twisted this story and reported that his employers declined his promotion to
make Munoz look bad following the crisis.
5. Public Responds to CEO’s Denied Promotion: The public was very glad
that Munoz did not get his promotion. However, they thought the company
decided this fact not Munoz himself. Most of the public thought that Munoz
should be fired as well as not get promoted (Yu). This shows that even after
the situation was resolved, the public still feels badly about the Airline and
the CEO. The issue may have been settled in court but after the video went
viral it took the public more than a month to get over the incident.
Public Comments:
The public had a lot to say on social media and in response to news articles about this crisis
event. Figure 1 illustrates how the public responded to the crisis event. The figure was created
using grounded theory methodology. Ten people made comments about United’s choice of the
word re-accommodate, nine people stated they would never fly United again. There were only
two positive comments made, stating the airline did the right thing. Eleven people made
comments saying they were glad CEO Munoz got denied his promotion. Out of the thirty-two
total comments, thirty of them were negative while only two were positive. The public did not
take well to this crisis event.
Figure 1. illustrates the total number of comments made regarding the
incident broken up into four categories. The x axis shows the four categories
and the y axis shows the total number of comments made for each category.
10 comments were made about choosing to use the word re-accommodate, 9
comments stated they person was never flying with United again, 2 comments
stated the airline did the right thing, and 11 comments were made about
Munoz getting denied his planned promotion.

9. 8
Conclusion:
United Airlines suffered a crisis event that made the public look down on their company. Their
first choice of words released in the first statement was not accepted well by the public. United
worked hard to try and diminish and repair the disaster before more harm was done to their
company. The widespread use of social media platforms put United Airlines in the spotlight after
the video of Dao being drug off the aircraft was posted. Although United reached an agreement
with Dao in court in less than a months’ time, it took the public much longer to forgive the
company. This shows that in todays day and age with social media accessible everywhere it is
very important to issue a sincere first statement following a crisis event. If United would have
apologized first off it would have made their company look better in the publics eyes.
When dealing with the aftermath of a crisis event it is very important to keep three rules in mind.
The first rule is to focus on word choice when releasing the initial statement following the crisis.
This is an important rule because the way the first statement is phrased is going to affect how the
public responds to the company following the crisis event. If the first statement issued is sincere
then the public will be more willing to forgive the company.
The second rule is to accept responsibility if the company is at fault. If a company is to blame
after a crisis event it is best to immediately accept responsibility for the situation rather then
trying to deny that the crisis happened. By accepting responsibility, the public will be more
supportive of the company because they did the right thing from the beginning. If the company
denies the crisis when they are at fault the public will become angry and will boycott the
company. Immediately accepting responsibility will also give the media less to report on about
the company following the crisis.
The third rule is to make change after the crisis event. After a crisis event has occurred the
company should focus on ways they can improve so that the crisis does not occur again. The
public will have a better feeling about the company if they know the company took steps to
prevent the crisis from happening again. Making change will also spark good articles written
about the company in the media.
Following these three rules after a crisis event will help a company overcome the crisis without
too much damage. These three rules will also make the public feel better about the company
following the crisis.
Thank you for taking the time to read this white paper that is analyzing the crisis communication
following United Airlines Flight 3411 crisis event. If you need any more information, please
contact me at rae2073@vandals.uidaho.edu or 360-765-3610.

10. 9
Works Cited:
Airlines, United. “United CEO Response to United Express Flight 3411.
Pic.twitter.com/rF5gNIvVd0.” Twitter, Twitter, 10 Apr. 2017,
twitter.com/united/status/851471781827420160?lang=en.
Bacardi, Francesca. “United Airlines Announces 10 Policy Changes.” E! Online, E! News, 27 Apr.
2017, www.eonline.com/news/846487/united-airlines-announces-10-policy-changes-in-
response-to-passenger-removal-incident.
Czarnecki, Sean. “Timeline of a Crisis: United Airlines.” PR Week, 6 June 2017,
www.prweek.com/article/1435619/timeline-crisis-united-airlines.
Domonoske, Camila. “Passenger Forcibly Removed From United Flight, Prompting Outcry.” NPR,
NPR, 10 Apr. 2017, www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/04/10/523275494/passenger-
forcibly-removed-from-united-flight-prompting-outcry.
Fox, Michelle. “United CEO Did Exactly the Right Thing, Former American Airlines CEO
Says.” CNBC, CNBC, 11 Apr. 2017, www.cnbc.com/2017/04/11/united-ceo-did-exactly-the-
right-thing-former-american-airlines-ceo-says.html.
Hawkins, Derek. “'Re-Accommodate'? United Ridiculed for Corporate Speak Response to Passenger
Dragging.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 11 Apr. 2017,
www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/04/11/re-accommodate-united-gets-
lampooned-for-its-awkward-response-to-passenger-dragging/?utm_term=.4b8c08911746.

11. 10
Powell, Jason. “I Was on United Flight 3411. Here's What I Saw.” Chicagotribune.com, Chicago
Tribune, 12 Apr. 2017, www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/letters/ct-united-flight-3411-
man-dragged-witness-20170411-story.html.
“Read United CEO's 3 Statements on Passenger Dragged off Flight.” Boston.com, The
Boston Globe, 11 Apr. 2017, www.boston.com/news/business/2017/04/11/read-united-ceos-3-
statements-on-passenger-dragged-off-flight.
Silva, Daniella. “David Dao and United Airlines Reach 'Amicable' Settlement after Viral Video
Incident.” NBCNews.com, NBC Universal News Group, www.nbcnews.com/storyline/airplane-
mode/david-dao-united-airlines-reach-settlement-after-viral-video-incident-n752051.
Wattles, Jackie. “United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz Won't Be Promoted to
Chairman.” CNNMoney, Cable News Network, 22 Apr. 2017,
money.cnn.com/2017/04/21/news/companies/united-airlines-oscar-munoz-chairman-
board/index.html.
Yu, Roger. “United CEO Munoz Won't Become Board Chairman as Planned.” USA Today, Gannett
Satellite Information Network, 21 Apr. 2017,
www.usatoday.com/story/money/2017/04/21/united-ceo-munoz-wont-become-board-chairman-
planned/100761368/.
Zdanowicz, Christina. “Travelers Are so Angry They're Cutting up Their United Cards.” CNN,
Cable News Network, 12 Apr. 2017, www.cnn.com/2017/04/11/travel/united-customer-outrage-
trnd/index.html.