Apology after shares nosedive - Airlines boss issues ‘mea culpa’

WHAT did it take for Oscar Munoz, the boss of United Airlines in America, to finally offer an apology to the passenger dragged violently off a plane that his airline had overbooked?

Sympathy for the victim? Anger at the brutality of the security officers? Recognition that use of such force was simply wrong? None of the above.

Fears that such excessive use of force would frighten other passengers? No, but you’re getting warmer.

A sudden drop in the airline’s share price, making his own position vulnerable? Absolutely.

When money talks, it usually says ‘goodbye’. That is something that Chinese consumers – more than most – seem to recognise. The fact that the man in question was a Vietnamese American did not stop tens of thousands of Chinese customers cancelling flights with United while millions globally took to social media to express their disgust. Within a day, United’s share value had plunged by $255 million, spooking investors and forcing Munoz to change tack. Immediately after the incident he had defended the action, describing the passenger as “disruptive and belligerent”.

When shares nosedived, he issued a mea culpa, although using the euphemism ‘re-accommodate’ to describe the airline’s practice of forcing passengers off an overbooked flight.

The response by Chinese consumers to the sight of an Asian passenger being so brutally treated is a lesson to us all.