Overbooking Debacle at United Airlines, Inc.

Abstract

On Sunday April 9, 2017, passenger David Dao was forcefully removed from Flight 3411 (from Chicago, IL to Louisville, KY) when he refused to leave at the staff’s request. His departure was required as the flight was overbooked and United Airlines needed to transport four crew members to Kentucky. Video recordings of the incident were shared online, and United was heavily criticized for the way in which they handled the incident. The initial statement released by Chief Executive Officer Oscar Munoz only served to aggravate the public backlash. From an operational perspective, are there aspects of United’s service design that amplified or led to this overbooking debacle? How should Munoz have handled the service failure? What could United do to mitigate the effects of service failures on their flights?

This case was prepared for inclusion in Sage Business Cases primarily as a basis for classroom discussion or self-study, and is not meant to illustrate either effective or ineffective management styles. Nothing herein shall be deemed to be an endorsement of any kind. This case is for scholarly, educational, or personal use only within your university, and cannot be forwarded outside the university or used for other commercial purposes.

2024 Sage Publications, Inc. All Rights Reserved

You are not authorized to view Teaching Notes. Please contact your librarian for instructor access or sign in to your existing instructor profile.
locked icon

Sign in to access this content

Get a 30 day FREE TRIAL

  • Watch videos from a variety of sources bringing classroom topics to life
  • Read modern, diverse business cases
  • Explore hundreds of books and reference titles