A week and a half ago, Southwest Airlines was embroiled in an incident that was uncannily similar to the United Airlines incident just a few months ago in April. And yet, the public reaction could not be any more different. In both instances, a passenger was forcibly and aggressively removed from a flight by security officers in full view of other passengers. While the security officers’ treatment of Dr. David Dao was significantly more violent than that of Dr. Anila Daulatzai, it does not fully explain why the public’s reaction to United was fast and furious while the reaction to Southwest was more tempered and almost blasé.
What an organization says and does in the first hours of a crisis can make all the difference. Southwest defused the situation while United fumbled and added fuel to the fire.[Click on image for the full size infographic]