I don’t think more than a few minutes pass by before I tune back into the news about what happened to Dr. David Dao on the United Airlines flight out of Chicago O’Hare on Sunday night. I thought about reposting the video, but I’d rather leave up to you to do a basic search instead.
There’s been a void in the joy of travel that I do not believe has been filled for almost two decades.
It’s no secret that AirLinked, my company launched its first airport at Chicago O’Hare and it’s also no secret that I’ve dreamt of partnering with an airline that values the “human connection” of travel way back when family, friends, associates and colleagues could walk you to your gate before you boarded your flight. Remember those days?
I’ve made the most incredible connections while waiting at the airport, and my partner Carlo and I have worked day and night for 15 months to put our product to market, to allow people to experience just that.
…this particular event however, goes way beyond anything having to do with AirLinked.
Since this episode, which myself and millions of other people, especially frequent travelers condemned online, I couldn’t help but think of all the damage a brand could do to itself and yet without logic, fail to do “the right thing” before costing the company almost a billion dollars in lost value in less than 24 hours and surely at least that much more when the fall out clears.
If apologizing legally admits blame than be sure to also weigh the cost of silence.
Accountability is basic business acumen and yet so many heads of companies shun it.
If accountability is not present at the top of an organization it merely gets passed on. More importantly, it sets the stage for a huge liability which can get you in a world of trouble.
Some of you may be thinking that it would make more sense that a small early stage startup like mine should keep its mouth shut and not expose itself to unnecessary attention being that United Airlines has its largest hub out of O’Hare and the largest airline presence there.
After all with a click of a button from United, millions of its travelers, the majority of which fly to and through O’Hare could help us scale enormously.
“If it don’t make cents it don’t make sense.” (unknown)
Yet after seeing the way this man was pulled off the plane, although not by United staff themselves, I could not help but to speak out against how the airline poorly handled something totally avoidable. My intuition tells me that the flight attendant who called the authorities to remove the passenger didn’t care enough to look for other alternatives to solve the issue at hand:
A doctor that had appointments on Monday morning who could not afford to be rebooked on a later flight at 2:30 p.m. the next day refused to give up the seat he paid for after boarding.
Now that to me makes both cents and sense!
When you clean a flight of stairs you always start at the top – and the stairs to this United flight, also started at the top.
And look at the fall out (forget United Airlines for a moment) to Chicago O’Hare as an airport and ecosystem itself.
- Over the last 24 hours thousands of 1 star fuming-filled reviews of the airport disseminated onto social media with travelers directing their anger at the aviation authority at Chicago when in fact it was none of their doing.
- Although thousands of travelers are swearing never to fly United, thousands are also saying they will never connect through Chicago O’Hare again.
- Hundreds of millions of people abroad have received some twisted version of the story being perceived as “racist” or “prejudice” due to Dr. Dao’s national origin. As if tourism in this country hasn’t been hit hard enough already!
- At AirLinked, I have personally received emails from our ORD users asking us to say something and to take a stand.
The largest damage apart from what United did to itself will sadly be to Chicago O’Hare.
Guilty by association almost stings just as bad as guilty for the crime.
In business, we have the unintended responsibility of knowing who our partners do business with and how they do business. For our customers it can be, and in this case is equally as important.
For Chicago O’Hare those same customers that eat, drink, shop, and pay taxes to fly out of their airport, are the very same customers that fly with United Airlines.
Those restaurants, bars, and cafe’s at the United terminal will also feel a squeeze for the unforeseeable future as well.
And yes, perhaps so will AirLinked at O’Hare before we onboard more airports, although I would hope an event like this brings people closer together.
The airport ecosystem is connected just as we are today in what we and our company’s do, who we deal with, and most importantly what we stand for.
When value destruction like this occurs in the ecosystem even if from just one party, we all suffer.
Humanity unlike mother nature can be controlled, but its repercussions in the aftermath of a storm couldn’t be more similar.
What happened on this United flight is beyond the event itself, it lies in how it was handled.
The apology came awefully too late, and this is the precisely the reason why the memory of flight 3411 to Louisville, will be the one United just can’t cancel.
Ramy Ballout
Founder at AirLinked™ (www.airlinked.com). Opportunity at the Airport.