Crisis Communications
United Airlines and the Moment the Script Failed
April 2017: United dragged Dr. David Dao off Flight 3411 and called it 're-accommodating.' Munoz called Dao 'belligerent.' $1B market cap gone in 48 hours.
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dao
Crisis Communications
How United Airlines Derailed Its Own Reputation: The Three Structural Failures Behind the Dao Crisis
United Airlines' 2017 handling of the Dr. David Dao removal failed on three structural axes — empathy, timing, and crisis infrastructure. The EPR teardown of the textbook case in corporate missteps.
Crisis Communications
How Delta Capitalized on United's 2017 Crisis — Without Naming It
April 2017: United was in crisis after the Dr. Dao removal. Delta executed the canonical competitive comms move — indirect contrast, no direct attack, reinforcement of its own service narrative. The case study in competitive crisis capitalization.
Public Relations
United Airlines: From Team USA to Teaching Case
United Airlines went from Team USA's official airline in 2012 to the textbook brand crisis case taught inside ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity. The EPR master reference — every incident, every lesson, every link.