The relevant article discusses a United Airlines passenger being physically dragged out of an overbooked flight after refusing to leave when he was asked to do so. Since the airline condoned such actions, they have violated business ethics and the Corporate Social Responsibility they have towards their passengers. It is also evident that the airline have also violated many different principles of the UN Global Compact. This essay argues against the unethical practices of the airlines and also critically analyses. The paper also provides the airline with recommendations to avoid such incidents since they have occurred on multiple occasions. It also reviews the ethical responsibilities of the airline and thoroughly discusses them by discussing what the responsibilities of the airline are and why they are responsible to properly comply with those ethics.
Recently, it has become evident that the United Airlines have conducted unethical practices on different occasions. The main unethical practice which is topic of discussion is dragging a passenger out of an overbooked flight since he refused to give up his seat to an employee. Many different media platforms described the situation as being ‘traumatic’ (Cillizza, 2018). This unethical practice goes against the second principle of the UN Global Compact (under the Human Rights section) which states ‘Businesses should make sure they are not complicit in human rights abuses’ (United Nations Global Compact). When passengers purchase their ticket, they are expected to be ensured a seat on the flight and have the right to decline ‘the $400 vouchers to anyone who would give up their seat’ (Victor & Stevens, 2017). The multiple witnesses on the plane evident at the scene, recorded the incident and uploaded it to social media where it went viral especially since the passenger being dragged out was ‘a Doctor trying to get to work’ (Tyler Bridges, 2017). Tyler Bridges was one of the witnesses who uploaded a video and said on a phone interview “It was something the world needed to see”. After the incident went viral on social media, many famous individuals weighed in on the issue providing the public with their personal views on the situation. Jamie King was one of them and stated ‘I will never fly with United again and I know I’m not the only one’ (Furdyk, 2017). One of the main ethical responsibilities that an airline has towards passengers includes guaranteed safety and security, this is one of their main responsibilities because they are paying for this service and deserve to feel a sense of safety when flying and they have clearly violated this business ethic.
Before this incident occurred, United Airlines already had a reputation of not respecting their customers. As stated in the relevant article, ‘two girls were barred from a flight because they were wearing leggings, which the company said violated its dress code’ (Victor & Stevens, 2017). Therefore, they also have a history of violating the second principle of the UN Global Compact which means that they haven’t been implementing many strategies to avoid doing so and tarnishing their brand name and reputation. In regards to the relevant article, it has become evident that the airline has violated more than one principle, including principles one and two. It is clear that they have also violated principle one of the UN Global Compact which is ‘Businesses should support and respect the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights’ (United Nations Global Compact). They have breached this principle by disrespecting their passenger who was ‘wrestled out of his seat and dragged down the aisle by his arms’ (Victor & Stevens 2017). Many passengers on the flight who were witnesses were distraught and in the videos uploaded to social media ‘Passengers can be heard screaming and shouting “Oh my God” and “Look at what you did to him”’ (Lartey, 2017). The level of disrespect is also evident in the following extract from a letter written by one of the witnesses, ‘officers laughing in the midst of the incident’ (Powell, 2017), this portrays one of the employees of the airlines making a mockery out of the disrespect towards a passenger. In regards to business ethics, this airline had the responsibility of treating their passengers with utmost respect and ensure their safety. On this occasion, the airline did not cooperate with their social responsibility as well as their set business ethics. In regards to the police officers who handled the situation, ‘The Chicago Department of Aviation said in a statement on Monday that the incident “was not in accordance with our standard operating procedure”’ (Victor & Stevens, 2017) and shortly after the incident occurred, ‘Chicago’s Inspector General Joseph Ferguson said an officer and an Aviation Security sergeant were fired, a third officer resigned and another received a five-day suspension’ (McCausland, 2017). This department identified the unethical practice conducted by one of their officers and implemented a strategy to properly deal with the situation. Another unethical business practice that occurred on this occasion included the non-compliance with set rules ‘the federal Transportation Department is investigating whether the airline complied with rules regarding overbooking’ (Victor & Stevens 2017) and this also violates the corporate social responsibility theory since it doesn’t promise all passengers seats that they paid for.
‘Companies in all regions and sectors are demonstrating that a commitment to human rights, decent workplace standards, environmental responsibility and the fight against corruption pays off’ (Ban Ki Moon, UN Secretary General). In order for a business to avoid tarnishing their brand name and values in the global market, there are many different recommendations that will aid the airline in avoiding situations such as the aforementioned. One of the main changes that they can make to improve their operations, is to implement a proper selling strategy which sells only as much tickets as the plane can physically hold but introducing this strategy will also mean that passengers will have to confirm their flight beforehand and if they don’t confirm they will lose their seat on the plane and it will ultimately be sold to another passenger. Another method they can implement in regards to seats for employees since ‘Mr. Bridges said, was that the airline was looking for extra seats for some of its employees’ (Victor & Stevens 2017), is reserving spots specifically for employees and not promising them to passengers in order to avoid randomly choosing passengers to force off of a plane and also to avoid not complying with business ethics along with the social responsibility they have towards their passengers. In regards to compliance with Principle 2 of the UN Global Compact, establish and enforce clear passenger safety guidelines which ensure that human rights are not violated and that any violation of human rights laws in association with any workers of the airline wont be tolerated. Also, ‘establishing accessible and appropriate systems to address grievances’ (Australian Human Rights Commission), by integrating this practice any negative results that may have occurred as a result of the business will be solved in order to satisfy the consumer and also the business’s reputation. The final recommendation would be to implement a ‘transnational CSR approach’ (Kippist, 2015) since it strives to balance the need for global consistency and the need for local responsiveness with respect to CSR and ethics. It also relies on the fact that economic needs, political pressures and stakeholder expectations demand that companies respond to global and local issues simultaneously.
In conclusion, as a result of thoroughly analysing the related article, it has become known that United Airlines have indeed conduct unethical business practices and have also violated more than one principle of the UN Global Compact. It is also clear that they have violated the CSR theory as well as business ethics. However, the aforementioned recommendations may assist the business in regaining their reputation and also improving their business operations.
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