PHOTO
12 April 2017
‘Fly the friendly skies’ - the famous slogan carried by United Airlines - has been ridiculed by rival Middle Eastern carriers, following a worldwide backlash over the U.S. carrier’s treatment of a passenger who was dragged from his seat to make room for four employees on an overbooked flight.
Dubai's Emirates mocked the slogan in a new video clip titled ‘Fly the friendly skies with a real airline’.
“Those [Gulf] airlines aren’t airlines,” Oscar Munoz, president and CEO of United Airlines was quoted as saying in the clip, referencing comments he made last month.
“Well Mr. Munoz, according to Tripadvisor, the world’s largest travel site, not only we are a real airline…We are the best airline,” the airline added in the short clip.
Royal Jordanian also posted an advertisement on social media to mock the American carrier.
“We are here to keep you #united. Dragging is strictly prohibited” the Jordanian carrier said in a tweet on Tuesday, which has since been retweeted more than 6,000 times.
However, one aviation writer took a dim view of the response from the Jordanian airline: “Wow, trolling other airlines is poor form. Wait till you have your own incident.”
United’s Munoz, who has just won an award as the ‘Communicator of the Year’ from PRWeek news magazine, was initially criticised for not apologising to the doctor who was featured in the clip, which has since gone viral around the world.
"I'm sorry. We will fix this," Munoz said in his latest statement. "I deeply apologize to the customer forcibly removed and to all the customers aboard. No one should ever be mistreated this way."
Shares in United tumbled on Tuesday, with the company ending the day with about $250 million in losses.
The move comes amid an ongoing war of words between American airlines -- including United Airlines, Delta Airlines and Continental -- and Gulf Arab carriers Emirates, Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways. The U.S. carriers have accused their Middle Eastern rivals of receiving around $40 billion in subsidies from their respective governments and using the funds to leverage an unfair advantage into the American market.
The Gulf carriers have strongly refuted the accusations by the American airlines and claim their success in the US market is down to market dynamics and the fact they offer a more superior service to American passengers.
Further reading:
© Express 2017
‘Fly the friendly skies’ - the famous slogan carried by United Airlines - has been ridiculed by rival Middle Eastern carriers, following a worldwide backlash over the U.S. carrier’s treatment of a passenger who was dragged from his seat to make room for four employees on an overbooked flight.
Dubai's Emirates mocked the slogan in a new video clip titled ‘Fly the friendly skies with a real airline’.
“Those [Gulf] airlines aren’t airlines,” Oscar Munoz, president and CEO of United Airlines was quoted as saying in the clip, referencing comments he made last month.
“Well Mr. Munoz, according to Tripadvisor, the world’s largest travel site, not only we are a real airline…We are the best airline,” the airline added in the short clip.
Royal Jordanian also posted an advertisement on social media to mock the American carrier.
“We are here to keep you #united. Dragging is strictly prohibited” the Jordanian carrier said in a tweet on Tuesday, which has since been retweeted more than 6,000 times.
However, one aviation writer took a dim view of the response from the Jordanian airline: “Wow, trolling other airlines is poor form. Wait till you have your own incident.”
United’s Munoz, who has just won an award as the ‘Communicator of the Year’ from PRWeek news magazine, was initially criticised for not apologising to the doctor who was featured in the clip, which has since gone viral around the world.
"I'm sorry. We will fix this," Munoz said in his latest statement. "I deeply apologize to the customer forcibly removed and to all the customers aboard. No one should ever be mistreated this way."
Shares in United tumbled on Tuesday, with the company ending the day with about $250 million in losses.
The move comes amid an ongoing war of words between American airlines -- including United Airlines, Delta Airlines and Continental -- and Gulf Arab carriers Emirates, Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways. The U.S. carriers have accused their Middle Eastern rivals of receiving around $40 billion in subsidies from their respective governments and using the funds to leverage an unfair advantage into the American market.
The Gulf carriers have strongly refuted the accusations by the American airlines and claim their success in the US market is down to market dynamics and the fact they offer a more superior service to American passengers.
Further reading:
- United Airlines faces mounting pressure over hospitalised passenger
- Open Skies pact with UAE's Emirates airline of enormous benefit - Denver Mayor
- Emirates to launch Dubai-Athens-Newark route, despite US protests
- Etihad bookings to US healthy, despite laptop ban
© Express 2017
