UAL Has Major PR Problem

Above, a United Airlines Dreamliner at LAX. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

United Airlines security forcibly pulled a Chinese-American passenger from his paid-for seat.

The airline overbooked the flight and the man, who is a doctor who had to get to his destination right away, was dragged screaming from the plane. Other passengers shot videos of the incident.

The incident has caused a major uproar in China.

According to The Japan Times:

BEIJING – China social media users were in an uproar Tuesday over viral footage of a Chinese-American man dragged off an overbooked United Airlines flight, decrying perceived racism and calling for a boycott. 

The videos taken by fellow passengers and posted to Twitter showed the man being forcibly pulled screaming from his seat by three security personnel.

United Airlines has a major public relations problem over this fiasco. The man paid for his ticket and was already seated. Why should he have to give up his seat for someone else?

To read more and see a video of the incident, go here. 

Speaking of videos, Jimmy Kimmel put together this parody United Airlines ad based on this incident: