Yelp users are expressing their frustrations with United Airlines after a video showed its aviation officials forcibly removing and dragging a passenger off an overbooked flight Sunday.
A number of Yelpers have left the airline one-star reviews, some of which urge other flyers to permanently boycott United. “Seeing as how a DOCTOR was forcibly removed errr beaten unconscious from refusing to ‘voluntarily’ give up his seat, due to United Airlines incompetently overbooking their flight, I will NEVER FLY UNITED AGAIN! #BoycottUnited,” Yelp user B M. wrote, with an attached image of the passenger being dragged through the plane’s aisles.
“I am a loyal customer of United and am shocked and outraged at the forced removal of a traveling Doctor your on [sic] aircraft,” Pat E. of Scottsdale, Ariz. wrote. “When I watch that video it’s hard to believe that this is happening in the United States of America. I (or my family) will never fly united again!”
United isn’t just getting bad reviews on Yelp: As of this writing, the United Airlines app had just a one-star rating on the iOS App Store.
“Request a beating feature is awesome,” the title of one App Store review reads, before adding: “This update allows you to request to be thrown off the plane with extreme force. This way, if United doesn’t randomly choose to toss you with brute force you can request it on your own.”
The impact of the controversy doesn’t stop there. On Tuesday, United’s stock dropped $1.4 billion in the wake of the scandal.
“This is an upsetting event to all of us here at United,” United CEO Oscar Munoz said in a statement Monday. “I apologize for having to re-accommodate these customers. Our team is moving with a sense of urgency to work with the authorities and conduct our own detailed review of what happened. We are also reaching out to this passenger to talk directly to him and further address and resolve this situation.”
