Editorial: United has work to do to repair image

So you need a video on how not to de-escalate a volatile situation?

Or you want an example of a terrible response to a customer service nightmare? Perhaps you want to highlight the wrong way to complain about an unfair situation?

It's all there in the story of the doctor forcibly removed from a United Airlines plane because he didn't want to give up his seat to make room for an airline employee.

Many have taken issue with the passenger's reaction to being chosen for involuntary removal. Fair enough. Not all people would refuse in that manner. But, in our view, it was a situation terribly handled by security officials who should be trained better to defuse confrontation and corporate employees who had other options to exercise before calling in the muscle.

It's become a PR disaster for United, whose CEO, Oscar Munoz, just last month was honored as Communicator of the Year by PR Weekly.

He didn't help matters through his official statement Monday, apologizing for "having to reaccommodate these customers." Or in the memo to employees blaming the doctor.

The viral videos from other passengers prompted Chicago officials and Illinois congressmen to call for hearings to determine what happened and for changes in procedures.

And Tuesday afternoon, Munoz agreed, albeit belatedly, in a written statement: "I deeply apologize to the customer forcibly removed and to all the customers aboard. No one should ever be mistreated this way. We are going to fix what's broken so this never happens again."

What do they need to fix? When to call police, how to transfer crew members and "how we handle oversold situations," Munoz said.

United has legal authority to overbook flights and deny boarding to passengers. But that should happen prior to boarding. Compensation should be increased until the correct number of volunteers is reached.

In this case, passengers were already on the plane; offers for volunteers reportedly stopped at $800.

The case escalated because United said it needed to get four employees to Louisville to work another flight.

What hasn't been answered and should be: Why did those employees show up after passengers already boarded? And was it possible for United to get that crew to Louisville another way?

Munoz has a lot of work to do to repair United's image.

And so does the Chicago Department of Aviation police, which suspended one of the three officers who boarded the plane. Clearly, they all need more training.