Skift Take
United says it does not yet know if business was hurt by last week's bumping drama in Chicago. It's possible that the airline lost some customers on the margins, but United will be fine long-term. If the price is right, passengers will be back.
Since United Airlines called Chicago O'Hare airport security officers last week to remove a passenger from one of its flights, leading to a violent altercation that was caught on video, the hashtag #BoycottUnitedAirlines has been trending on social media.
But speaking Tuesday on United's first quarter earnings call, executives said they do not know whether the April 10 incident — perhaps one of the worst public relations debacles in U.S. airline history — has had a measurable effect on advanced bookings. So far, United President Scott Kirby said, the airline has not changed its forecasts.
"It's really too early for us to tell anything about bookings," Kirby said. "In particular, for last week, because it was the week before Easter. That's normally a very low booking period. We just don't have any quantifiable data."
Asked specifically about bookings from China — the video went viral on Chinese social media site Weibo — Kirby said United does have enough data. United is by far the largest U.S. airline in China, though analyst Hunter Keay of Wolfe Research said ticket sales from Chinese customers probably represent only three percent of United's overall revenue.
"It's a small numbers problem," Kirby said. "There's a lot of vol
