United Airlines has had its fair share of bad publicity over the years but United Breaks Guitars may its most viral.

A Parade of Bad Customer Service

• In 2015, Tahera Ahmad, a Muslim chaplain and director of interfaith engagement at Northwestern University, a Premier frequent-flier customer no less, traveled from Chicago to Washington. Wearing a hijab, she asked the flight attendant for an unopened can of soda. The flight attendant refused the request, stating she could use the can as a weapon. The attendant then handed a nearby gentleman an unopened can of beer. After the overt bigotry, the flight attendant no longer works for United.
• In 2017, Dr. David Dao was removed from a Chicago to Louisville flight after the airline notoriously overbooked. Needing seats for United employees, the airline asked for volunteers to give up their seats but there were no takers. The 69-year-old physician was then asked to leave. When he refused, he was called “disruptive and belligerent” and security guards forcibly removed him. The altercation was so physically aggressive Dao lost two teeth, broke his nose, and suffered a concussion. A lawsuit is underway.
• In 2018, a 10-month-old French bulldog died in an overhead bin on a three-hour flight from Houston to New York. The flight attendant refused to let the owner keep the pet under the seat even though it was in an appropriate carrier. The airline apologized but too little too late. This is not the first time United has endangered animals. According to a U.S. Department of Transportation report, 18 animals died in their care and 13 other animals were injured in 2017.

These cases stand out but can you name United Airlines’ most famous publicity disaster?

United Breaks Guitars

One man dared to take on the airline giant.

In 2008, Dave Carroll was traveling from Halifax to Omaha with a layover in Chicago. During that layover, a fellow passenger looked out the window and called out when she saw a guitar thrown haphazardly on the tarmac. A musician, Carroll knew his precious instrument, a $3,500 Taylor guitar, was the victim.

Traveling with an instrument is not easy. Not until 2014 did the Department of Transportation actually require U.S. airlines accept musical instruments as carry-ons for commercial passenger flights. The usual carry-on size constraints apply, but at least this is progress for musicians who rely on these instruments for their livelihood.

After a year of toiling with an airline that refused to compensate him for their mistake, Carroll took matters into his own hands and made a video that went viral in June 2009. Within a week United Breaks Guitars had more than 3 million views and became a number one hit song on iTunes. Today, the video has more than 18.1 million views.

United, you broke my Taylor guitar
United, some big help you are
You broke it, you should fix it
You’re liable, just admit it
I should have flown with someone else or gone by car
‘Cuz United breaks guitars

Within 4 weeks of the video’s release, United Airlines stock plummeted by 10%. That’s a loss of $180 million dollars. Needless to say, Carroll finally got the airline’s attention.

David and Goliath

United did what capitalist Goliaths do. They tried to buy their way out of a publicity nightmare and sweep everything under the rug. They failed miserably.

Let’s not forget that United had over a year to do the right thing but they did not respond until they lost money on the deal. They responded by tweeting their support for the musician, offering $1,200 to replace the guitar and $1,200 in flight vouchers. Even then, they did not offer the full value of the guitar. Thankfully, Taylor Guitars stepped up and gave him a new one.

True to his principles, Carroll declined United’s offer. Instead, he asked that the airline compensate someone with a similar issue. United could not even comply with that simple request. In their alleged “gesture of goodwill”, they donated $3,000 to the Thelonius Monk Institue of Jazz. Wouldn’t you know, several United executives chaired the Insititute at the time. Not only that but the Institute used United exclusively for corporate travel. In the end, United put that money back into its own pockets.

Dave Carroll dod not get United to pay up in full but he did get his voice heard in a big way, so big that United Breaks Guitars is now a case study taught in Harvard Business School. All of our voices can be heard if we stand tall for our principles and fight against injustice. Even in little ways, we can make a difference.