Internet trolls are always on the prowl for the next target of their wrath. This time around, United Airlines has been the subject of incessant trolling from those who did not take lightly the actions of the airline personnel along with some airport security officers. The outrage was made even worse because of how the company, particularly CEO Oscar Munoz, responded to the incident.
On Sunday, a doctor was dragged out of a United Airlines plane after he refused to voluntarily give up his seat in favor of some airline employees. The victim, David Dao, supposedly didn't want to get off the plane because he had patients to check up on the following morning. Missing the flight means his patients would be missing out on some important medical help.
After seeing the video of a bloodied Dao being forcibly moved from the plane, Munoz apologized for overbooking the flight but did not apologize directly to Dao sparking more disbelief from people following the case. Munoz eventually apologized to the passenger but not before more PR damage has been done.
According to Hollywood Weekly, Munoz has reached out to Dao numerous times but did not get any response. The Dao family did express their gratitude for the "prayers, concern and support".
Many of the internet trolls expressed their anger and disbelief over the incident by poking fun at United Airlines and Munoz. A number of memes have already surfaced roasting the beleaguered company. One tweet showed Negan of "The Walking Dead" standing between the aisles with his bat in hand. The tweet was captioned "Attention United Airlines passengers, meet your new flight attendant Lucille".
CNN reported that even rival airlines are trolling United Airlines. The Royal Jordanian even tweeted a meme with a caption "We are here to keep you #united. Dragging is strictly prohibited". Qatar Airways also threw a jab at United with its tweet which said, "We're united in our goal to always accommodate our passengers, even with our app updates." The app update said, "Doesn't support drag and drop".
Emirates, meanwhile, posted a video which started off answering Munoz's pronouncement that gulf airlines are not real airlines by saying, "Well Mr. Munoz, according to Tripadvisor, the world's largest travel site, not only are we a real airline... we are the best airline." The video finished off by throwing a shade at the airline's dragging incident with, "Fly the friendly skies... this time for real".
As a result of the fiasco, people are calling for everyone to boycott United Airlines. This is similar to how the #DeleteUber hashtag trended during a rally against Trump's immigration ban.
