ROLE and SITUATION- You are the Regional Manager of United Airlines here in the Bay Area and you have just received notification that a passenger's dog died on a flight leaving SFO due to the negligence of the flight crew after they ordered the passenger to place their small, frail, older dog into the overhead compartment for the entire flight to Chicago. The dog died, and the family and passengers on that flight are very upset and distressed. They are lashing out on social media. The negative comments and anger on your social media accounts are growing and a lot of it is directed at the United Airlines crew in SFO specifically. United has faced a number of negative incidents in the last few years and has taken slow and indecisive action to address these concerns. (see the attached links to see the problems United has faced).
Beating Up Passenger (Links to an external site.)
Family and Dog (Links to an external site.)
United Airlines has instructed all Regional Managers to be decisive and proactive in addressing passenger issues that are this negative again and have given you full authority to do what you think is best. Since you and the lawyers are talking to the customers privately, you need to address your PR situation asap. You need a plan and need to work quickly. Your sales are already starting to drop.