United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz, who has come under fire for his response to a doctor being dragged off an airplane over the weekend, was given an award last month for his communication skills.
Oscar Munoz earned PRWeek’s Communicator of the Year award for 2017.
He became United’s CEO in September 2015 but had to step away six weeks later over health issues. He eventually underwent a heart transplant, but he returned to work in March 2016.
PRWeek reported United’s stock shot up 27 percent from 2015 to 2016, and its rate of on-time flights in 2016 was the company’s best ever.
Munoz has been criticized for his response to Sunday night’s incident in Chicago, however. Airline officials told passengers a four-person flight crew needed to get on the flight and hitch a ride to Louisville, which meant four paying passengers would have to give up their seats. When no one volunteered despite cash offers of $800 each, airline staff chose four people at random — including a doctor from Kentucky.
The man refused to get up and was eventually ripped out of his seat by security personnel. He struck his face on an arm rest and was then dragged out of the plane with blood on his mouth.
Munoz initially commended airline staff for how they handled the situation and even blamed the passenger for being “disruptive and belligerent” in a company email.
Munoz has since walked back from that remark, saying Tuesday, “no one should ever be mistreated this way.”
