'Overbooked' United Airlines CEO was awarded 'Communicator of the Year' by PR Week

| Updated: Apr 12, 2017 04:24 IST

New York [U.S.A.], Apr. 11 (ANI): Even as the United Airlines is at the receiving end of a social media outrage for dragging a Vietnamese man off its plane, airlines CEO Oscar Munoz , interestingly, was felicitated with the Communicator of the Year award lauding him as "a smart, dedicated, and excellent leader who understands the value of communications." Describing Munroz as the "charismatic CEO of United Airlines", U.S.' PR week magazine awarded him for the fifth time last month. "Munoz has shown himself to be a smart, dedicated, and excellent leader who understands the value of communications. His ability to connect and share with employees his vision for the airline, and get them to rally behind it, is a key reason PRWeek named him 2017 Communicator of the Year," the article in the magazine read. Earlier, David Dao, a Vietnamese-American doctor, was dragged off an overbooked United Airlines flight. He was forcibly removed from the Louisville, Kentucky-bound United flight 3411 at Chicago O'Hare International Airport. Several passengers recorded the incident on their phones and posted videos on social media showing three Chicago Department of Aviation security officers dragging the man down the aisle by the arms and legs while other passengers shouted in protest. The massive backlash to the airlines prompted CEO Oscar Munoz to call the incident "upsetting" and apologise "for having to re-accommodate" customers. "Our team is moving with a sense of urgency to work with the authorities and conduct our own detailed review of what happened. We are also reaching out to this passenger to talk directly to him and further address and resolve this situation," he said in a statement. (ANI)