United Airlines is nearly as unpopular as U.S. President Donald Trump, according to a new Public Policy Polling survey released Thursday.
Forty-two per cent of respondents said they have a higher opinion of United than they do of Trump, while 40 per cent favoured the outspoken president to the beleaguered airline, according to the poll of 648 registered voters conducted between April 17-18.
United has come under plenty of fire lately after a video surfaced of bloodied passenger David Dao being dragged off a flight after he refused to give up his seat on an overbooked route.
WATCH: Can United Airlines recover from its latest public relations nightmare?
Just two days after that incident, a Calgary man claimed he was bitten by a scorpion on a United flight from Houston. A few days later, a Houston couple on their way to get married in Costa Rica said they were kicked off their United flight after they sat a few rows ahead of their assigned seats, because someone was sleeping across their seats.
It’s been a truly bruising couple of weeks for the airline, and this is reflected in the poll’s numbers.
In 2013, Public Policy Polling found that a third of passengers had a favourable impression of United while 13 per cent expressed disapproval. Now, however, only 23 per cent approve of the airline while 47 per cent are not impressed.
READ MORE: United Airlines to testify at House hearing on consumer issues after David Dao incident
The David Dao incident has also had the effect of making United well and truly pull away from its competitors — in the disapproval stakes.
Only eight per cent of respondents deemed United the worst airline in the U.S. in 2013, with American Airlines, Delta and Southwest all in the same ballpark with 10, nine and six per cent disapproval ratings respectively.
Now it’s not even close, with a whopping 40 per cent of polled voters bestowing United with the dubious distinction of being the worst airline around.
Comments