Emirates posted a video commercial on social media, making fun of United Airlines and its CEO Oscar Munoz, after a violent removal of a passenger from one of its Chicago-based airplanes on Sunday.
Emirates/Youtube
In the commercial, Emirates used United’s slogan “Fly the friendly skies” and make it a version of their own. It also used the numerous accolades the US airline received last year. This was Emirates’ form of vengeance from the criticisms it got from US airlines such as United, American Airlines, and Delta. These three airlines have been critical to its Middle Eastern airline counterparts – Emirates, Qatar Airways, and Etihad Airways – for the past years.
Emirates/Youtube
In March 2016, United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz has spoken about how Dubai-based airlines are a big threat to US airlines and employment status. The new Emirates commercial on the other hand, used the phrase “Those [Gulf] airlines aren’t airlines,” which was said by Munoz in his interview with Air Transport World. However, Emirates President Sir Tim Clark counter-attacked Munoz by saying that the accusations were “infantile.”
Emirates/Youtube
The commercial was shared by almost 8,600 times in Twitter to date. Meanwhile, other Middle Eastern airlines joined Emirates in its troll by posting their thoughts on Twitter. Royal Jordanian airline posted, “We are here to keep you #united[.] Dragging is strictly prohibited.” Following the troll mania was Qatar Airways, saying “We are united in our goal to always accommodate our passengers.” The tweet included a photo saying, “Doesn’t accept drag and drop.”
Meanwhile, customers of the trending airline are cutting up their loyalty card in response to how United handled the overbooked flight. Out of anger, they are literally cutting ties with United and some Internet users are spreading a campaign to boycott the said airline. Just this morning, United has lost over $1 billion in value after the horrific incident.
