United Airlines hires Josh Earnest, Obama White House press secretary
A dog died after a flight attendant forced the owner to store the pooch in an overhead bin. Here’s a look back at the airline's most recent controversies.
United Airlines has hired former Obama administration press secretary Josh Earnest as its chief communications officer, the company announced Thursday, as the airline attempts to rebuild its public image following numerous snafus over the course of the past year.
Earnest will replace Jim Olson, who stepped down in January after a tumultuous two-year tenure, which included an incident in April 2017 where a passenger, Dr. David Dao, was forcibly removed from the flight and dragged down the aisle off the airplane.
The public relations climate hasn’t improved since then for United either. A string of incidents in March – including the death of a 10-month-old dog after a flight attendant forced the customer to put the animal in an overhead compartment – left the airline with a black eye.
Later that week, a family’s 10-year-old dog German shepherd was flown to Japan instead of Kansas City and, separately, an aircraft was diverted after the airline realized it loaded an animal on the wrong flight.
“Josh is a proven leader and world-class communications strategist who has thrived when the stakes are the highest – and the margin for error is the smallest,” United CEO Oscar Munoz said in a statement.
Earnest served as former President Barack Obama’s press secretary from 2014-2016, succeeding Jay Carney in the role. After leaving the administration, and before joining United, Earnest worked as a political analyst for NBC News and MSNBC.