Seth Wenig / AP Photo United can't seem to avoid customer service scandals.
- United Airlines has dealt with a large number of highly-publicized customer service incidents over the past few years.
- The airline has hurt customers, threatened them, and mishandled their pets.
- While it appeared the United had recovered from the April 2017 incident when it dragged a passenger off an overbooked flight, two pet-related incidents this week started a new round of controversy.
United Airlines can't seem to stop shooting itself in the foot.
After it seemed like the airline had recovered from the backlash to the infamous April 2017 incident when it dragged a customer off an overbooked flight, the airline proceeded to kill a passenger's dog and send another pet dog to the wrong destination this week. The former caused some customers to call for a boycott of the airline.
Over the past few years, the airline has had a number of customer service problems that have kept it in the news for the wrong reasons. Whether it's hurting customers, threatening them, or mishandling their pets, United can't seem to avoid controversy.
Airline expert George Hobica said the company's problems start at the top.
"It's a top-down culture, meaning, the CEO and other leaders set the atmosphere for the rest of the employees," he told Business Insider. "The leadership has been pretty abysmal."
Both Hobica and Charles Leocha, president of the airline passenger advocacy group Travelers United, think the company's leadership has created a culture where employees are treated poorly, which leads to bad customer service.
"If they treat their airline employees well, then the airline employees will treat the customers better," Leocha told Business Insider. "And United, historically, has had a problem in terms of employee management issues. And I think that it shows."
Here are 12 of the airline's worst customer service moments.