United Airlines shows how to make a PR crisis a total disaster

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Last month, United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz was named U.S. Communicator of the Year by the magazine PRWeek.

Now, he's being raked over the coals for his response to a violent passenger incident on, a United Airlines flight.

Public relations experts say, the CEO should have quickly offered an unreserved apology after a customer was filmed on Sunday, being forcibly removed from his seat and dragged down an overbooked aircraft's aisle.

Instead, Munoz apologized only for "having to re-accommodate ... customers."

Many customers found the response to be, overly callous -- and said so on social media, where video of the incident had gone viral.

But Munoz doubled down in a letter sent to United employees on Monday afternoon, describing the passenger as "disruptive and belligerent.". He also said that "employees followed established procedures for dealing with situations like this."

Rupert Younger, a PR expert and director of the Oxford University Centre for Corporate Reputation, said that Munoz's response was a major disappointment and, that United should have moved much more quickly to limit damage from the video.

"The apology by the CEO was, at best, lukewarm or, at worst, trying to dismiss the incident," said Younger. "The CEO should make a better, more heartfelt, more meaningful and more personal apology."

Younger said that, United should also address public concerns over industry policies related to bumping passengers from their flights.

The United response "looks uncaring and it looks like it's effectively trying to apologize for the incident without really addressing the core issue of how they deal with customers," said Younger, co-founder of the PR firm Finsbury.