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Singer Sings his Song: “United Breaks Guitars” Kimberly Ninh Until recently, Dave Carroll was an unknown Canadian musician. When he flew United Airlines out of Chicago O’Hare last year, he was less than satisfied. On board, other passengers witnessed flight crews haphazardly toss Carroll’s $3,500 guitar, causing irreparable damage to it. In the year following the flight, Carroll sought monetary compensation from United Airlines, but to little avail. After being transferred to multiple customer service representatives from New York to New Delhi, India, United Airlines finally told Carroll that nothing could be done about the damages and that no compensation would be made. After several more attempts by Mr. Carroll, United Airlines agreed to give him$1,200, not even half of the original purchasing price. Angered by the yearlong effort he made to obtain monetary compensation, Carroll embarked on a smear campaign via the Internet. After recording a catchy song titled “United Breaks Guitars”, Carroll posted the video on YouTube. Since its posting, the video has been viewed over 4 million times, launching Carroll to Internet stardom. As a musician who valued not the monetary worth, but sentimental worth of his guitar, Dave Carroll’s story resonated with disgruntled travelers all over the world. Through the video, United Airlines received a lot of negative publicity. Unlike Mr. Carroll, Attorney Jerry Zhang had a much different experience. On a recent flight back from China, Jerry Zhang had his son’s guitar in tow. Mistaking him for an old country singer, airline personnel did not mistreat the guitar, but worked to ensure that it made it safely to its destination. On an airport shuttle at Beijing International Airport, another passenger whom Jerry did not know, assisted him in loading and unloading his guitar and luggage. Once Zhang reached the security check point at the Beijing Airport, officials allowed him to pass through the employee gate ahead of others waiting in line. Just before the flight, an attendant specifically asked if the guitar needed special handling. Zhang declined and opted to store the guitar in an overhead compartment. Perhaps Jerry Zhang’s travel experience ended much more favorably as a result of the press generated from Carroll’s video. Needless to say, these stories illustrate the power of public sentiment, particularly in regards to certain groups of people. Unlike a country singer and his guitar, a lawyer and his laptop computer probably would not have generated a lot of interest. Stories, especially select ones that people relate to, have the ability to arouse public sentiment, positively affecting big businesses. On a similar note, because of Jerry Zhang’s mistaken identity as a country singer, the extra attention ensured that his belongings were regarded with care. Even though the actions of airline personnel markedly differed in both scenarios above, all airline carriers are subject to the same policies laid out by the Warsaw Convention. The convention first met in 1929 to compose standard airline protocols, specifically in regards to carrier liability. Since then, the convention has met two more times, once in 1955 and once in 1975, to amend the articles drafted during the first meeting. Today, the IATA (International Air Transport Association) is the main body that publishes standards in the airline industry. It represents 140 nations throughout the world and actively encourages carriers to follow the articles set forth by the Warsaw Convention. As such, every mainstream airline carrier makes their liability policies publicly available on the Internet. Even though they all adapt some form of the Warsaw articles, many carriers have specially modified company policies. Continental Airlines explicitly states in its contract of carriage that it will compensate for losses specifically in accordance to the Warsaw Convention. This document holds that Continental Airlines “shall not be liable for any death, injury, delay, or other damage of whatsoever nature . . . unless such damage is proven to have been caused by sole negligence or willful misconduct of CO and there has been no contributory negligence on the part of the passenger”. On the other hand, Southwest Airlines maintains that they will assume liability “for such personal property only for the period in which it is in the custody of the carrier [and if it is not a result of] . . . wear and tear”. Finally, China Airlines says that it will only provide compensation if “damage has been caused by the negligence of CAL”. Despite claiming to protect the belongings of passengers and providing compensation in the event of damage, wording in regards to carrier liability remains fundamentally flawed. For instance, how can an airline fairly judge “willful misconduct” or “contributory negligence”? Likewise, is it fair to only compensate for certain items and not for others? The answer is largely, no. These policies well protect airline carriers, leaving the assessment of damage primarily up to them and not to the passenger. After the video was posted and United Airlines became overwhelmed by interest from viewers, they contacted Mr. Carroll and agreed to compensate him for his guitar. Mr. Carroll decided not to accept their offer and asked them instead to donate the money to a charity of his choice. United Airlines donated $3,000 to the Thelonius Monk Institute of Jazz. Moreover, a United Airlines spokesperson said that they would use the video for internal training purposes. Carroll’s YouTube music video garnered him a lot of unexpected notoriety. More importantly, it served as a good branding strategy. Even Carroll admits that his career is much more successful now than before the video was posted. Likewise, at Zhang and Associates, P.C., lawyers and supporting staff work hard to “brand” clients, highlighting their best attributes and accomplishments in USCIS applications. Here at Zhang and Associates, P.C., we believe that good branding, as illustrated above, can render positive outcomes. As such, we always work to make sure that the documentation we submit to USCIS represents clients in the best way possible. *Kimberly Ninh is a legal researcher/writer at Zhang and Associates, P.C. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University at Texas at Austin, majoring in Plan II and English with a minor in Asian Studies. ------ (07/30/2009) For more immigration news, please click here |
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