What United did and should have done.

In January of 2001, United Airlines put the wrong prices on their web site.  For a few hours, you could buy a ticket for the taxes and fees only.  You could go from Chicago to Paris for something like $29.  I'm told that 143 tickets were sold before the web site was corrected.  If the typical advanced purchase fare that should have been charged was $750, United lost $107,250.

The media quickly learned of the error.  United told the world that it was a mistake and they would not honor the tickets.  They even went so far as to start to charge the credit cards of the purchasers the amount of money the tickets should have cost.  They offered refunds or a voucher all the while sounding very 'legalese' in their press releases.  After lots of negative media coverage and threats of law suits, United said they would honor the tickets but would be sure that it didn't happen again.

When you mess-up (big time) you should try to salvage something positive from it.  What should have United done in the first place?  If you've heard of Southwest Airlines and their past president, Herb Kelleher, think of what he would have done.  United is not Southwest, but they could learn a thing or two from them.

If I were the president of United, I would have called the media and had a press conference at the airport.  I would have said that I and the person who made the error were going to greet a few of the lucky passengers as they got on their flights.  I would have worn a dunce cap, handed out coffee, United T-shirts, etc.  Most airlines have a sale (or react to someone else's) every few weeks.  At the same airport press conference, I would announce a "we messed-up" sale.  The message would be that United is having a sale and the prices include more than taxes and fees but it was a very good sale anyway.

The story would probably have been on every local and network TV news program.  For $107,250 I doubt whether United could buy any better coverage.