NEW DELHI: The hellish ‘dragging episode’ on board a United Airlines passenger flight could dent the company’s business badly in its top growth market, China, experts told state media.

Last year, the Chinese mainland generated $2.2 billion in revenue for United, which is around 6.1 percent of its total revenue, Global Times wrote citing a report from FactSet. That number for United was almost double the revenue its main competitor, Delta Air, took in from China last year, the report added.

On Sunday, shocking videos surfaced of a passenger who suffered a bloodied face when he was forcibly removed from a United flight after the airline told passengers four of them would have to leave to make way for United employees.

The episode led to some top Chinese chief executives disclosing how badly they too have been treated on United. And these CEOs’ harsh ratings of the airline’s services, along with calls from Chinese travelers to boycott United, could well result in a drastic drop in business. “From the ground to the air, United’s arrogant service attitude is so horrifying that I have never booked flights since I’ve experienced it twice,” said Gao Xiaosong, a composer and co-founder of Alibaba Music Group, on his Weibo account, Global Times reported.

Weibo is Chna’s equivalent of Twitter. Liu Qiangdong, CEO of domestic e-commerce giant JD.com, wrote on Weibo that United Airlines’ recent violent treatment of a passenger brought back memories of his three “nightmarish experiences” flying United.

“I can responsibly say: United Airlines has definitely the worst services in the world, second to none,” Liu wrote on Weibo.

“China-US non-stop air routes have become some of the most profitable ‘golden routes’ in recent years thanks to Chinese citizens’ appetite for outbound travel and a relaxed US visa application process”, said Li Xiaojin, a professor at the Civil Aviation University of China, to the Global Times yesterday.

In 2016, the passenger volume on China-US air routes surged 30 percent year-on-year, ranking as the fastest growing routes among all international flights, according to Li.

United’s continued business in China “depends on the company’s public relations management ability to deal with the crisis and calm down public anger,” Li further said.

Considering it took three days for United’s CEO to properly apologize, that ability is also now severely under question. (PTI)