Uber Tries a New Route to Keep On Going in London: Diplomacy
In a full-page ad in The Evening Standard that began “Dear Londoners,” Uber’s new chief executive, Dara Khosrowshahi, apologized “for the mistakes we’ve made,” and acknowledged
that “we must also change.” He added, “You have my commitment we will work with London to make things right and keep this great global city moving safely.”
In a letter to employees, Mr. Khosrowshahi said that “change comes from self-reflection” and
that “the truth is that there is a high cost to a bad reputation.” He pledged to be a “better partner to every city we operate in.”
Welcome to the kinder, gentler Uber.
Mr. Khan pointedly contrasted Mr. Khosrowshahi’s approach to that of officials in Uber’s London operation, whom he described as arrogant.
Sadiq Khan, the popular mayor of London, said this week
that he welcomed Mr. Khosrowshahi’s apology and that he would encourage transport regulators to meet with him.
Mr. Khosrowshahi has “been wise to approach this as both a political and business issue,” Mr. Mahaney said.
“This arrogance where big companies that have lots of customers don’t have to play by the rules is one that I think is wrong.”
Sam Knight, a journalist based in London whose 2016 article in The Guardian, “How Uber Conquered London,” explored the charged political and social landscape of transportation in the British capital, told me this week
that the old Uber was on display when he did his interviews at the company’s headquarters in London’s financial district, known as the City.
And as anxieties mount in London over the British withdrawal from the European Union, even Mr. Khosrowshahi’s reference
to the city as a “great global city” was a not-so-subtle reminder that, without Uber, it wouldn’t be.
