Crisis Communications and American Airlines - Kathy Bloomgarden - T... http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2008/04/crisis_communications_and_amer.

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Crisis Communications and American Airlines

4:34 PM Thursday April 17, 2008
by Kathy Bloomgarden | Comments (9)

In the past weeks and months, the airline industry has had to
address a series of challenges that left managers little time to
execute, and almost no room for communications mistakes.

Consider American Airlines, which faced communicating with Email

hundreds of thousands of customers whose flights were Tweet This
canceled while the airline performed emergency safety
Post to Facebook
inspections. Under a harsh spotlight, the company had to
juggle operations management, media relations, and, of Share on LinkedIn

course, the ubiquitous apology. Print RECENTLY FROM THE CONVERSATION

Avoid Burnout by Focusing on Your Team NOV 8

The highly technical nature of the FAA complaint, combined
Making the Most of the Worst Speaking Slot at the
with the emotion and personal reaction we all have to travel
Conference NOV 8
snags, compounded by the sheer number of flights canceled, FEATURED PRODUCTS
It's Not the Time You Spend but the Result You
left very little breathing room for American's management Buy-In: Saving Produce NOV 8
team. Observing American's unenviable position has led me Your Good
Idea from The $300 House: The Energy Challenge NOV 8
to the following lessons on how to communicate today during Getting Shot
Down How to Buy Time for the Holidays — Free of
a crisis, especially when it extends over several days:
by Lorne Charge NOV 8
Whitehead, John
Kotter
Communicate right away, do it sincerely, and do it from
$22.00
the top. Buy it now »
People want the facts, they want a meaningful apology, and
they want to hear from someone in a top position. But internal Guide to
pressures often delay leaders from reaching out directly to Persuasive
Presentations 1. Six Keys to Being Excellent at Anything
the public. Saying "I'm really, really sorry" can be a welcome by John Clayton,
John Daly, Isa 2. Why Leaders Must Feel Pain
band-aid for wounded customers, but it can become more of
Engleberg, et al.
a twisted dagger -- say for families spending their holidays at $19.95 3. How to Become a Thought Leader in Six Steps
airport motels -- if it comes too late. Buy it now »
4. When Are Facebook Updates a Firing
Offense?
More so, jaded customers are increasingly expecting
HBR's 10 Must
meaningful actions to address their inconveniences. And when Reads: The 5. Why Best Practices Are Hard to Practice
customers don't receive the treatment they expect, the Essentials
by Clayton 6. True Leaders Are Also Managers
damage they inflict can be near-instant. People will blog their Christensen,
opinions within seconds of forming them, spinning their own Thomas 7. Six Ways Leaders Can Fuel Excellence At
Davenport, Anything
experiences out into the world well ahead of the corporate Peter Drucker,
PR machine. For example, even one generally sympathetic et al.
8. Why People Want Less Choice
$24.95
blogger lamented, "Because American canceled all its flights
Buy it now » 9. Add an Hour to Your Day
out of Salt Lake City, all American employees went home, so
there was no one there to help with my ticket." Not exactly 10. Management's Little Black Dress: Essential
Practices for Leaders
the image American was looking for.

Some of American's "valued customers" received apology emails from Dan Garton, Executive Vice
President of Marketing. The apology would have been much more effective coming personally from

1 of 6 11/15/2010 5:47 PM
Crisis Communications and American Airlines - Kathy Bloomgarden - T... http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2008/04/crisis_communications_and_amer.html

the CEO, rather than a marketing manager who probably had very little to do with the decisions
that affected so many customers. And when CEO Gerard Arpey did eventually apologize three
days into the crisis, it wasn't soon enough.

Take a personal tone and focus on what's relevant.

Clear, consistent, and compassionate language is paramount. While American succeeded in some
areas of communicating their case, they were not always strong or specific enough. As another
blogger said of CEO Gerard Arpey's apology, "he didn't apologize for the inconvenience to
customers, just for his failure to ensure safety standards are met."

American's choice of language has been described as "sanitized." Consider, for example, alerts on
the American Airlines website announcing, "Aircraft Inspections Affect Some AA Travel." One
executive cited handing out press releases as a way of reaching people on the ground. Another
apology email to customers was sent en masse, losing the personal touch with phrases like, "If in STAY CONNECTED TO HBR
your travels you were among the many who have been personally affected." This kind of tepid and
generic approach rarely satisfies anyone.

Communicate with your customers wherever your customers are. Facebook Twitter RSS iPhone

American's relatively level stock price last week attests to effective communications with the
financial market. However, as Roger Frizzell, American Airline's VP of corporate communications,
told PR Week, stranded passengers are "probably the one audience we had trouble reaching." Newsletters LinkedIn YouTube Google
Those weary travelers may represent a small percentage of the total population, but in terms of the
long-term strategy of the airlines, they are a critical audience; their treatment could affect a much
broader swath of customers and potential customers in this connected world.

Ensuring that you deliver the facts and resources customers need is, of course, essential. But
understanding and engaging with individual customers online -- both through relationships with the
blogging community and by making individual posts to blogs -- is also paramount.

The news world is becoming increasingly fragmented and personal. Becoming adept in providing
information quickly through both official and unofficial channels is critical to balancing any adverse
news coverage. It is also fundamental to reaching customers and stakeholders -- and protecting
the company's reputation and brand.

Kathy Bloomgarden is co-CEO of Ruder Finn, one of the world's largest public relations agencies,
and the author of Trust: The Secret Weapon of Effective Business Leaders.

For more on the airlines see:

The Airline Industry Whistleblowers
British Airways' Terminal 5 Disaster
Delta-Northwest's Interactive Public Relations
American Airlines Needs a Newsroom

More on: Communication, Crisis management

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2 of 6 11/15/2010 5:47 PM
Crisis Communications and American Airlines - Kathy Bloomgarden - T... http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2008/04/crisis_communications_and_amer.html

I have just sent a very long detailed letter to Mr. Peter Dolara VP American Airlines.

I am forced to fly with them as no other major airline flies in and out of Miami to Caracas.

The service has become so miserable since United left this route that is nearly a slap in the face each time
one flies with AA on this and many other routes.

Let's see if they hear any of us ever or if the go the way of Pan Am and Eastern.

ELizabeth Kane Beracasa

Caracas, Venezuela / Miami, Florida

Hmmm, I wonder if Ruder Finn is an agency of record for American Airlines.

What Kathy says about top-down communication, that's crises management 101 - not crises management in
today's world.

If they were really handling crises management in today's world someone from American Airlines would be
actively involved in the comments being posted here.

This piece is just a bunch of fluff, that any journalism student could write.

Let's hear about their blogger outreach strategy. Did they set up a crises RSS feed? Where are they on
Twitter?

If anyone thinks AMR management cares one iota about our passengers travel experience, why would they
have taken the 800# out of the American Way magazine where you used to be able to speak to a human
being and replaced it with an e-mail address.

More savings to pay for the executive bonuses (performance bonuses if you can believe the sheer hutzpah
sp?) is squeezed out by NOT stocking any spare parts. When something breaks, they order it and have the
pilots fly around with the broken part "on placard," until the replacement part arrives and can be repaired.

Last week, I had to unload an entire airplane full of passengers who had been left in an unconditioned
airplane for 1:15 IN MIAMI. I was going through customs and changing planes for one with an inoperative
Auxilary Power Unit. When I arrived it was about 100 degrees fahrenheit on board and old people in the back
were worried they were going to pass out.

When I reported it, a passenger service agent replied to my report by suggesting it could not be verified.

Truly sad.

A frustrated American Airlines pilot

A crisis, be it in a boardroom, a home, or on a battlefield is not something that needs to be feared. It is up to

the accountable person(s) to understand and control the chaos so that appropriate and timely actions can be
taken to avert disaster.

To that, I offer two points:

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Crisis Communications and American Airlines - Kathy Bloomgarden - T... http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2008/04/crisis_communications_and_amer.html

One. The old adage, bad news does not get better with time rings true here. While there are many layers
between the root cause of the required inspections and the CEO, the person accountable in this case is the
man in the corner office. He should have stepped up sooner and spoke from his heart. Cases such as
Tylenol’s tampering case and Schwans case (as mentioned above) are proof that accepting responsibility
early and clearly, while emotions are playing at the hearts of those affected, is what people will remember.

Two. Air travel is a commodity. We as customers shop for one thing. A ticket that will get us from point A to B
in the most direct way possible at the lowest price. Safety? On-time arrivals? We expect these to be
constants....perform or we will switch.

Perhaps as New York struggles through new legislation that is forcing restaurateurs to add caloric information
to menus we should call for legislation that forces airlines to make public its on-time arrivals, safety metrics,
and any new FAA findings / citings experienced within the last two years at the point of purchase for any of its
tickets.

Sorry Kathy, but I think you missed the same point about real crisis communications the American PR people
did. I waited a week to post something at my blog about the mess at ORD because as a PR guy too, I thouhgt
I might have missed something.

But I think American Airlines missed the boat. I was out at ORD on the first day of the groundings to do a little
TV commentary since we only work in the aviation industry.

There were thousands of American passengers simply standing around waiting for someone to help them.

I asked one of the PR folks why they couldn't roll some carts out from the grounded airplanes and offer
people water and snacks. Buy out all the prepackaged sandwiches and salads from the airport vendors and
hand them out I asked. Offer folks a few chairs.

They looked at me like I'd lost my mind.

Crisis communication is about hitting the ground running. And that is something American never did do at
least in Chicago. Apparently no one ever thought of adding the concept of triage' to their crisis plans.

As a long-time Advantage customer too, the apology from Arprey the next day was hollow. You're right on that
one. He should have been on TV the first day. And the station manager from ORD should have been on the
floor talking to the thousands of people in line.

I think too darned many people today simply think that saying "sorry," makes it all better. It doesn't when the
words are not sincere. But a company's actions have to line up with the words, and American's didn't.

Rob Mark

American not only doesn't have a clue when it comes to customer communication, but their management is
totally lost on the concept of fostering an excellent win/win relationship with employees as a means of
delivering outstanding customer value. I don't know how many of you have flown AA recently, but, delays or
no, it is a painful experience. Their employees, and rightly so, are extremely unhappy and frankly, I suspect,
not well treated. When you have a company whose focus is solely upper management compensation and
shareholder return and not toward a mutually beneficial relationship with ALL their critical constituents, you
will see a company whose long term value is not even close what it could be. A shame, really.

This is a joke, right? I not only received no communication, but also had to find out that the second leg of my
flight was also canceled after arriving to the airport the day following the grounding. I will, in the future, pay
more to fly a different airline than American.

4 of 6 11/15/2010 5:47 PM
Crisis Communications and American Airlines - Kathy Bloomgarden - T... http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2008/04/crisis_communications_and_amer.html

Several years ago I was part of the management team dealing with the Schwan's ice cream salmonela
poisoning.

This is exactly what we did; we went on National TV with our owner/president who addressed our customers
in a personal and caring manner.

No negative reprocussions, no class action, only increased business.

I received Mr. Garton's apology. I hoped to post a copy of it on my blog, but noticed the disclaimer at the
bottom that stated that the message was copyrighted, and any unauthorized reproduction or transfer of the
message was prohibited.

Why prevent distribution of an apology? What is the motivation for keeping it a secret?

Real-time updating is enabled. (Pause)

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