What Others Say

Published April - May 2008

Southwest Airlines takes the good and the bad on its blog in pursuing transparency when coping with safety allegations

“Southwest Airlines has once again earned its reputation for communicating better than nearly everyone in the business.

“As readers know by now, the FAA delivered a punishing body blow to the Dallas-based airline last week, accusing the popular carrier of failing to conduct mandatory checks for fuselage cracking. This is the equivalent of the Food and Drug Administration telling consumers that their breakfast cereal may kill them.

“By Friday afternoon, Southwest had mobilized every communication channel at its disposal. The airline's CEO Gary Kelly appeared on CNN to declare the charges "unfair" and "unprecedented."  A statement was posted on the carrier's ticket booking site, and the airline sent an e-mail (see below) to its Rapid Rewards customers clearly and simply stating its case. No passive voice, no statements that "mistakes were made," no jargon. Just the facts as it saw them.   

“But what set this media defense campaign apart from any other in recent memory was its bold use of Nuts About Southwest---the company's external blog

“Many companies talk about transparency. They talk about allowing honest conversations about their product. But few actually follow through.  Southwest is transparency on steroids.

“In the coming months, the truth will be out, and the airline may indeed be left with a $10 million federal fine. But as crisis PR campaigns go, it's hard to beat this one.

“Airline communicator Paula Berg posted a statement Thursday at 11:36 p.m., only hours after the FAA issued its statement.  "It is important for you to know that the situation being reported in the media was never, and is not now, a safety of flight issue." She said the company had fully disclosed its "missed inspection area" to the FAA and that the agency had approved its actions.  She cited a letter from Boeing saying the airline had acted properly and assuring its customers that the planes are safe.

“Despite these assurances, the condemnations came pouring onto the blog immediately. You know things are going to be rough when the first customer post was this simple, declarative statement:

"I don't believe you."

“As of Monday morning, 113 people have responded to the post, including this from "Randall":  

"Shame on you Southwest. Admit you were wrong and pay the fine. Then apologize and hope we'll forgive you."

“But just when you thought the airline would be buried under a mountain of criticism, customers began rushing to Southwest's defence.

"I have carefully watched your pilots' pre-flight inspections and despite the occasional levity of your own crews, I have nearly absolute faith in them," wrote Len Frank on a Friday morning post, one of dozens defending the carrier.

"I think there are two sides to every story," another poster wrote. "And I have chosen to wait until SWA has had their chance to fully present their side before forming an opinion."

“It was blog theory laid bare: Put yourself out there and absorb the blows and good stuff will follow. The mix of praise and condemnation from customers, employees, fans and enemies of the airline has the effect of saying, "wait a minute. This may not be as simple as the FAA says. Maybe there is another side to the story."

“Indeed the story appears to be infinitely more complicated than the FAA statement suggests. Southwest claims that it reported the missed inspections, that it reinspected all of the affected aircraft and that the regulatory body told the carrier that "the case was closed."

As final evidence to support its case, CEO Kelly even enlisted the nation's most credible business newspaper.

“Said Kelly:  "We were surprised yesterday to get that notification by the FAA as well. The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that as late as last month the FAA said that it had no safety issues with Southwest Airlines."

“Stay tuned”.

Email to Rapid Rewards Members:

Dear Rapid Rewards Member:   You may have heard that Southwest Airlines was fined by the FAA regarding recent aircraft inspections. First and foremost, we want to assure you this was never and is not a safety of flight issue. From our inception, Southwest Airlines has maintained a rigorous Culture of Safety—and has maintained that same dedication for more than 37 years. It is and always has been our number one priority to ensure the Safety of every Southwest Customer and Employee. “We’ve got a 37-year history of very safe operations, one of the safest operations in the world, and we’re safer today than we’ve ever been,” said Southwest CEO Gary Kelly. Receipt of the FAA letter of penalty gives us the chance to present the facts which we feel will support our actions taken in March 2007. The FAA penalty is related to one of many routine inspections on our aircraft fleet involving an extremely small area in one of the many overlapping inspections. These inspections were designed to detect early signs of skin cracking. Southwest Airlines discovered the missed inspection area, disclosed it to the FAA, and promptly re-inspected all potentially affected aircraft in March 2007. The FAA approved our actions and considered the matter closed as of April 2007. The Boeing Company has stated its support of Southwest's aggressive compliance plan. Southwest acted responsibly and the safety of the fleet was not compromised, Boeing said. Former National Transportation Safety Board Inspector-in-Charge Greg Feith said after a review of the available data and information that it’s apparent that there was no risk to the flying public in March 2007 while Southwest Airlines performed their program to re-inspect the small area of aircraft fuselages identified. Southwest consistently maintains a Leadership role in developing maintenance programs for the Boeing 737 aircraft. As always, we commit to keeping you informed. Please check southwest.com for periodic updates. The above commentary was published by Mark Ragan of www.ragan.com on 11 March 2008 Network PR publishers of PR Influences are experienced at assisting organisations with crisis communication plans. Contact Network PR to find out how you can integrate online strategies into your existing plan.