Premium #326 – Managing in an Age of Viral Video

In recent weeks, we’ve seen several airline videos, including a passenger being dragged off a United Express (Republic) flight and a woman holding two children in distress after being hit in the head by a stroller grabbed by a male flight attendant. There has also been other negative news from Delta, Air Canada, and more that received notoriety. On my way home from lunch, I was listening to a sports talk show discussing an NBA post-game press conference, talking about a hostile question from a reporter. They then wondered aloud whether he should have been “taken out like a United passenger.” When viral videos transcend the web to becomes a part of pop culture, you have a serious problem as an airline. It will take years for United to stop being the poster child for bad behavior. The responses from the two airlines involved in the recent videos are 180 degrees apart, with American taking immediate and quick action in favor of its customer, while United first criticized the passenger and later apologized, but in a manner that seemed half-hearted and insincere. Today, airline (and OEM) managements need to be prepared for the worst. With millions of passengers, something strange is going to happen every day, and its staff, being human, will on occasion err. The difference today is, cell-phone video capabilities are going to document a situation, often from multiple angles, and the airline can’t easily hide its problems. There will always be an unfortunate situation, like the lady at Air Canada who was bumped from a flight and missed her cruise as a result. Things happen. But it is how an brand reacts to the problem and mitigates damage, that is telling. Let’s compare United and American. United called upon un-badged airport security personnel to forcibly and violently evict a passenger from a flight to make room for crew members, injuring the passenger, a medical doctor. Later that evening, it defended its crew against criticism, citing the passenger, who was only trying to obtain what he paid for, as unruly. The next day their CEO apologized, but it came across as too little, too late. Contrast that to American, which shortly after the incident suspended the flight attendant, refunded the passenger's entire fare, upgraded her to first class for the remainder of her international journey to Argentina, and took positive steps to diffuse a negative situation. Which of the two airlines would you want to travel, and perhaps more importantly, which of the two would you invest in? The true colors and values of an organization emerge when it “hits the fan”, and in this case. United failed miserably while American was seen as taking care of its problem with decisive action. Perhaps this is because United doesn’t yet understand the power of a viral video seen by millions around the world. Though now it surely does. We’ve heard from folks overseas who are afraid to fly United (and even come to America) as a result of the video, wondering what kind of police state the US is becoming to drag a doctor off an airplane violently. And this is also quite clear to United’s Star Alliance partners, some of whom are second-guessing their relationships. Is it any wonder that Lufthansa has also brought JetBlue into its alliance structure in key US markets, rather than remain exclusively within its alliance? The Star Alliance partners are hearing from their customers who don’t want to fly a United connection. One bad event that goes viral can destroy hundreds of thousands of good events that happen on a daily basis. Airlines, indeed any company in the public eye, needs to plan in advance for adverse situations that could “go viral” and have a plan to counteract the impact. Every airline has in place the response for a crash. That needs to be expanded to other situations and incidents as well. Let’s look at some of the elements that need to be in such a plan: Determination and rapid dissemination of facts There are two sides to every story, but only one that counts. The customer is always right. By siding with the customer as the baseline, you show that you value customers, are sympathetic to their plight, and take care of problems in the right way. Quickly state is what happened, why it happened, what you did to mitigate the situation and the preventive measures you will take to ensure it never happens again. There are often mitigating circumstances, and with millions of customers, you will find the annoying among them, but dealing with them with dignity and grace takes a well-trained workforce. Videos of drunk and unruly passengers normally show applause when they are removed from an airplane, and the truth always emerges. But it always needs to be done in the right way. Mea Culpa Never be afraid to apologize for a situation that didn’t go as expected. Even in a one in a million situation, say you are sorry and take responsibility quickly. Those two words, “I’m sorry” need to be followed by “here’s what we’re doing for our valued customer” and “here’s what we doing so that this never happens again.” If the situation results in the flight being delayed, and everyone arriving later than they should have, provide something to all of the other passengers as well. A small credit or bonus frequent flyer miles can say we’re sorry for the inconvenience and make them feel recognized as someone having negatively impacted by witnessing the event. Corrective actions taken Fix the situation as quickly as possible, giving power to your staff to do what is required. If this means an upgrade, a refund, or some other special accommodation, just do it. The result may pay off in the end, particularly if civil lawsuits and sympathetic jurors who saw the video can be avoided. You can’t wait for this to go up to the CEO’s office. The Captain, or Station Manager, need to be empowered to make decisions immediately on the spot. In some circumstances, if one rule is broken, another may need to be broken to fix it. If they no longer want to fly with you, purchase them a ticket on a competitor. Just solve the problem as quickly as possible. Make policy changes so it never happens again If overbooking is a problem, raise the authority to obtain a higher “bid” at the gate, or pay cash instead of vouchers. Many of the issues aren’t rocket science. If overbooking is such a necessity, how can JetBlue be profitable with its policy of never overbooking? Common sense, unfortunately, isn’t as common as it once was, and there is no excuse for poor management or not thinking through a situation. Do this all in a short time frame to contain damage A video can go viral quickly, and make all of the news shows in a matter of mere minutes. Airline PR staff need to be just as fast. From “we’re looking into the facts” to a “resolution of the matter” can’t take long. Which means lower level managers be granted the authority to act with common sense and fix problems without having to go up the chain of command. Think “this flight” and act “this flight.” Here’s what we know, and here’s what we did for our valued customer are the goals of an initial communication. We have experience in disaster planning and can assist airlines in preparing in advance for the inevitable negative situation and reacting before a situation gets out of hand. The Bottom Line: Nuclear Weapons and Mutual Assured Destruction The airlines, under the Contract of Carriage, have the nuclear weapon to do almost anything they want, with scant rights for a consumer. But today, passengers have their own nuclear weapon, the viral video, that can destroy an airline’s market value and image quite quickly. The viral video is the consumer’s protection against a one-sided contract, which is well overdue for a re-write.

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