Crisis Communications—The Test

Crisis communications had often been a case study in college. Most of my classmates did the usual cases, and in fact, by graduation, some of them became ad nauseam—Tylenol tampering in the 80s, syringes in Pepsi cans in the 90s, fingers in Wendy’s chili in the millennium decade.

I remember being bored by these textbook examples and trying to think outside the box, including one crisis-com study I did regarding Southwest Airlines. It was right after the previously fatal-accident-free carrier experienced its first wreck causing a death when a B737 skidded off a snowy runway at Chicago Midway.

Perhaps in retrospect it was preparing me for what occurred this week. US Airways was rocked last Saturday with reports that flight attendant Nick Aaronson was murdered while on layover in Mexico City. When I first saw the news reports, I knew my week was going to be hijacked like a jumbo jet. Since I work in internal communications, primarily to the flight attendants, this was going to be the real deal, no more case studies. The department manager was also on vacation for the first part of the week, meaning myself and fellow communications specialists were flying solo.

Granted, a 12+ hour workday on Wednesday was a little hectic, but what a sense of pride and accomplishment as we joined planeside with several hundred flight attendants while the casket was loaded for Nick’s final flight. The emotions were raw, but what a sense of dignity conveyed. While commercial aviation has become a cattle-car industry, what pride, professionalism, and unity our InFlight staff demonstrated as they gathered to remember a fallen colleague.

And how has this affected me? In a public relations/journalism environment, one needs to take a bit of an objective, detached view at times. Some coworkers expected me to be distressed over this. While saddened at this preventable tragedy, the fact is our lives are made up of choices. When Nick signed the paper—permitting the man who eventually killed him into the ultra-secure Hilton Reforma—he ultimately signed his death certificate. He took his life for granted and made a poor decision. I personally cannot let myself become too attached; you gotta have a little ice in your veins at times.

Speaking of journalism, aside from one little glitch (ABC15 Phoenix stated US Airways didn’t do anything to organize the remembrance ceremony—blatantly wrong), the media coverage of US has been positive. The crew hotel’s security wasn’t breached. And perhaps the most validating report of all: a letter from the victim’s brother to US Airways employees thanking each of us for the remarkable show of support. If this were just another case study, I’d say we earned a grade of “A”.

P.S. - I can be seen in the video at top. Those who know me, see if you can find me...