According to PRWeek, it:
—Enlisted its seven-person PR team, other staffers and Weber Shandwick, its PR firm, to inform the public about the reasons for the delay.
—Handed out press releases to customers at some of its largest hubs.
—Sent millions of emails to its AAdvantage members.
—Launched a corporate blog. (And a crummy blog, at that. Why do companies launch corporate blogs when they’re in the middle of a crisis? Why don’t they launch them long before a crisis occurs, so they don’t have to waste precious time handling the crisis AND learning how to blog?)
—Sent twice-daily press releases to reporters.
—Held three news conferences.
—Used bulletin boards and the Intranet to distribute updates and talking points to employees.
To add to the airlines’ woes, disgruntled employees have launched a new website, “Tell Your AA Story,” which invites passengers and employees to share their nightmares about the airlines.
OK, Publicity Hounds. What else should American Airlines have done?
They should have taken care of their planes!
Ha!
(I’m bitter … they lost my luggage years ago. Found it, then lost it AGAIN! WE never got it back (was traveling with two smaller children). $30 per person while on vacation is quite a perk. One of their phone clerks tried to get us an advance on our settlement, but was told we needed to “tough it out” while on vacation. He was kind enough to pass along that advice. Yes, I’m bitter.)
I would never hand out a news release to non-media. It should have been a well-written, apologetic and informative letter to their customers.
Paula