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Why do airlines have such bad PR?

Airlines are in a constant struggle to maintain positive PR, thanks to a large population of angry, vocal passengers. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that rising fees, delayed planes and unpleasant accommodations are what drive irritated customers and their rants to the Internet. Nothing travels faster than bad news, and airlines have had a tough time keeping up with the latest complaints — or quieting a potential firestorm before it blows into an inferno.

Passengers expect flights to be uneventful, which leaves little wiggle room for airline employees when a few gears in their well-oiled machine inevitably slip. Being on a PR staff for an airline has got to be one of the hardest PR gigs in the world.

While all of the blogs and blog entries dedicated to customer complaints bring issues to the surface that many airline PR staffers would rather keep buried, the one constant thread in every story is airline executives’ lack of connection with customers. As C-level employees, these individuals are the faces of a company and one of an airline’s most important tools. A kind gesture that earns high views could do wonders for a hurting airline, reassuring customers that they’ll be well taken care of if they fly with that carrier. However, airlines have made their PR nightmares even more severe by allowing no leeway or leniency on customer pleas and complaints. By robotically stamping “NO” on all requests, airline executives have alienated customers, which not only leads to blog posts like this one, which calls for a CEO’s resignation, but also irreparably damages that airline’s relationship with the customer — and everyone he or she angrily tells.

In the case of Dave Carroll, more than 5.8 million people tuned into his customer service complaint after United baggage handlers broke his $3,500 Taylor guitar. The carrier claimed no fault, and as a retort, the Canadian musician made this video:

Furthermore, Carroll took to his own blog with a detailed account of the original incident and the “customer service” he encountered in the aftermath. It’s eloquently and diplomatically written, and I wonder why an airline wouldn’t reward Carroll for his good demeanor and peaceful approach to the situation. It could set an example that “playing nice pays off” for the countless other passengers who will file claims in the future, leading to better customer relations and fewer angry, expletive-filled tirades. (Note: a few days ago, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer blogged that Carroll, returning to United’s friendly skies, found his luggage lost upon arriving in Denver. Despite United’s promises to do better, Carroll is still meeting travel woes. Due to his fame in this department, Carroll’s misfortune is causing more bad PR for United.)

Some airlines have their PR machines working in the blogging sector, with mixed results. Southwest uses a colorful, active blog (Nuts About Southwest) and an ad campaign that highlights its customer- and bag-friendly fee policies to win customers’ hearts. However, consumers still think the company could do more; in this year’s J.D. Power and Associates customer satisfaction survey, Southwest ranked no. 2 among low-cost airlines. JetBlue earned the top nod in this category; for traditional network carriers, Alaska, Continental and Delta were named the top three customer-friendly airlines. JetBlue also hosts a blog, as does Delta. All three of these blogging airlines focus their content on internal employee events, new destinations, or guest posts from executives; rarely will a post deal with anything in the sky. While putting a friendly face on the business operations of a major service company may put customers more at ease with their travel experiences, all the content seems a little too lighthearted when contrasted with the anti-airline posts that often appear juxtaposed in a Google search. However, crisis communications blogs have crashed and burned for airlines in the past; American Airline’s now-defunct AA Conversations was launched in summer 2008 after the airline endured a pilot’s strike that caused 3,300 flights to be cancelled. After only a handful of blog posts — of which the last was ironically titled “Let’s Keep Talking…” — the blog inexplicably went silent, and has now been erased from host site blogger.com completely with no explanation. When AA tried to use social media to communicate with customers in a crisis situation, it failed miserably. Other airlines may have taken note from this social media mishap by steering their topics towards the warm and fuzzy. And now, in the age of Twitter, airlines do not need blogs to reach customers in times of crisis; airline errors appear in Twitter’s Trending Topics and searches, making it easier for PR staff to monitor the general buzz on a daily basis.

However, the power to monitor does not come with the power to silence. Until airlines can find a way to make peace with customers and the big negative PR machine they fuel, it only guarantees that future PR practitioners will always find jobs — and possibly some free airline tickets — working to manage airlines’ gloomy image. Maybe one of us will even find the missing link in this PR game and be able to turn a seemingly futile effort to the positive. What do you think? Will that ever be possible for airlines? What are your ideas to help turn the tide of this negative PR?