Assuming Perfection

The airline industry has taken a beating over the last several weeks.

First, during the holidays, Southwest Airlines canceled thousands of flights due to weather and staffing issues.  Airlines can’t do much about the weather.  If pilots and industry standards say it’s unsafe to fly – the traveling public should be okay with that.

Airlines can, however, ensure that their employee communication and scheduling software is good enough to meet the demands of today – not 20 years ago.  While the operations of the airline had a role this particular PR problem, (as Abbie has pointed out in a previous post) it is my understanding that the front-line Southwest Airlines employees rose to the top in their ability to handle unsympathetic and downright angry customers.

Then, a couple weeks ago a computer glitch at the Federal Aviation Administration delayed airline traffic across much of the nation.  The FAA instituted a nationwide pause on departures, known as a ground stop, resulting in more than 6,400 flights being grounded.

Again, the airlines and their communications teams had to take the brunt of the ire from travelers although it wasn’t really their fault.

While many get all up in arms when delays like this occur, and it does cause a lot of hassles and missed events, among other major inconveniences, the public seems to forget the airlines’ number one priority – safety.

Have we forgotten what a fete it is to put a giant aircraft full of passengers into the sky and land safely thousands of miles away without incident?  It’s something we now just take for granted.  Thankfully it’s something the airline industry communications pros rarely have to talk about.