
The Leading in a Crisis Podcast
Interviews, stories and lessons learned from experienced crisis leaders. Email the show at Tom@leadinginacrisis.com.
Being an effective leader in a corporate or public crisis situation requires knowledge, tenacity, and influencing skills. Unfortunately, most of us don't get much training or real experience dealing with crisis situations. On this podcast, we will talk with people who have lived through major crisis events and we will tap their experience and stories from the front lines of crisis management.
Your host, Tom Mueller, is a veteran crisis manager and trainer with more than 30 years in the corporate communications and crisis fields. Tom currently works as an executive coach and crisis trainer with WPNT Communications, and as a contract public information officer and trainer through his personal company, Tom Mueller Communications LLC.
Your co-host, Marc Mullen, has over 20 years of experience as a communication strategist. He provides subject matter expertise in a number of communication specializations, including crisis communication plan development, response and recovery communications, emergency notifications and communications, organizational reviews, and after-action reports. He blogs at Blog | Marc Mullen
Our goal is to help you grow your knowledge and awareness so you can be better prepared to lead should a major crisis threaten your organization.
Music credit: Special thanks to Nick Longoria from Austin, Texas for creating the theme music for the podcast.
The Leading in a Crisis Podcast
EP 23 Reviewing crisis communications around Alaska Airlines in-flight emergency Part 2
Join the conversation with Tom Mueller and Mark Mullen as we dissect the high-stakes world of crisis management, offering a rare glimpse into Boeing's strategic playbook during the Alaska Airlines incident. Through the lens of crisis communication experts, we unravel the complexities of swift, competing responses amidst public scrutiny and the 'fog of war' that often clouds crisis situations.
Our latest podcast episode takes you behind the scenes of Boeing's handling of the Alaska Airlines incident. We debate the timeliness and appropriateness of their response to this near-catastrophic incident. We critically analyze their decision to implement a safety stand down and the CEO's strategy of engaging with the crisis head-on. And we also discuss the tactic of leaking internal meeting content to key reporters in order to gain positive media coverage.
We also discuss Southwest Airlines' approach to crisis communication following an in-flight incident and fatality two years ago. Join us as we dissect these case studies and offer invaluable insights into the complex world of crisis communication in the aviation industry.
We'd love to hear from you. Email the show at Tom@leadinginacrisis.com.
Hi everyone and welcome to the Leading in a Crisis podcast. On this podcast, we talk all things crisis management and we deliver that through interviews, storytelling and lessons learned from experienced crisis leaders. I'm Tom Mueller, and with me also is my colleague, Marc Mullen. On this episode, we continue our conversation around the Alaska Airlines crisis situation and we're in the midst now of talking about Boeing's communications response to the incident. Let's pick up that conversation now.
Marc Mullen:The other part of this is, again, we only get to fly with the reputation we have and, again, boeing's priority has always been safety of air travel, safety of their product. They're still digging out from some previous incidents and I just again look and wonder why it took them so long to communicate when they would have known from the very beginning that this was just going to land no pun intended on top of already existing issues with that aircraft model.
Tom Mueller:You know that takes me back to the 5 pm Friday night incident occurring, which may factor into that. But I agree with you, mark. I mean, based on how you're framing that up, the company should be ready to move smartly on this. But I do think there is some fog of war issues going on there as these things play out.
Marc Mullen:Sorry, everybody can armchair quarterback and I don't want to appear to be an armchair quarterback. It's just that I would advise clients if they're dealing with issues from previous incidents, they should be doubly sensitive to anything that even smells like that.
Tom Mueller:Well, let's just carry on a little bit and follow Boeing's communications then. So we mentioned that they had their first communications about 1 pm the day after the incident. The following day, which would have been Sunday, boeing CEO announced a safety stand down for the following Tuesday. And again here's now the CEO of Boeing, fully engaged and working the crisis situation very visible and focused on safety and making it clear that we're going to revisit safety on our shop floors and across the company. I like the fact that they came out quickly with that and really they're sort of taking the bull by the horns and trying to be proactive in hitting the safety message here. Marc, how did you think that the safety stand down and their approach on that works for them?
Marc Mullen:I suspect that was as quick as they could make it happen. That's not just announcing something, that is announcing something that actually is going to occur, and just the sheer process of figuring out what can we do and how quickly can we do it and can we safely stand down for a safety stand down? They had to deal with all of that. So that's where it gets into the fact that in a response, the physical actions take time, because they're physical actions. It takes time to stop a production line, it takes time to order boom for a water incident, and so on.
Marc Mullen:You can't escape the limitations of time and availability. So I could completely understand that. And of course, what they watch into is public interest doesn't take time and communication shouldn't take time. So I thought that what they did was important and I think they probably did as quickly as they could. It would have had more impact had their CEO spoke to the incident a few hours before or even the day before. It would have broken it apart into two parts First, empathy and concern, and then second, the same person back up and now some actual steps they're taking to deal with the core issue.
Tom Mueller:You can't say the CEO wasn't fully engaged in this. Only he and the board recognize there's another major issue brewing here and that's churning into the chronic phase of this crisis. One other piece I want to mention about the Boeing communications Marc, and then we'll move on and talk about Spirit Aero systems. On that Tuesday stand down the CEO was out on the shop floor at one of the factories out in Washington state, I believe and had a very heartfelt conversation about safety with the employees there. Now, I'm quite certain his audience for that conversation went far beyond just the employees there on the shop floor and he was talking to regulators, to investors and customers around the world. And, interestingly, the comments that he made during that employee town hall meeting were leaked to the Wall Street Journal, who was provided an audio copy of the meeting content, and so of course, the Wall Street Journal then has a scoop and they're quoting the CEO talking about all the safety aspects and how critical that is to the company's future.
Marc Mullen:But if it was critical towards Boeing, it wouldn't have surprised me if it was leaked. And if it was complementary to Boeing, it also wouldn't surprise me if it was leaked. It all depends on who leaked it and what their accomplice. But it is important to understand again that again, we say it again, and again and again everything you do is public, everything you say is public. So if this was complementary, great. But again it points out, you have no control over the words once they leave your mouth.
Tom Mueller:I sort of see this, Marc, as a tactic from the communications team to leak that video and that audio because it's just, you know, it's a great message, it's a kind of message you'd want to reiterate. And, interestingly, I saw a similar tactic followed with another with an oil company recently who replaced their CEO, and there was real questions from shareholders, from employees Is this new CEO going to follow the same strategy as the previous CEO? And of course they didn't want to have a press conference to talk about those issues. But the new CEO did have a town hall meeting with employees and what do you know? The audio of that town hall was leaked to the FT or another European newspaper. So once again, the messages are reiterated, but we're not putting the CEO out in front of, you know, a press briefing, which would of course be out of control and whatnot.
Marc Mullen:There, right, and having the lead is better than going to one particular media outlet you trusted the most, and that's sort of a question because I find it interesting. If it's, why not just release the comments? Why not be public and just post them for all the world to see? Why are we still locked in this idea about leaking things to specific? Because the other side does it too, so to speak. I've been in this before, where you begin to steady drip of emails, suddenly found available different things to try to point the blame. But either way, it accomplished its purpose and ended up being where they wanted it to be.
Tom Mueller:Yeah, it reiterated those key messages, and that was one of those things that the company really wanted to do is get that safety message out Now, of course, we're just getting into the chronic phase of the crisis now, so much more is going to happen, but we're going to kind of keep our conversation limited to the sort of acute phase of this. ------------- Hi everyone, Tom Mueller here. One of the challenges we face in the crisis space is keeping our teams engaged in thinking about crisis response. One approach I have found to be very effective in that space is using case studies to guide a conversation around crisis readiness. This can be a fun and engaging way to stimulate your team's thinking about crisis, and it can be delivered in as few as 30 minutes. That makes it an ideal addition to a team meeting agenda.
Tom Mueller:One of the services I offer here is leading these facilitated discussions. I can deliver this virtually or in person as part of your next team meeting, and I can guarantee you a fun and engaging conversation. If you're interested or want to learn more, please email me at tom@leadinginacrisiscom. That's tom@leadinginacrisiscom. Now back to the show. --------------- The last piece we haven't talked about yet, Marc, is the Spirit Aero Systems, which is the company that manufactured the fuselage for Boeing, and do you want to talk about the Spirit Aero Systems and how they're going to communicate in this incident?
Marc Mullen:But I think again, they issued a supportive statement on day three.
Marc Mullen:So now we're down to their first statement out on day three.
Marc Mullen:So I'll ask you the next morning Boyne got it the day after that and Spirit got something on day three and, given the developments about how that door had ended up unplugged or how that plug had ended up unbolted, to me they focused right where they should have, which is their own focus on safety, the partnership with Boyne, because in fact they are a subsidiary in that respect and so letting Boyne carry the freight is a good strategy and policy for them. And then they basically sort of noticed that they wouldn't have any more comment. That's the only part I'm not sure about, simply because that always sounds like we're trying to avoid questions or scrutiny, no matter how you say it. So at the same time, I understand from their perspective about they are not going to carry that communication on the incident. They're just not going to. But to think that that's going to stop you being approached for more information is naive. And I don't think they were naive. I think they were just laying the groundwork that they could in the future not respond or point back to Boyne.
Tom Mueller:Yeah, and there is a certain protocol around these aircraft incidents. Right Once the investigation is rolling, the NTSB generally has the lead on those, and so communications around the investigation come through the NTSB. So to a certain extent, you know, spirit Aero Systems is well within their rights to stand back and say protocol dictates that regulators lead the conversation and so we will have nothing further to say. But I agree with you, it does come off as though they're just trying to hide behind a smoke screen here a little bit. But there's a lot of pressure on the Spirit Aero Systems, as well as Boeing, in this situation, and it all the more awkward because you've got close working relationships between the various companies in there, and so you know there's potentially, you know, incentive to start pointing fingers at people.
Tom Mueller:But at the same time we've got ongoing business relationships. We don't want to spoil that or, you know, put salt in any of the wounds here. So it can be a very challenging and complex communications environment here, and that's clearly what we have in this setting. Hey, Marc, let's wrap it up here, let's think about what we've seen communications-wise from the three companies and how you know that measures up against core crisis communications principles. J ob one is you've got to have a plan and when the time comes, you need to be able to execute that plan and hopefully get that first statement out within about an hour. How did, how was your assessment on the companies from those basic smarts?
Marc Mullen:I think they should probably figure out a way to say something faster the minute the plane is down on the ground, alaska should be saying we've had an incident, we're investigating, everybody's safe. They said all that. It was just later than that and again, the today's equation is if anybody where this happened has a cell phone and connectivity, then we are right now in a race to communicate.
Tom Mueller:That's a terrific point. Again, mark, just to reiterate the speed of social media is incredible in situations like this and you know we didn't see it on this incident, but on the Southwest Airlines incident from two years ago we actually had somebody doing a FaceTime live from on board the aircraft as it was making its emergency descent. So that was incredible. You know footage to see from somebody on an aircraft that's on its way down. We didn't get that on this one, but it reiterates the point We've got to move smartly when issues happen like this.
Marc Mullen:Right and, as you point out, that information should not be a surprise. It can even go back to years ago, when a passenger was drunk off an airplane because they were over capacity and the media storm the social media storm that erupted just about as rapidly as the drop of the aisle and every airline in the world probably looked at that and said we need to be ready for that. Well, here's a test when something happens, are you ready for it or not?
Tom Mueller:Well, Marc, the next couple of principles here I just want to go through with you. Really, one of the most important for me, aside from getting out quickly, is empathetic messaging and making sure that you're focused on the people who are most impacted by the incident and showing that you care about them. You're taking actions to address their concerns and the impacts to them and their families. How do you feel like the airlines and companies did on that score?
Marc Mullen:I think, from a public view, they did about as well as you could expect. Again, timing is an issue a little bit. We should know from the very beginning that if something like this happens, our message about empathy should be built in the very front. And, by the way, there's something strange about saying that like we're planning on empathy, but it's a reality. You have to express your real concern. What we don't know is what happened at the gate. What we don't know is what Alaska did for their passengers as they got off the plane. I suspect that would be a story all on itself. But as far as corporations expressing empathy, it was done. Again, it could have been more timely.
Tom Mueller:Agreed. And the other issue I'd just like to reiterate here is thinking about CEO engagement. It's always an interesting conversation in a crisis situation like this is how quickly should your CEO be pushed out front on things like this? And of course, it's a double-edged sword, because you want to show the company is fully engaged, but at the same time, you need to sometimes think about holding that CEO back in case things escalate further and things get a little worse, and then you've got room to bring in the more senior executive in situations like this. But as far as you know, as I look at this, both CEOs from Boeing and Alaska Airlines engaged quickly and assertively in this space. Your thoughts, Marc?
Marc Mullen:Well, I think they did Again. I'm not sure what you said assertively, because several hours went past before they did so I think in this type of an event, I don't know if there is any choice but to have a CEO up front, where this is not a this is a major event. This is actually the event they fear, which is something that happens. They could make people afraid to fly, and particularly given that I think the flagship bearer is the CEO, and I think in the long run, the CEO is going to be in front of the media anyway and so in this case, simply because of the scale and the impact and the attention, it's an opportunity to get out front and to clearly indicate. I think what's coming for Boeing is issues about who's in charge. There was a lost opportunity there to speak as quickly as possible. This is the second worst case thing that can happen to an aircraft manufacturer. You know it going in. I would just really look at that timing and see if we can move everything out.
Tom Mueller:Okay, interesting point. I think we'll agree to disagree on that one a bit, because I do think they have to give Alaska Airlines space to communicate about that. I'm actually okay with where Boeing landed on those initial communications. This brings to mind another example of CEO communications, mark, in that I mentioned the Southwest Airlines incident from a couple of years ago. Southwest responded really really well and quickly on that. I have a whole case study on that Southwest Airlines incident and their communications if anybody's interested in hearing that.
Tom Mueller:But the CEO? Well, the communications team had the CEO on video making a statement and posted to their website within about four hours of that aircraft touching down. That was, you might recall, that was the first ever fatality on a Southwest Airlines flight. So the company responded very quickly. I was amazed to see a CEO video out on their website within about four hours of the incident. So kudos to them. That to me is a pretty high water mark for communicating quickly in a major incident. I agree, all right, that's going to do it for this episode of the Leading in a Crisis podcast. We appreciate you joining us today. If you're like what you're hearing, please like and subscribe to the podcast and please tell your friends and colleagues about us as well, and we'll see you again soon for another episode of the Leading in a Crisis podcast.