Jet Blue Hits Key Points When Confronted With PR Nightmare
Steven Slater has become a household name in the past week. The JetBlue employee gave new meaning to the song, “Take This Job and Shove It.” He did what many of us have, at one point or another, felt like doing, walking out on a job we hate. The only difference between the rest of the world and Slater is that he cussed out an airplane full of people, grabbed some beer and used a slide for his grand exit.
Surely he isn’t the only person to cause a scene when walking out on a job, but he created a PR nightmare for the airline he worked for. Employees are representatives of the companies they work for and Slater brought JetBlue’s name to headline news and water coolers around the world.
While the rest of the world was talking about what happened, we were over here waiting. We wanted to know how JetBlue would respond or if they would respond. Yesterday JetBlue posted the following on BlueTales, their company blog:
Sometimes the weird news is about us…
It wouldn’t be fair for us to point out absurdities in other corners of the industry without acknowledging when it’s about us. Well, this week’s news certainly falls into that category. Perhaps you heard a little story about one of our flight attendants? While we can’t discuss the details of what is an ongoing investigation, plenty of others have already formed opinions on the matter. Like, the entire Internet. (The reason we’re not commenting is that we respect the privacy of the individual. People can speak on their own behalf; we won’t do it for them.) While this episode may feed your inner Office Space, we just want to take this space to recognize our 2,300 fantastic, awesome and professional Inflight Crewmembers for delivering the JetBlue Experience you’ve come to expect of us.
You can’t make this shtick up.
We’re a little bit in love with how JetBlue handled what could have been a PR nightmare. Here’s why we think they got it so right:
- 1) THEY LISTENED
Instead of hiding and hoping it would go away, they listened to what was going on in the media and heard what the people were saying. Whether the people thought it was funny, crazy or felt empathetic toward Slater, they listened. - 2) THEY MONITORED
JetBlue then waited to see if the general opinion would shift. Would people side with Slater or would they side with the company? Would it blow over? - 3) THEY PLANNED
A few days later it’s still being talked about…this meant they had to respond and they did. - 4) THEY RESPONDED
They approached it in the same manner the world was talking about it. The whole world was talking about how funny/weird the whole incident was and they agreed. They maintained integrity by not bashing Slater and reminded us there are 2,300 other in-flight crewmembers that hadn’t gone down the slide with Slater.
Big props go out to JetBlue for how they handled it! We wish more companies would not only address positive publicity but negative too.
About the Author: My Two Cents
I have a creative, yet logical brain. Don’t understand that? I’ll explain. Have you ever played Pictionary and the person drawing keeps drawing the SAME thing and nobody is guessing it right? I’m always thinking (and yelling), “DRAW SOMETHING ELSE!” I approach life the same way…if it’s not working, it’s time to change the drawing.
P.S. My two cents is worth more than two cents.
DISCLAIMER: What I say is real and never edited by “The Man” much to his disdain. I didn’t major in English, despite my awesome way with words. I write about my love of all things social media in hopes that I can get you to love it and understand it the way I do. I’m a self-admitted social media junkie.
Facebook comments:
