Press Release or Not
As an airline, the company prides itself in trust, transparency, and accountability. These values will help in fostering a long-term relationship with the airline’s customers. Being a new entrant on the aircraft market, the airline is currently operating in ten destinations only (10). The airline could become a global carrier in the future if it can maintain a positive relationship with its clients. It is the airline’s dream to join the star alliance in the future.
The best thing for the airline to do would be to prepare a press statement and address the issue. The report on the incident would be sent to the FAA within 24 hours, after which it would become a matter of public record. Journalists would inevitably get wind of the incident event and ask for a statement (10). Thus, it would be best to get ahead of the situation. The public relations and communications team should draft the statement, but the CEO of the airline should give the press statement as a way of showing that the airline takes the matter seriously.
The best way to address the issue would be first to admit to the fact that the captain had keeled over, and the first officer landed the plane. An explanation of the reasons why this incident happened would follow this admission. Next, the airline would explain that there had been no high-risk factors to have caused the captain’s heart attack since other flight crew members were in sound shape and executed their duties effectively. Therefore, this incident was an unexpected health issue (10). The airline would further explain that it always put experienced crew members on board any aircraft as a safety precaution. This way, should anything go amiss with the pilot-flying, the pilot-not-flying can take over control and salvage the situation, as was in this case.
There could be a negative impact on the business in the short term, but the transparency and taking accountability would build trust between the airline and customers in the long-run (10). The airline will measure its progress by the number of passengers for each month in the coming months.
Works Cited
Smith, Jerald, R., Golden, P. A., and Deighan, M. Airline: The strategy simulation. Charlottesville, VA: Interpretive Simulations