Southwest Airlines--Study in Authenticity
Southwest Airlines is a brand in crisis.
The corporation was an anomaly: an airline known for efficiency and entertainment but this month, they became known for fuselage cracks and inadequate safety inspections.
The low-cost airline's tailspin began with the recent announcement of a $10.2 million fine from the Federal Aviation Administration based on 2007 maintenance records. The Dallas-based company is also scheduled for a congressional hearing on April 3 to discuss maintenance practices while the stock price has dropped 10 percent since the news broke earlier this month.
CEO Gary Kelly has to be thinking of JetBlue Airways, which lost its sterling reputation, and CEO David Neeleman, who later stepped down during one memorable Valentine's Day incident last year.
With customers feeling betrayed, Kelly needs to act swiftly to address the perception that safety isn't a priority for the airline.
"What is your plan to reestablish the trust of your customers?" asks commenter Hamilton Hayes, on the Southwest Blog, Nuts About Southwest. What's the plan, indeed?
What Have They Done?
Shortly after news reports began to surface, Kelly immediately appeared on morning and evening news programs.
"Our number one priority is to operate a safe airline, and then also, provide outstanding customer service. At no time were we operating in an unsafe manner," Kelly told CNN.
He repeatedly pointed out that he has commissioned an independent investigation and has stuck to the party line that Southwest has an exemplary service record of over 37 years of operation. The company also sent an email directly to its Rapid Rewards members, the company's frequent-flier program. The missive began with "We take safety seriously" and attempted to convince consumers that flight safety was never an issue. It is a message that has not resonated well as the fine and inspections are related to fuselage cracks.
To date the company has given a textbook response for brand crisis management, and that is exactly the problem. Southwest has never been a conventional company. It has established a unique identity that resonates with each employee from humorous in-flight announcements to Kelly dressing up in drag for Halloween at corporate headquarters. But the challenge for Southwest is how they translate an unconventional corporate culture into an appropriate response for what some consumers see as brand betrayal.
What Should They Do?
The company has always taken a proactive stance towards answering criticism online. They own the domain, IhateSouthwest.com and Southwestsucks.com; both direct you to a message about customer service off their homepage. But these are defensive responses, geared towards search engine results. Southwest needs to become an open forum and bring transparency to Southwest.com. That means accepting customer service complaints and questions via e-mail (their site states they are working on a system) and addressing customers' concerns in the comments section of their blog.
Southwest could also feature an online chat with a maintenance technician or pilot to answer questions about safety and new maintenance procedures. Liability issues aside, the company could even post the maintenance reports for every airplane, allowing clients to see the latest information on the plane they will be boarding. It's a step that nobody has even taken, something that sounds like the pre-crisis Southwest.
Ultimately, it is a question of transparency. This is the company that agreed to air the daily struggles of passengers and airline employees in the 2004 A&E reality show Airline. That same level of access is needed more than ever.
Southwest has been profitable for 35 years. It carries the most passengers in the world. But it won't reach a 36th year of profitability if people think that planes are unsafe or the company is trying to spin the problem of fuselage cracks. And now that it is no longer fun-and-games at Southwest, we will see if they can convince people that their unusual brand is not irrevocably tarnished.
Great post. If Southwest would have just come out and spoke plainly (which is what we consumers expected them to do) then they could have held on to their brand core. Now it might be too late. It reminds me of Starbucks' recent efforts to spruce up their brand. They made a lot of noise about re-training to make the perfect cup of coffee. I had noticed that it wasn't perfect. Now I watch more closely and am inevitability disappointed.
Justin,
Thanks for providing the perspective of the consumer. It's amazing how in the rush to answer criticism, corporations can forget that the first person who needs an answer when mistakes happen is the guy footing the bill- the customer.
-Jonathan