Preparation saves Southwest Airlines

     Thanks to marketing strategies and a successful business model, Southwest Airlines have become one of the major airlines in the United States. The company flies over 100 million customers each year.

     The airline has hit the target audience through social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. To honor receiving their 3 millionth Facebook like to their page the company offered some great deals exclusively through Facebook.

     The promotion was an instant hit. Unfortunately the system was flooded and customers were being double billed for their purchases. Some customers were even charged up to 50 times.

     Any company is vulnerable to mistakes which can immediately turn a great promotion into a deadly Public Relations fiasco. In the recent past Southwest Airlines has also had to overcome the bad words of a pilot regarding flight attendants. The pilot accidently left his radio on after speaking to air traffic control. His ill words regarding the flight attendant were quickly released to a news station.

     To make matters worse the company has also received negative tweets from customers which have received national attention.

     Considering the circumstances, Southwest has been able to move forward as a company with few regrets. The company deserves to be mentioned as a model of how to overcome situations that cause bad Public Relations.

     Southwest has credited their success to overcoming the Public Relations disaster by being prepared. Paul Flaningan, an airline spokesman for the company said "We're busier when there's nothing going on because we are constantly preparing and altering our contingency plans to address things that could happen.”

     Within the drop of a hat, a company can go from hero to villain. Most often a company does not know when they will face an event that could turn their company upside down.

     Each company needs to be prepared for how they might handle bad “PR”. Every company needs to know what events could cause bad “PR” and how they would respond to the event.

     To once again use Southwest Airlines as an example; Paul Flaningan said “Communicators meet up every month to update those plans. Pre-approved statements for various scenarios each have an executive spokesperson attached.”

     Of course there is only so much a company can do to prepare. They must be able to act quickly, and respond quickly to overcome the disaster. One major point of emphasis is the importance that every spokesperson representing the company is always fully prepared. The representative must know all of the facts, details, and possible questions.

     Because of Southwest Airline’s preparation, the company is still helping thousands of customers fly each day. The company will continue to remain calm as they watch all bad “PR” wash away, and sales revenue climb.