PR Disaster
Private Airlines Badly Need PR Help
"Blackmail".'Bail Out'."Ransom." "Strike"-were the words that rang out of a Press Conference held by private airline barons on July 31st under the banner of their Federation.It was a worst exercise in confrontation at a time when the airlines were seeking concessions from the government and understanding from the media and the public.
Barely a year back the dominant private players, namely Jet and Kingfisher engaged in a spat out with the Government and this July Press Conference appeared to be a continuation of that exercise. Last years' spat out came amidst speculation that a civil aviation minister friendly to the private industry was pushing for a Rs5000/- crore government bail out. The two airlines had then given out the impression that they were forming a cartel of sorts. It left the minister embarrassed and antagonized the petroleum minister who was trying to lower the prices of petroleum products including ATF, without hurting the government oil companies.
In the latest press conference, none of the three spokesmen for the private industry,(Goyal of Jet,Vijay Mallya of Kingfisher and the federation secretary general ,Anil Baijal) could cogently put across their case regarding the serious difficulties private airline industry was facing. They mainly held the government responsible for their financial woes. There was no candour about the internal mismanagement, including unsustainable competition among the private players to out do each other in airlines' expansion. To a blunt question whether the private airlines by announcing cancellation of services on 18th and onwards was holding the public to 'ransom',Mallya not only did not try to remove the impression but went on to say 'you may call it by whatever language you want'. The Jet chief later unsuccessfully tried to soften the language. Neither Baijal nor any one of the airline barons had any facts relating to the economic cost of one day airline 'strike' to the economy.
Most surprisingly, no one clearly spelt out what were their main demands. It was not clear whether the demand was for reducing ATF prices or reduction of taxes on ATF levied by states. Again there was no punch line to explain what difference such reduction would make to airlines' bottom line.
The media response to the press conference was totally hostile. The government reaction, particularly by the ever sympathetic civil aviation minister was negative.
For us students of PR and communication, the questions are:
- Is a press conference a good tool in situations described above?
- What preparations would be needed even if one were to be held? Did the different players rehearse their roles so that each could reinforce the others?
- In a recession, when ordinary persons are facing threats to their jobs and incomes, a high profile business like airlines catering to a small section of people, by engaging in a spat with government, what is the public impression it would create?
- Could not the Federation on behalf of the airlines arranged back ground briefing to media ahead of the open confrontation?
- Would it not have been a better idea if the idea of a token withdrawal of air services on a particular day quietly leaked to select media, rather than a formal announcement? S.Narendra (9810109097) suanrendra@gmail.
com
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