The Power of Communicating a Little Information: Inform the airlines

While I was hostage at the airport recently, waiting on my cancelled 5:30 flight, then waiting for my rebooked 8:30 flight, which then finally left at 10:35 (argh), I couldn’t help notice how airline agents handled the disgruntled travelers. Some do well. Others have difficulty offering an outright apology—an expression of “We’re concerned because we made a mistake/did something wrong.” Agents personally, of course, do not make such decisions to cancel flights. But airlines send them to the “front lines” to represent the company without equipping them with the right message or the right attitude.

There was no weather problem. Neither was there a mechanical problem. Passengers were left to guess why the first flight was cancelled (flight not full; unprofitable, probably). No explanation about delays on the second flight either—except “waiting on a plane.” No reason they couldn’t announce to us 200, plus passengers standing around the gate when that plane was expected to arrive and take off again. This same thing happens many times while sitting on the plane for extended periods. Just tell us why we are sitting there.

As the various agents grew more nonchalant and/or sullen about answering questions, the passengers grew angrier and angrier.

Failure to admit mistakes and poor service leads to outrage. Failure to express concern leads to bitterness. Survivors, even dying victims, forgive mistakes; they don’t forgive unconcern.

Here are a few guidelines I teach in my people skills and communication programs:

Admit or report problems and mistakes immediately.
Delay only compounds the problem—for yourself and others involved to correct the problem or control the consequences.

Focus on resolution.
Rather than wringing your hands about a situation, direct all energy to solving the problem yourself or suggesting solutions to others who must implement them.

Offer explanation to restore confidence.
Because people are not mind-readers, you have to explain why you made the judgment call you did, why the error happened, or your reasoning behind your actions. Such explanations restore confidence because people understand mistakes. In the absence of information, it’s human nature to assume the worst about the details of a mistake (for example, that you are careless or a poor decision maker).

Express regret about the outcome/situation.
Even if things are not your fault, you can express sincere regret over the situation without accept liability.

Be specific.
Make clear statements with specific details that show you understand the severity (or potential severity) of the situation/problem. Avoid global, blanket apologies such as “I’m sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused you.” Such vague statements are interpreted to mean, “I have no idea what kind of problem I caused, but if you want an apology, here it is.” This merely incites bosses, customers, and colleagues further.

Concern connects people. In whatever situation—from product recall to layoffs to employee illness to accident victims to stressed travelers—there’s tremendous power in communicating concern. Somebody should tell the airlines—at least until Congress acts and gets this mess fixed with a passenger bill of rights.

The Power of Communicating a Little Information: Inform the airlines