Fly the Branded Skies

 

Public Relations

These are posts from Fly the Branded Skies on the topic of Public Relations.

Wet Paint

[Censored]

On Sunday, a Thai International Airways A330 carrying 280 passengers skidded off the runway while landing in Bangkok. There were 14 injuries but, thankfully, no fatalities.

A regrettable accident, to be sure. But the world might barely have noticed if ambulances and fire trucks had been the only vehicles to respond to the emergency. Instead, within hours, Thai also dispatched a bucket truck. In the dead of night, airline workers painted over the logo on the tail and the titles on the fuselage — in full view of photographers.
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God is my co-pilot

Frontier Airlines tail (photo by P. Alejandro Diaz)

The chief executive and employees of Frontier Airlines are God-fearin’ people. That’s one of the main takeaways from this evening’s episode of “Undercover Boss,” which featured Republic Airways CEO Bryan Bedford praying, listening to employees, praying, having dinner with his family, praying, wearing a ridiculous wig, praying, talking to employees about their faith, and praying.

This isn’t to say there’s anything wrong with being a person of faith. But it does suggest appearing on “Undercover Boss” isn’t really as risky as some people say. In fact, it’s probably one of the cushiest PR opportunities out there, letting CEOs be conspicuously magnanimous during a full hour of prime-time network television. Shortly after the episode ended, the Frontier Airlines Web site appeared to crash—perhaps brought down by thousands of travelers seeking out the airline’s “Undercover Fares” sale.   Read more