PUBLIC RELATIONS CAMPAIGN AMERICAN AIRLINES

Public Relations Campaign American Airlines

Public Relations Campaign American Airlines

Introduction

AMR Corporation's operations fall almost entirely in the airline industry. American Airlines, Inc, AMR's principal subsidiary, is the largest air carrier in the world, the first to offer passengers frequent-flier miles, and the first major airline to hire a female pilot. In April 2001, American Airlines, Inc. purchased substantially all of the assets and assumed certain liabilities of Trans World Airlines, Inc. (TWA). At the end of 2001, American (including TWA) provided scheduled jet service to more than 161 destinations throughout North America, the Caribbean, Latin America, Europe and the Pacific. American is also a scheduled air freight carrier, providing a full range of freight and mail services to shippers throughout its system.

Public Relations Campaign American Airlines

Public relations evaluation can be categorized by many concepts such as environmental monitoring, output, intermediate effect, outcome, the program and organizational evaluation, and cost-effectiveness (Bissland, 1990; Ehling, 1992; Hon, 1998; Lerbinger, 1977; Lindenmann, 1993; Norton, 1977; Swinehart, 1979). Given those concepts, it is proposed that public relations evaluation has three dimensions in this research: formative/summative evaluation, program level/organizational level, and effectiveness/efficiency

There is perhaps no other company in the history of the U.S. economy that has suffered as many crisis situations as American Airlines has in the past few years. In 2001 alone, the company had to deal with the September 11 terrorist attacks, the crash of a flight two months later, and a hijacker attempting to detonate the plane with a shoe bomb. In addition to those crisis's, add the business acquisition and integration of TWA line into the company's operations, and the outcome is a situation in which American Airlines was faced with almost insurmountable challenges to maintain its corporate reputation and brand.

Despite the adversity, American Airlines had always made sure to maintain a plan for almost any crisis situation. When the September 11 terrorist attacks and Flight 587 crash occurred, the collective public relations team sprang into action, tapping checklists identified in the crisis plan. In the fall of 2001, AA faced a financial crisis as travelers stayed home, resulting in furloughs and budget cuts. The airline had a plan in place to keep a constant level of communication with employees and maintain morale and a sense of pride in the company. The airline was able to work closely with the federal government, other airlines and third party experts on a cohesive message and coordinated response. The result of this campaign is that American Airlines is still one of the most respected brands in U.S. transportation and has rebounded to almost normal traffic since September 11. The airline has seen a steady climb in tickets booked online in 2002 and American Airlines has successfully communicated the "one airline" spirit with the integration of TWA, making American the world's largest airline.

With the economy slumping and travel statistics down in 2003, American Airlines financial position has hit dire straits. This situation has escalated further with distrust developing between labor and management due ...