A contrast in responses to the unspeakable events of September 11: American Airlines vs. United Airlines

Abstract

September 11, 2001, is a date that has caused nearly everyone in the civilized world to reflect on all elements of life and work. Certainly, the events of that day caused a multitude of corporate communicators to reflect on their communication strategies, and in particular on their crisis response plans. This extraordinary event was a most severe test of how well these plans stood up. The events of September 11 were a national disaster (in the US) in which two airlines had their planes used as weapons in a most horrendous terrorist attack against the United States. Instead of one terrible crash, there were four. Instead of relatives and friends of one planeload of passengers to communicate with, there were four. With all of the political, financial, and emotional implications of these crashes, imagine the crisis communication task that American Airlines and United Airlines had to cope with. The paper examines the first twenty-four hours of press releases from the two airlines and analyzes what they tell us about how well each airline seemed to be prepared for a disaster of this magnitude. W.T. Coombs' (1995; 2000) crisis response strategies are the basis for the analysis.