The airport professional's source for airport industry news, articles, events, and careers.
Issue link: http://airportbusiness.epubxp.com/i/818811
May 2017 airportbusiness 5 INSIDE THE FENCE GROUP PUBLISHER: Brett Ryden Brett@AviationPros.com 920-568-8338 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Joe Petrie Joe.Petrie@AviationPros.com 920-563-8370 SENIOR EDITOR: Benét Wilson BWilson@AviationPros.com 443-838-7033 SALES National Accounts Manager: Michelle Kohn 800-547-7377 x3344 Michelle@AviationPros.com National Accounts Manager / East Coast: Greg Szatko 262-473-9238 greg@AviationPros.com PRODUC TION Art Director: Rhonda Cousin Production Manager: Carmen Seeber cseeber@southcomm.com CIRCUL ATION Audience Development Manager: Debbie Dumke SOUTHCOMM BUSINESS MEDIA CEO: Chris Ferrell CFO: Bob Mahoney COO: Blair Johnson VP, Production Operations: Curt Pordes VP, Technology: Eric Kammerzelt Executive Vice President: Gloria Cosby VP Marketing: Gerry Whitty Director of Digital Business Development: Lester Craft List Rentals: Elizabeth Jackson email: ejackson@meritdirect.com phone: 847-492-1350 ext. 18 • fax: 847-492-0085 Subscription Customer Service 877-382-9187; 847-559-7598 Circ.AirportBusiness@omeda.com PO Box 3257 • Northbrook IL 60065-3257 Article reprints • Brett Petillo Wright's Media 877-652-5295, ext. 118 bpetillo@wrightsmedia.com Airport Business (USPS 001-614), (ISSN 1072-1797 print; ISSN 2150- 4539 online) is published 8 times per year in Feb/Mar, April, May, Jun/Jul, Aug/Sep, October, November and Dec/Jan by SouthComm Business Media, LLC. Periodicals postage paid at Fort Atkinson, WI 53538 and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Airport Business, PO Box 3257, Northbrook, IL 60065- 3257. Canada Post PM40612608. Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: Airport Business, PO Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2. Subscriptions: Individual print subscriptions are available without charge to qualified subscribers in North America. Complimentary digital subscriptions are available to qualified subscribers world wide. Please visit www.aviationpros.com and click on "Subscribe". Publisher reserves the right to reject non-qualified subscriptions. Subscription prices: U.S. $36 per year, $72 two year; Canada/ Mexico $62 per year, $108 two year; All other countries $88 per year, $165 two year. All subscriptions payable in U.S. funds, drawn on U.S. bank. Canadian GST#842773848. Back issue $10 prepaid, if available. Printed in the USA. Copyright 2017 SouthComm Business Media, LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recordings or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission from the publisher. SouthComm Business Media, LLC does not assume and hereby disclaims any liability to any person or company for any loss or damage caused by errors or omissions in the material herein, regardless of whether such errors result from negligence, accident or any other cause whatsoever. The views and opinions in the articles herein are not to be taken as official expressions of the publishers, unless so stated. The publishers do not warrant, either expressly or by implication, the factual accuracy of the articles herein, nor do they so warrant any views or opinions offered by the authors of said articles. Published by SouthComm Business Media, Inc. PO Box 803 • 1233 Janesville Ave Fort Atkinson WI 53538 920-563-6388 • 800-547-7377 VOL. 31, NO. 5 Joe Petrie Editor-in-Chief S o I originally wrote a column for you about a recent experience getting stranded in an airport that kicked off a 36 hour saga that entailed two airlines, five cities, four airports and zero hotel rooms and relating it to the importance for preparations for mass cancellation. It would've made you laugh, been a little entertained and maybe provided some perspective from the passen- ger side of a major delay. However, I had to scrap that column because as we were putting together the Airport Business daily newsletter recently, I was struck by a head- line that really hit me: "Nobody Dragged From Oversold Boise Flights, Airport Says" April hasn't been kind to United Airlines on a public relations front. First the outcry from the leggings incident, then the viral video of a man being dragged from his seat because the flight was oversold, followed up with some company statements that ended up fanning the flames even further. While the incident took place in Chicago, local media outlets across the nation were aflutter with local stories about any potential incidents. I've never flown out of Boise, but I'm willing to bet no one getting forcibly dragged from a flight is a pretty regular thing and therefore shouldn't be news. However, when a major incident happens, the questions will roll right back at you because all news is local. If you have a communications department at your airport, I'm willing to bet each one of them fielded at least one phone call from a media outlet asking about the United incident. Some blame an overzealous press, but as someone who used to work in newspapers, I assure you the only reason reporters called is because they were hit with mul- tiple calls from people in your community alleging all sorts of incidents they claim took place at your facility or on flights from your airport. Great public relations are more crucial than ever for the aviation industry. There is a whole host of issues right that could fundamentally change the industry. Best practices on the ground stop incidents, but public communications contains a crisis. Keep an eye on your crisis communications plans and make sure your administration is speaking to the public and not the industry. After all, it only takes one incident and a poor plan at one facility to create a new slough of regulations for everyone else. United in Success and Failure When one crisis communication plan fails, the entire industry loses. ONLINE EXCLUSIVES f Airport Wireless Networks and the Need for Speed … Density and Coverage Wi-Fi is the No. 1 requested travel amenity, which makes it no surprise that airports are constantly focused on offering best-in-class wireless networks. Fast speeds are often viewed as the key to a successful network; however, speed alone does not equal an optimal user experience. www.AviationPros.com/12309726 f Press On: Advice for Today's A.A.E. Retired Navy Capt. Jim Philpitt, A.A.E., a senior planner in support of a combatant command of the U.S. Department of Defense, shares candid career advice with new A.A.E. recipients based on his own experiences after reading about the program in the December/January issue of Airport Business. www.AviationPros.com/12326683 Canada's Airports @ canadasairports OƩawa to introduce legislaƟon this spring to address over- booked flights /via @ globeandmail Atlanta Airport @ ATLairport 1,100+ job seekers turned out for our first job fair of 2017, and at least 354 indi- viduals were hired on the spot to join the team at #ATL! AAAE @AAAEDelivers CongratulaƟons to our newest Accredit- ed #Airport ExecuƟve, Tyler Miller A.A.E., Manager of Opera- Ɵons @SBNairport! Way to go, Tyler!