Hawaiian Airlines flight takes off into the sunset

Airline Apology
Airline Magazine

11/10/16

How Important is
Apology?
Avoid losing customers due to bad
apology communication.
An apology is a written or spoken expression of ones
regret, remorse, or sorrow for having insulted, failed,
injured, or wronged another. Every airline has committed
at least one of these wrongs during operation. Because it
is so common for airlines to make mistakes and cause
distress for customers, answering customers complaints
and apologizing for hurtful incidents is necessary to
compete in todays growing airline industry. Airlines have
been heavily employing people to deal with customer
complaints and apologize for years, but the number is
growing. In 2014, Southwest Airlines employed 200
people to write apologies, Delta employed
150 and United Airlines employed
450 people.

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Contents
How Important is Apology?
. Page 1
How to Write a Successful
Apology: Airline Edition
. Page 2
JetBlue Airways Apology
. Page 2
The Cost of Leaving Customers
on Hold
. Page 2

How to Write a Successful

Apology: Airline Edition
There are four major components to a successful apology
First is the assertion of the apology, which includes a detailed
account of the wrong that was done and also expresses
regret for that wrong. Second is the acknowledgement, which
states that the wronged deserved better treatment and that
the wrongdoers actions were inappropriate. The third
component is the assurance. This component includes the
wrongdoers intention to do whatever in their power to
ensure that the offense will not happen again. The last
component is adjustment, which calls for the wrongdoer to
compensate the wronged if possible. In each apology letter
written to a customer, these four components should be
clearly shown.
When it comes to social media, Twitter has become the most
popular medium for customers to voice their complaints to
airlines. Twitter only offers 120 characters for each tweet,
so answering complains in full on the site could be difficult. All
four of the successful apology components may not fit into
120 characters, but airlines should still have a communication
strategy for these tweets. Pseudo-apologies should be
avoided at all cost and airlines should always offer to talk with
the customer more in depth in the form of a direct message.

JetBlue CEO David Neeleman

JetBlue Airways had a huge setback
when a 2007 storm left their customers
stranded for hours, unable to reach
helplines. JetBlue CEO David Neeleman
wrote an apology to their customers,
which received praise. JetBlue followed
the four major components of an
apology. Neeleman used assertion by
saying, we subjected our customers to
unacceptable delays, flight cancellations,
lost baggage, and other major
inconveniences. Here, they clearly state
what happened, and place the blame on
themselves. The Acknowledgement
component in the letter can be seen in
the quote You deserved bettera lot
betterfrom us last week. Neeleman
stated the assurance by saying we have
begun putting a comprehensive plan in
place to provide better and more timely
information to you. JetBlue offered the
adjustment component by bringing their
bill of rights into the picture, which
outlines JetBlues compensation
protocol.

The Cost of Leaving Customers

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Many airlines are adding customer compensation to their Bill

of Rights. These Bill of Rights include sky miles or
compensation for customers who wait longer than a certain
amount of time on hold for customer support. If your airline
has these compensation components in the Bill of Rights, its
important to train employees to be timely and efficient when
speaking with customers.