I should probably start this by saying I have never been an airplane crash, or ditching, or even an emergency landing.
I read this article in the paper today about passengers on the US Airways flight that went down in the Hudson river and everyone survived. The gist of the article was that there is no insurance liability for an airline when there is no negligence and there are lots of claims being filed that are being rejected.
It turns out that every passenger got a $5,000 check (which was smart) , but that hasn’t been enough for some people. Some of the passengers are asking to be paid for counseling to help them get through this time and another passenger wants some specific items returned, like his keys.
My issue with this isn’t so much whether these passengers should be made whole following this event, it’s more a question of whether the insurance company A.I.G. (yes, that A.I.G.) should pay through the definition of liability (which based on this article it is pretty clear they should not have to pay), or whether it makes sense for US Airways to pay (a topic that isn’t pursued in the article as much as I might have expected).
As grumpy as I am about A.I.G. and many of the decisions they have made in recent years, I actually think this one is a no brainer for US Airways to pay for. This is brand & identity management 101 (and brand & identity are the first of three basic business value pillars I describe in the Rethink book). Irrespective of whether the passengers need as much therapy as they claim, and I would speculate that they do (people who are really after money are going get a lawyer who will coach them to sue for millions, not a few thousand dollars for therapy). This event has been the most positive PR event for any airline in recent memory, and that’s PR and brand building that money can’t buy.
US Airways needs to get this topic out of the papers and open up their wallets to help – that will turn into even better brand development. Because even though landing passengers safely at their destination is a critical outcome they need to consistently deliver, collecting payment for flights is also pretty key, and this will help that. Speaking of key, or keys, I think the guy who is upset about losing his keys on the flight needs to get some perspective on how lucky he is to be alive.
-Ric
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