Now that the dust has settled somewhat on Bellygate, aka the Kevin Smith-Southwest Airlines drama, I wanted to offer perspective as a strategic, senior-level, mature, corporate-type PR executive.
And that is: It sucks to be Southwest this week. As a matter of fact, it sucks to be Southwest for the foreseeable future.
Smith’s furious but funny tweets -- chronicling his experience being ejected from his seat on a flight last Saturday evening and its aftermath -- are a good read. Much more interesting is the podcast Smith recorded later that night with his wife, Jennifer Schwalbach.
The 90-minute piece can be heard on Smith’s website. It’s worth taking the time to listen. (And easy to find: #106 is titled “Go F—k Yourself, Southwest Airlines.”) It tells a richer, more difficult story, one that involves watching an anonymous young woman treated in much the same way, and that strikes at the core of Southwest’s carefully crafted image as the warm and fuzzy service-oriented airline.
In the podcast, Smith spins a bigger real-life black comedy.
The cast of characters are flight and ground crews with seemingly no regard for people’s feelings. These people robotically extend cash vouchers and promotional gifts to shut customers up rather than acknowledge they have a more complex problem. They’re so afraid of creating legal problems that euphemisms are offered instead of facts. And they come off as deer in the headlights when holes are poked in their statements.
This isn’t the image Southwest has carefully cultivated. But it’s also not the first time Southwest underlings have run amuck.
In 2007, a flight attendant ejected a young woman, also already seated, claiming her “lewd” attire wasn’t suitable for a “family airline.” As we all saw through her subsequent TV appearances in the clothing, the woman was wearing that standard L.A. uniform that wouldn’t draw a second glance on Melrose: mini-skirt, tank top, tight sweater and giant fake boobs. If airlines kicked off everyone who dressed like that, I’d have room to stretch out.
Of course, about 18 months later, Southwest plastered a jumbo image of Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit edition cover model in a miniscule white bikini, snaked out along the side of one of its 737s. That time apparently it wasn’t lewd, it was just a promotional deal with probably some cash attached.
Southwest’s crisis management of the situation was as expected. Over the weekend, it tweeted its own first comments along with replies to Smith; Monday morning, it posted a somewhat smug statement -- with the obligatory Silent Bob pun -- citing vague security concerns as the reason behind the staff actions. You half-expected them to hint that Smith had explosives in his Jockeys.
Monday afternoon, after its further digging apparently turned up facts that didn’t fit the scenario originally painted, the airline released a follow-up statement. More contrite, it acknowledged staff might not have acted in the best way-- and it would look into how its “delicate policy” was implemented by staff.
