British Airways Responds to Spy Radiation Scare
In what is described as being pulled right from a spy-thriller novel, British Airways this week mobilized an impressive response to the news that three of their planes contained low traces of a radioactive substance, polonium 210, that killed former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko. The airline was contacted Tuesday night by the British government and, in less than ten hours it seems, put their crisis communications plan into high-gear. The task of warning nearly 33,000 passengers that they may have been exposed to a highly-lethal radioactive substance while trying to calm fears and communicate their real risk was low is no easy task. Immediately, the airline pulled the three planes out of service, put a statement on the wire and made information easy to find on their Web site home page. The airline wasted no time in divulging what they knew, not speculating and setting up hot lines for both media inquiries and consumer concerns.
As a result of the quick response, coverage of the investigation of the planes stuck to the facts and painted British Airways as a responsible, cooperative partner with the British government who was concerned about its passengers. British Airways was careful to let the British Health Protection Agency (HPA) talk to the matter of health and safety while the airline concentrated on contacting its passengers, cooperating with the investigation and showing compassion for its customers.
As of this morning, the Associated Press reports that all three planes that were grounded by the radiation scare have been cleared by the British Health Protection Agency. A story Thursday by MarketWatch noted that one effective way to measure how well the airline performed in the crisis was its share price. On Thursday, it was up 4.7%, at $97.13. Today, it is $97.93.
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