United's PR efforts fly in the face of good strategy

United Airlines is in the news for its handling of its CEO's heart attack. This report from CNBC features comments from top crisis communications experts who say the company's efforts to communicate with the public haven't gone far enough. 

The vagueness of what little United has said in its formal statements has fueled speculation among investors, customers and the general public. "The assumption is you're hiding something," said one expert quoted in the report.

Basically, people want to know one simple thing: what's going on?

Exactly. This is what we teach in our crisis communications training. The bigger the company or organization, the more people want to know what's going on and will everything be okay. 

The mistake is to believe that not saying anything is a good policy, especially when the crisis involves the person at the very top of the company, as in United's case. Others will talk, rumors will spread and suddenly the situation is even worse than when it began.

These are the very issues that should be discussed when formulating your crisis communications plan. Who will be the principle spokesperson if the CEO is disabled? What procedures do we have in place for assuring customers and stakeholders that the organization continues to function in the aftermath of the crisis?

Basically, people want to know one simple thing: what's going on?

Curious what you think.

Mack Communications | Twitter: @mack_comm