My CEO Life

Today i received an email from the CEO of Qantas apologising about the recent disruptions to their services. Initially i thought i was someone important then i realised it went to all Frequent Flyers. The good news is that this email directly addresses some of the bad press the airline has been receiving. It was good, from a customer perspective, to actually hear from the man at the top and not some PR mouth piece.

Overall this is a great example of using PR and email to directly get to those customers that really matter, the frequent flyer.  More companies should use this approach more often.  Overall, well done … not just fix the maintenance issues.

Here is the email in full …

Qantas has recently experienced major disruptions to our international network. You may have been affected directly or indirectly by the disruptions, or seen the media coverage and speculation about Qantas safety and maintenance standards.

As one of our valued customers, I wanted to be in touch with you directly about this. I want to apologise if you were affected personally by the disruptions. I know that Easter is a special opportunity to unite family and friends, and I sincerely regret any frustration and anxiety you may have experienced due to the delays.

We hate disappointing our customers and we do all we can to rectify matters when things go wrong.

I also want to give you my personal assurance that you can continue to fly Qantas with confidence. Despite some sensational coverage recently, safety was never an issue. There were mechanical issues, but they did not represent safety threats. We always respond conservatively to any mechanical or performance issue, and we always put safety before schedule.

Every year the Qantas Group carries 38 million passengers to their destinations safely and home again. We continue to invest in the best fleet, product and service and in being a great Australian company. All of us at Qantas want to thank you for your loyalty and we look forward to giving you a warm welcome when next you fly.

1. As Always, Communication is Critical

   A topic that is often talked about in management magazines and books is communication. It seems that an enormous amount is written on the topic yet management time and time again get it wrong. I was chatting with a friend...

2. Monopoly Products Have High Quality Service Responsibility

   I am writing this entry from my very expensive business class seat somewhere over the international dateline between Los Angeles and Melbourne. I tried to use Qantas' award winning entertainment system and it didn’t work. The staff rebooted the system...

3. Qantas Delivers Great Service

   Over the last couple of years i have racked up hundreds of flights on airlines around the world. What is interesting is noticing the trends that occur in the quality of service and what the airlines are doing about it....

4. Top Issues Facing C-Level Management

   I received an email from Rachel in the US recently and i think it poses a good question that i would like to open up to the community - What are the top 10 issues facing a team of C-levels?...

5. Great Customer Service – Going Above and Beyond

   I was recently on a flight with my favourite airline (Emirates). I fly them often and have reached one of their highest frequent flyer levels. However they continue to annoy me as they have me down for a special meal...