US: Airline CEOs talk, then talk some more, to coax flyers back
US airline chiefs have been seeking the limelight like never before as they try to lure back both budget and business travelers. Delta’s Ed Bastian has mounted a media blitz at a pace of more than two interviews a week this year. Scott Kirby has been trying to burnish United’s corporate-citizenship clout by talking up its diversity goals and climate-change response. And at Southwest, Gary Kelly has ventured onto such non-financial venues as CBS’s Face the Nation and Axios on HBO. What started out last year as a public plea for government aid has morphed into a regular part of the job. CEOs are using their higher profile in the public arena to coax travelers back and call for less stringent global travel restrictions. Those efforts are apt to continue until the industry makes a fuller recovery -- a process that could take until next year at the earliest and may stretch into 2024, according to industry lobbying group Airlines for America. “Until the industry is really back, there is going to be this thirst for the most real-time information we can get” directly from CEOs, said Ben Baldanza, a JetBlue Airways board member and former CEO of Spirit. The tone of CEO communications is getting brighter, at least. Gone are the days when airline bosses used grim employee memos and securities filings to outline survival measures such as parking planes and cutting routes. <br/>
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/news/hot-topics/2021-06-29/general/us-airline-ceos-talk-then-talk-some-more-to-coax-flyers-back
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US: Airline CEOs talk, then talk some more, to coax flyers back
US airline chiefs have been seeking the limelight like never before as they try to lure back both budget and business travelers. Delta’s Ed Bastian has mounted a media blitz at a pace of more than two interviews a week this year. Scott Kirby has been trying to burnish United’s corporate-citizenship clout by talking up its diversity goals and climate-change response. And at Southwest, Gary Kelly has ventured onto such non-financial venues as CBS’s Face the Nation and Axios on HBO. What started out last year as a public plea for government aid has morphed into a regular part of the job. CEOs are using their higher profile in the public arena to coax travelers back and call for less stringent global travel restrictions. Those efforts are apt to continue until the industry makes a fuller recovery -- a process that could take until next year at the earliest and may stretch into 2024, according to industry lobbying group Airlines for America. “Until the industry is really back, there is going to be this thirst for the most real-time information we can get” directly from CEOs, said Ben Baldanza, a JetBlue Airways board member and former CEO of Spirit. The tone of CEO communications is getting brighter, at least. Gone are the days when airline bosses used grim employee memos and securities filings to outline survival measures such as parking planes and cutting routes. <br/>
