The Wilder Source

After reading a post on the Business Week Web site about Kevin Smith’s recent airplane seat denial, I began to wonder not only how to handle Smith’s situation, but how would a public relations professional handle the general issue of over sized passengers?

Depending on how the offended was treated by the staff, an apology may be in order. This is only necessary if the staff was rude.  However, is an apology necessary when there was no room for the oversized passenger? I don’t believe so.  In the Business Week post the communications director for Air Tran Cynthia Tinsley said,“I think there’s a lot of things you can do before forcing somebody to buy a second seat.” While it may be possible to shuffle seats on flights, there will be heavily booked flights that make this strategy impossible. So again, I ask the question, is an apology necessary? Especially when reasonable accommodations have been made.

To prevent the problem in the future, the public relations director may suggest a change in customer communications strategy. Clearly state that passengers of a certain size will be unable to comfortably sit in one seat and allow their neighbor to sit comfortably in theirs and that they would need to purchase an extra seat. Would this be a good communications strategy?

Airplanes could also be changed to provide more comfortable seating. However, this may cut into airline profits or raise the already staggering price of airfare. Eventually business will have to adapt to the demands of its customers, and if people are willing to eat more, pay more and continue traveling, then there is no reason for airlines to not adapt.

What would you do?