Sept. 11, 2001 Media Relations at
Oakland Airport
The Challenge: We are under contract
to Oakland International Airport to be on call 24 hours a day, seven
days a week to assist the in-house public information staff in emergencies.
On the day of Sept. 11, the airport’s primary public information
representative was at a conference in Canada. One of our senior
vice president was paged shortly after 6 a.m., minutes after the
first plane struck the World Trade Center.
The Solution: Careful planning on
the part of both the airport staff and us, beginning months before
Sept. 11, paid off on this day. For several years, we had participated
in emergency training drills at the airport. Two of our senior vice
presidents hold Federal Aviation Authority-required security clearances
— which proved to be a necessity when the airport was closed
to all others.
After Jo Murray received the early morning
page from a television station, she gathered information from airport
officials and answered reporters’ calls by cell phone as she
drove to the airport’s Emergency Command Center. A Web designer
was put on standby to update information on the airport’s home
page throughout the day, and other staff members rearranged their
schedules as needed.
Senior Vice President Jack Lyness joined
Jo at the airport, setting up a system under which Jo usually gathered
information and drafted press releases while Jack fielded media
telephone calls. We used three cell phones plus land lines to handle
as many as 100 calls an hour, working 16-hour days. Media briefings
were held at least once a day, with some briefings attracting more
than 30 reporters. We supervised other airport staff members who
pitched in to help and juggled assignments as needed.
We opened an emergency press room. When airport
restaurants closed after flights were suspended, we supplied a complimentary
buffet for reporters, who were assigned to stay at the airport and
otherwise would have gone hungry.
Communication with the public involved far
more than just the news media. Among those who needed to stay informed
were local government officials, airport telephone operators, information
booth volunteers, parking lot attendants and airline personnel.
We played a role in all of this.
Results: The emergency planning worked.
We stepped in on a moment’s notice – even outside of normal
business hours. We responded to media inquiries quickly, and freed
other airport officials to concentrate on their primary jobs. Best
of all, we had the staff flexibility to handle a major crisis for
one client while making certain that the critical needs of other
clients also were met.
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