Ken Capps serves as vice president of public affairs at Dallas-Ft. Worth International Airport, the third-busiest airport in the world. Sept. 11 was the last day of status quo
operations at airports nationwide - and Capps' first day on the job. He spoke with PR NEWS about his unique initiation and how proactive crisis management has helped travelers and
employees alike since the terrorist attacks.
PRN: You literally began your job on Sept. 11. What background did you have that helped you hit the ground running that day?
KC: The most important thing that helped me that day [was] my experience as a reporter. I was a major market television reporter for 15 years and had covered a number of
different tragedies, from mass murders to plane crashes. I understood what the media needed and how to communicate effectively with them. I had also handled a number of crisis
situations during my four-year tenure at EDS - the technology services giant.
PRN: What did you do that day?
KC: The most important thing we wanted to do was to get out as much information as possible regarding the airport's status - "news you can use" information. If you have somebody
at the airport, here is what you can do. If you have someone flying in, here is what you can do. There was a lack of that type of information on the national level, and as a result
there was a lot of chaos. We didn't do anything fancy, but we did deliver rapid and accurate information [through] regular news conferences, emails to reporters, and our
DFWAirport.com Web site.
PRN: What were your priorities in the following days and weeks?
KC: We wanted to show people our thought leadership when it came to airport security. We have since done opinion editorial pieces, radio news releases, video news releases, all
giving people "how-to" information about how to navigate an airport after Sept. 11.
We also had a very aggressive campaign over Thanksgiving and Christmas, using all different kinds of media, to get the word out about the best way to travel. We took it down to
literally the call-hold message that we have at the airport. So if you call the airport and get put on hold, the message you hear gives you the same information and tips.
PRN: What did internal communications entail?
KC: The most important thing we did was to use our intranet to get out literally a daily news bulletin on things that were happening at the airport. Also, about 30 percent of
our workforce is in places like maintenance and they don't have access to the Internet, so we were publishing an actual daily newsletter from Sept. 11 to the end of that month. We
would print it at night in our graphics department and roll it out in the morning.
PRN: What kind of Sept. 11-related communications are still happening?
KC: Number one is the [federal] Transportation Security Act and the way the airport is responding to that, both from a security standpoint and from the passenger-convenience
standpoint. In the coming months there will be big changes in how airports look, and so we are trying to be proactive and aggressive in telling people what to expect before they
get here.
[To make this happen effectively] we have been trying to gauge what our passengers are thinking and craft our messages around that. Our marketing department did a survey in
November of passengers and found that 90 percent felt our security was equal to or better than other airports. More than 80 percent said their wait times averaged 10 minutes or
less, which we really took to be a credit to the communications we had telling them what they could bring and how to get through the lines.
PRN: What else have you learned about operating in crisis mode?
KC: Sometimes you have to really step out of your comfort zone.
In this case, we have had to communicate things that are sensitive from a security standpoint, without giving away secrets. We have been working to implement a facial-
recognition program. We will start piloting that project in mid-January, and we wanted to get that information out to our customers, without giving away so much information that
people figure out how to beat it. Our public affairs staff works with the security people, and together we decide what we can and cannot say.
(Contact: Ken Capps, 972/948-7008, [email protected])
Airport PR in Crisis: What worked?
- Real-time "how to" info on the Web site
- Close cooperation with HR and marketing
- Multi-channel outreach, down to the level of the airport hold message
- Candid disclosures regarding security efforts