Company: American Airlines
Agency: Weber Shandwick
Timeframe: April 2005-present
When the cost of fuel doubled in price over the course of one year in 2005, American Airlines - the world's largest airline - faced a fuel bill of more than $5 billion.
Because those astronomical costs threatened the company's well-being and trickled down to affect the price customers paid for tickets, drastic efforts had to be taken to reduce
costs; American Airlines PR executives knew the best way to communicate these efforts would be to first get all employees onboard.
With the help of Weber Shandwick, American Airlines embarked on a conservation effort in April 2005 called Fuel Smart, to keep its employees posted on the carrier's
efforts to conserve fuel system-wide. The campaign also encouraged employees to submit their own conservation concepts for consideration, taking steps to ensure employee
participation and foster a sense of involvement.
A Fuel Conservation Task Force included members from various key American Airlines departments, from fleet service to finance and corporate communications. By conducting
extensive research, the team gathered information on fuel prices, consumption and burn statistics, as well as the potential impact of each of the top 12 fuel conservation
initiatives. In addition, the team analyzed the company's systems to determine best practices for reaching employees, as well as the cost and feasibility of creating new
communications channels.
Executives founded the campaign on three main objectives:
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To inform American's employees of the company's efforts to optimize fuel usage and save money;
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To engage targeted domestic work groups in the solution, motivating them to develop/submit ideas for conserving fuel and saving costs; and
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To inspire domestic work groups to more uniformly employ existing fuel conservation strategies.
American Airline's employee newsletter, Flagship News, was the centerpiece of the program, focusing on Fuel Smart and sharing facts and success stories and issuing a
call to action. But the program was not without its challenges: The airline aimed to reduce costs throughout its business operations, not just when it came to fuel. This meant
that the traditional, four-color, glossy publication was too expensive, as was the usual practice of mailing information directly to employees' homes. Instead, the team opted for
less expensive paper and black-and-white printing, thus heeding a major caveat: If the mechanisms of communications aren't in line with the message (read: if highfalutin means are
used to convey a cost-reduction message), then the audience won't be very receptive.
The four-page, black-and-white printed pieces also aligned with the company's cost-reduction efforts by keeping distribution costs down. More than 93,000 issues of Flagship
News were distributed to AA employees across the country at headquarters and in airports. Email messages were sent to top managers and work group leaders to encourage word-of-
mouth, and the publication was so popular that reprints had to be ordered. Employees responded eagerly to the newsletter, and pilots studied it closely. Many employees even posted
the newsletter at their desks as a reminder of the company's focus on fuel conservation.
Under the Fuel Smart program, the airline saved more than $150 million by the end of the year - at the time, that was the equivalent of buying more than 80 million gallons of
fuel.
Employee Communications Done Right
When beginning an effort that requires reaching out to a widespread employee base on a limited budget, a simple roadmap can take the glitches out of the process.
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Know how employees want to be reached: Conduct a pulse survey or hold small focus groups with employees to find out if an e-mail from the CEO will serve your
purpose, or if you'll need meetings that allow more interaction between senior leadership and employees.
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Don't forget the personal touches: Increased technology has a way of dehumanizing communications; people can talk all day without ever hearing one another's voices.
But there are message delivery systems that resurrect intimacy. CEO voicemail system: If the message is more of an announcement and less of an ongoing endeavor, have the CEO do a
recording that can then be sent to each employee's voicemail. It's easy and inexpensive, and it gives the employee an intimate connection with a senior executive. (American
Airlines former CEO Don Carty utilized this method in the past.) "Listening Tours:" The CEO or other high-level exec meet with small groups of employees in informal settings
to emphasizes the initiative's vision. These employees should be ones who can get the most out of their interaction with that exec and then spread the message to other employees.
It's a phone tree mentality that has been put into play by companies like Siemens Corporation.
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Allow for backtalk: Give employees the case to respond to the initiative, as American Airlines did with its FuelSmart concept. It can bring new ideas to the table,
and it fosters a sense of community and involvement. Offer links to "talk back" voice-mailboxes or message boards; otherwise, any good ideas will be lost, and all discontent will
be whispered at the water cooler.