I was recently on a Southwest Airlines flight from Minneapolis, MN, to Atlanta, GA. We left the gate and taxied out, but wound up waiting on the tarmac for ten minutes or so. Then the plane’s engines revved up, and we all thought we would be taking off. But instead, we returned to the gate.
Uh oh—that’s never good, I thought to myself.
There was no announcement, which struck me as very unusual. We could see the flight attendants talking and moving around with a purpose, but we knew nothing about what was going on. Then maintenance personnel came onto the plane.
Ah, must be a mechanical problem, I thought. However, they took two people off of the plane.
After about twenty minutes, they closed the doors and we taxied out to the tarmac, again without any announcement by the crewmembers. Once again, we waited for a few minutes—and then we came back to the gate! What? I was confused. This time when the door opened, several people gathered their belongings and exited the plane. Again, no announcement came from the cockpit. After about ten minutes more of waiting, a gate agent came onboard and made an announcement that anyone who wanted to get off of the flight was free to do so. About a dozen people, clearly frustrated with the situation, did just that.
Finally, after another fifteen minutes, the co-captain came out and, using the cabin intercom, he apologized for the delay and that he had been making announcements from the cockpit but didn’t realize they were not being heard in the cabin. He also told us the initial reason that the plane came back was due to a passenger who was acting suspiciously and the flight attendants were uncomfortable with his answers to their questions. That explained the first people taken off of the plane. But the second time?
The co-pilot further explained that while the crew was satisfied that there was no further danger since the police had interviewed the suspicious passenger and concluded he was not a threat to the plane—just a jerk—a couple of passengers seated close to the suspicious passenger, were not comfortable staying on board and asked to get off. Airline policy is to acquiesce to this type of request. The co-pilot said they had made an inquiry and the original suspicious passenger removed from the plane had no checked luggage. But again, none of us heard that message. The co-pilot finished his talk by stating the crew was fully confident that the flight to Atlanta was in no danger, but anyone wanting to get off the plane could do so now.
We live in a time of increased travel security. This incident occurred just a few days after the attacks in Paris. Yet, after making this announcement, no one else exited the plane. The crew prepared the plane as normal and then the captain came out and made a last announcement stating that anyone who wanted to get off the plane could still do so. He again apologized for the delay and said the crew’s primary responsibility is safety and that if they feel that something is not right, they take action with the passengers’ safety in mind. Everyone on the plane cheered and clapped for the whole crew, and the rest of the flight went off without a hitch.
This incident highlights a key component of dealing with a crisis: effective communication. The whole situation would have been significantly less stressful had communication been coming from the cockpit. Apparently, the microphone the pilots use was not working. But surely the flight crew should have known that the captain or co-captain would have made an announcement and, upon not hearing one, would have said something to them to alert them to the fact that the passengers were not hearing their announcements.
Kudos to the crew for grounding this plane until they knew it was safe to fly. They clearly had regard for others. Kudos to all of the passengers who had confidence in the crew once they said it was safe. But shame on whomever’s responsibility it was to alert the captain that no announcements were being heard in the cabin. Effective communication, particularly in a crisis, makes all the difference in the world.