John Stonborough F.C.I.P.R.

Christmas Wrapping

Dear Friends. Wrapping up warm. Wrapping up presents, Wrapping up to go away! My thanks to everyone (in particular the home team Jane R, Gillian, Heidi, Vickie, Jerry and Ian) who helped make 2006 a particularly good year both for the consultancy and the training company, with some very exciting new business for 2007. Forgive me for not sending out a cheesy card of a robin on a spade but just the thought of licking stamps, spitting on envelopes and hauling the Mont Blanc over hundreds of ink-miles gives me Reuters cramp. A hygienic on-line donation to charity is more my style: Julia’s House, a wonderful kids hospice in my home village of Corfe Mullen, Dorset; the RNLI, so they hurry when I need them, plus ‘a few bob’ to St Patrick’s church, Soho who pick up the people we discard. Thank you one and all for your support and business and I wish you and your families, a very merry Christmas holiday and a happy and prosperous New Year. Its a wrap. John

PS. Congratulations Eloise: An unconditional place at Oxford to read English. Wow!

Ryanair’s media relations skills or lack of them.

If you want a good example of why a ‘no comment’ is rarely a sensible option, look no farther than today’s Times ‘Ryanair error blamed after passenger jet nearly crashed into airport.’ by transport correspondent Ben Webster.

Quote: “The airline refused to answer questions during a phone call yesterday and insisted they be put in writing. It then failed to respond to emails”.

Why not? It doesn’t fill me with confidence. It reinforces the widely held view that this (most successful) airline is arrogant and contemptuous of the public – an approach which comes from the very top.

It also pisses journalists off. Never a good idea if they can write about you again and again or worse still, list your last three near mega-fatalities since 2004.

But sometimes papers miss a trick too. In broadcasting its called ‘the empty chair’, where you pose the questions anyway. What did Ben ask Ryanair? Were the questions impossible to answer truthfully - so ‘no comment’ was the only option. Or were they just the usual w.w.w.w h.w that are easy to dodge. I think we should be told. Ben if you see this, let us know.

As for what Ryanair should have done – well, any PRO could craft a statement to deal with a near-miss, in their sleep. …safety paramount….one off … pilots showed great skill….retrained … review procedures. ..safety paramount (r)… internet’s favourite airline (or is that the other lot?)