I'm not sure what to make of the actual landing etc etc. The report will cover the facts and hopefully the required changes\training will make this an even rarer occurance. Everyone walked away which is great.
The real problem here for Skyservice and the lesson to all is the
PR disaster that is developing.
People were scared - I would have being too. Get off a plane that has bounced and you see crumpled metal - that is scary. If I'd been on that plane I'd have spent a few days wondering how close I'd being to checkout. It is not normal to bend metal on landing - this was a major mistake. Trying to brush it off is really bogus and makes the people doing it look either very dumb or very dishonest.
This is a different day and age - people won't be treated as mushrooms - kept in the dark and feed crap. Wait 6 months or a year for x hundred page report that will satisfy the technical need is not what the people most effected need. A void has being created and all sorts of hysterical crap and rumors will fill this.
People believe what they hear first - you don't give an honest sincere explanation and build some trust people will get their info elsewhere. You will never regain the pole position on the (dis) information superhighway.
The fault for this lies with Skyservice - they needed to be 100% proactive here. The VP operations should have being on the next plane down and personally, with a team addressed every passenger. Set up shop in the hotel (bar) for a day or two. Show people - yes we do care. We don't like things like this happening (expensive and bad for the balance sheet) - we want you to have a good vacation and we will provide you with means accessing all the information we have. An oh - another drink?
Sounds expensive - peanuts compared to the cost of the bad publicity. How much a year does Skyservice pay to advertise their company? Well it is all down the crapper. They will pay out some minor money - a small fraction of the legal fees but it is the damage to the company name that will cost.
By extension the industry hurts. The next time pilots or the industry want to take any issue public this incident how this is handled will impact the reception. Some day pilots will want the public to empathize with them - how about a bit going the other way here.
A few years back a flight here hit some turbulence and had was very badly tossed around. Plane diverted to check for damage. The pilot stayed in the lounge with the passengers and even dead headed on to destination just to reassure the passengers. That action by the pilot made all pilots and the airline look great. It undoubtedly saved many a lawsuit.
Reading a lot of these posts I would not want most of these posters having anything to do with my customers. Screw-ups happen – it’s how you deal with them that makes the difference.