American's Response to ABC's Path To 9/11

I think, like every American citizen and many people who aren’t, 9/11 is personal in a way that, even now, five years later, is difficult to express. 9/11 showed us all that, in the end, we are vulnerable in many ways, that we don’t have complete control over our lives, and that any one of us could have been the victims that day.

Hard facts to face up to.

ABC aired a two-part movie this past Sunday and Monday nights, which showed a version of events that led up to this horrific tragedy. After the movie, Roger Frizell, VP of Corporate Communication and Advertising, posted this comment on Americablog.

Ms. Robinsong,

I think it is important for you to know that the Disney/ABC television program, The Path to 9/11, which began airing last night, is inaccurate and irresponsible in its portrayal of the airport check-in events that occurred on the morning of September 11, 2001. A factual description of those events can be found in the official government edition of the 9/11 Commission Report and supporting documents.

Please know this was a tragic event in our company’s history and we hope you will be sympathetic to our employees and our airline on this day. Again, we are outraged by this situation, and we alerted ABC about its gross error. It is very unfortunate.

Roger

Roger Frizzell
Vice President, Corporate Communications & Advertising
American Airlines

My family has a long history in aviation. Besides the fact that I worked for a commercial airline for a decade, I have written for two pilot unions, (Allied Pilots and the Air Line Pilots Association), and my husband is a retired commercial airline pilot—who was still flying on 9/11/01.

I checked the Web sites of both pilot unions and United’s Web site, to see if they had anything to say about ABC’s docudrama. Not one of these three made specific statements about the movie, but both pilot unions had posted moving memorial messages about the crews and passengers lost in 2001.

After reading Frizell’s response, I couldn’t help but note that, along with corporate communications, he’s also in charge of advertising. I find that to be a very interesting duality.

In my work, I’ve primarily been involved in corporate communications, and I know that these two areas of communications are very different in practice and focus. The fact that American chose not to issue a message aimed wholly at honoring their past—and, for that matter, their present—crews, seems to me to be a little hardened. I think it denigrates the crews that died by focusing attention on a movie that portrays them in a questionable light rather than contributing anything substantial to their memories. And, I think, it also points out some serious flaws with naming one person to wear two very different communications hats. I’m a little suspicious when I hear a “message” coming from someone who specializes in advertising. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, interestingly, watered down his title to “airline spokesman.”

I think, in this case, American’s response was not merited, and to me, represents a classic example of when a corp should refrain from speaking. Their right to corporate speech aside, I don’t think they contributed to honoring the memories of those who diligently worked for them. Historically, Hollywood has never portrayed the aviation industry in a “real” light—from Die Hard 2 to Air Force One and the most recent, Snakes On A Plane. But I haven't seen airlines exercise corporate speech to contradict them.

The director of Path to 9/11, David L. Cunningham, publicly stated that his view is not based completely on fact and that, where questions existed, his writer referred to the 9/11 Commission’s Report.

If every corporation spoke out against fictional books and movies that portray their industry in what they perceive to be a negative manner, I believe undue pressure would be brought against First Amendment rights. And I also think that American would have been better served to let folks--its customers--decide this very personal issue for themselves.


Question of the Week: Do you think that American Airlines overreacted in their response to the ABC movie, Path To 9/11?

Linda@thesaltlick