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Alaska Air decision to scrap prayer cards may become PR boomerangEditor's note: Alaska Air is no longer going to provide prayer cards to passengers. This doesn't sit well with Dave Harbour, publisher of Northern Gas Pipelines. Here's what he had to say: Today, Alaska Airlines announced it has unilaterally cancelled its over three-decade-long tradition of providing prayer cards for meals. It did not query its customers in general, nor its Gold members for their opinions. One wonders if Alaska Air's esteemed Alaska advisory groups weighed in. Its reasoning lacks logic and common sense and could become a classic text book case of a marketing and public relations disaster, a "PR boomerang." If it had only said, "We're eliminating the prayer card because, to counterbalance rising fuel costs, we were forced to cut many nonessential operational expenses like this," the management would have at least had the appearance of honesty. Here is a link. Here is a link to the Alaska Air Prayer Face Book link established several years ago by Pastor Kent Redfern, Muldoon Community Assembly. Dave Harbour is the publisher of Northern Gas Pipelines. His opinions are his own. The views expressed here are the writer's own and are not necessarily endorsed by Alaska Dispatch. Alaska Dispatch welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, e-mail commentary(at)alaskadispatch.com. What a peculiar opinion. Evidently, wishful thinking trumps honesty in Dave Harbour's world as he states, "if only it had said, 'we're eliminating the prayer card...to cut operational expenses.'" No Mr. Harbour, the airlines gave their reply. The decision stemmed from respecting a diversity of beliefs in their customer base. You don't have to like it, but suggesting they lie to make you feel better probably isn't the best PR tactic and certainly isn't an ethical one. I am an Alaska Airlines MVP Gold member. 1. They are an unnecessary expense. 2. They always make me wonder if AK AIR knows something about the air worthiness of their planes that we should be worried about. ;-) Harbour, if the only way you can remember your prayers is with one of these cards, then I suggest you quit throwing them away at the end of each flight. Great airline, will continue to be my #1 airline both in Alaska and combined with Delta outside of Alaska. -TomClark This might be the first time I ever subscribed to something Harbour embraced. I agree, it is sad. Although I question how much damage to the carrier, from a marketing standpoint, will result. Every since the late Bruce Kennedy established the practice I always puzzled over the reason Alaska Air never received much, if any, appreciation for it. Over the years, time and again, I pointed this out to members of the clergy and pillars of various churches, who usually appeared to care less, and kept on patronizing other more secular airlines. However, I did not realize and to their credit the Muldoon Assembly did just that. |
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