Company: Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, DFW Airport, TX
Company Description: Celebrating its 40th Anniversary in 2014, DFW International Airport is located halfway between the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas, DFW International Airport is the world's fourth busiest, offering 1,800 flights per day and serving 60 million customers a year. DFW provides nonstop service to 147 domestic and 56 international destinations.
Nomination Category: Corporate Communications, Investor Relations, & Public Relations Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Communications or PR Campaign of the Year - Crisis Communications

Nomination Title: December Ice Storm: Social Takes Center Stage

Tell the story about this nominated campaign since January 1 2013 (up to 525 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms. Be sure to mention obstacles overcome, innovations or discoveries made, and outcomes:

A weather system came through North Texas on December 5, 2013, giving Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (D/FW) a healthy dose of ice followed by a period of sub-freezing temperatures, resulting in thousands of delays and cancellations and effecting flight schedules well into the following week. More than 4,000 people were impacted by the storm and hundreds of customers spent the night in terminals. Icy roads made getting to D/FW a challenge and airlines were flooded with inquiries. This event triggered D/FW to act on its newly-developed crisis communication plan, which for the first time prominently featured comprehensive social media components to support communications and engage with the public.

Goals

•Airport communications’ first priority is the safety, comfort, and health of passengers and the public.

•Communications efforts ensure the provision of timely and accurate information to the public, Airport staff and employees.
oPrimary – updates on weather, air traffic, road conditions; status on de-icing planes and clearing runways and roads
oSecondary - information about availability of cots/blankets, extended eatery hours, complimentary coffee and breakfasts, and available entertainment
oPost crisis follow-up

•Coordinate responses to media and public inquiries to ensure an open and consistent flow of information

•Utilize social media to monitor customer and media inquiries and respond in real time

Execution

Public Affairs operated the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) 24 hours a day in 12-hour shifts during the situation. They created and distributed logs of media activities and regular updates throughout the day. D/FW issued a media alert and held media briefings multiple times a day. Additional communication redirected flight status inquiries to the D/FW website and mobile application.

Twitter quickly became a vehicle to share information and interact. The new crisis communication plan assigned a Social Media Officer (SMO) to the EOC. The SMO worked alongside the Airport’s PIO, which allowed real-time communication and offered instantaneous insight on terminal status, which was shared immediately. It also filled gaps between media statements and alleviated the demand on PIO and spokespersons.

D/FW’s SMO communicated utilizing hashtags and responded to nearly every customer who mentioned or tagged @DFWAirport. D/FW used direct messaging to communicate with and update media. Though airlines make cancellation and delay decisions, D/FW made efforts to reply to inquiries regarding specific flights statuses. D/FW used Twitter to help customers do everything from settle in for the night to find a food. Additionally, Public Affairs shared information about added services designed to ease the stress of customers’ extended stays. By experimenting with messaging though social media, D/FW departed from its normal crisis plan, keeping interactions light without ignoring the severity of the situation.

Evaluation

•Airport held ten media briefings.

•Weather resulted in 900+ news stories featuring D/FW.

•D/FW’s Twitter account experienced 10.89 million total impressions. The SMO sent 538 tweets and replied to 265 inquiries. D/FW posts were favorited 2,719 times and retweeted 678 times. @DFWAirport added 1333 followers.

•Twelve Facebook posts resulted in a reach of 76,686,196, receiving 8,864 clicks.

•Qualitatively, Twitter provided a forum for passengers to give thanks and praise the airport for handling the crisis effectively and providing levity in a tense situation.

Budget

With the exception of salaries, none allocated.

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Provide a brief (up to 125 words) biography about the leader(s) of the team that carried out this campaign:

Dallas Fort Worth International Airport executed program with collaboration within its Public Affairs Department including Policy, Media Relations, Social Media, Internal Communications functions.