By now you have probably heard about the Nigerian man who succeeded in boarding a Virgin America flight from New York to Los Angeles using an expired boarding pass in another person's name. According to news reports, the man was briefly detained by the FBI on landing and released. He was arrested several days later trying to board a Delta flight to Atlanta using the same method.
One could blog for several days on all the things that went wrong but I'm always more interested in how organizations respond to mistakes than in the mistake itself. In this case, TSA freely admits that "...TSA did not properly authenticate the passenger’s documentation." They further promise, "...disciplinary action is being considered for the security officers involved and all appropriate actions will be taken."
Accepting responsibility for your mistake and promising corrective action is always a good crisis communication move. However, TSA then proceeds to blow it by trying to minimize the problem by saying, "...it’s important to note that this individual received the same thorough physical screening as other passengers, including being screened by advanced imaging technology..." In other words, "we screwed up but it didn't really matter."
One can certainly make the case that a layered security approach is designed to compensate for mistakes in any one part of the system. There is no doubt that the individual was identified by the flight crew and reported to the FBI. But this occured after he had boarded the aircraft in response to passenger complaints about his body odor.
TSA has a fairly well publicized record of failing its own tests and for letting knives, pistols and box cutters slip through the "thorough physical screening" provided by its officers. (They have, however, confiscated my empty 4 ounce aftershave bottle and numerous one inch Swiss Army knives I forgot to leave at home.) To say that this man posed no threat simply because he went through the same screening process as other passsengers is a bit disingenuous.
The lesson here? Acknowledge mistakes and promise corrective action by all means. But don't try to defend yourself in a crisis by underestimating people's intelligence and relying on a reputation that is disputed by your past actions.
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