Air Canada chief highlights what not to do in a media interview
Getting defensive when a reporter hits you with tough questions can cause you to lose control of the narrative and quickly steer a story into negative territory.
It’s not uncommon for some executives to lash out during a media interview.
Leaders who do so are used to being in control and get angry when they’re challenged. Unfortunately for Air Canada’s chief executive, Calin Rovinescu, it’s also not uncommon for reporters to punish executives for unappealing tones.
On Tuesday, Canada’s The Globe and Mail published an interview in which reporter Trevor Cole asked a series of seemingly fair questions about the airline. Rovinescu’s tone shifted when the executive didn’t like the turn of questioning, prompting him to answer sarcastically and defensively through the remainder of the interview.
The full article is behind a pay wall, but I’ve excerpted a few key exchanges below:
You feel good about how Air Canada deals with [overbooking]. Can we talk about that case last April when the 10-year-old boy was bumped?
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