Business Resilience is no accident
Experience You Can Count On
Bad things can happen to good people and companies. However, each incident can be viewed as an opportunity to define your true character. Protect your brand reputation and business by being prepared to respond to a crisis rapidly with care, compassion, and communication. In other words, be prepared to "Walk the Talk."
Learn the value of networking, collaboration, and training together in a community. It's not enough to have a plan and a set of checklists if they don't go beyond the walls of your organization. You need a plan that will integrate with your community partners, including federal, state, and local agencies. In the real world, it takes everyone working together to achieve success.
During my career, I have established world-class response programs for two highly-successful, low-cost airlines; one in Canada and one in the United States. I understand the need to keep costs low, and my experience is proof that it can be done. To be successful, the plan must encompass the support of leadership, a culture of willingness to "do the right thing," and keeping the focus of a response on caring for people rather than simply protecting the corporate brand.
What's the secret sauce? It's having strong logistics and strategic plans coupled with the soft skills necessary when dealing with people in crisis. Pair it with relationships within your industry, government, and external partners, and you've got a recipe for success.
Learn More
Allow me to assist you in creating a customized crisis response strategy for your business. Whether you are an airline, an airport, or any business that may be affected by a natural or man-made disaster, I can help you create a solution that will provide a high return on your crisis planning investment.
EXECUTIVE PROFILE
Barbara Webster
Barbara Webster is now the Executive Vice President of the Americas for GoCrisis, a global crisis management and response organization. She was most recently the Senior Director of Emergency Response and Business Continuity for Spirit Airlines until becoming a crisis consultant in December of 2019. She has over 25 years of experience in the field of emergency response, which began in the oil and gas sector in Canada prior to her move into aviation. She began her aviation career with WestJet in 2002, where she developed and led WestJet's award-winning emergency response and family assistance programs.
Barbara's response experience includes assisting with the Afriqiyah Flt. 771 crash in Tripoli, Libya in 2010; the GCI Communications crash in Dillingham, Alaska; assisting families and students involved in the SV Concordia tall ship sinking off the coast of Brazil; and leading WestJet's Incident Command Team in its response to the fatal Grand Riviera Princess explosion in Playa del Carmen, Mexico in 2010 - a response that won a Corporate Humanitarian Award, and accolades from across Canada.
Upon relocating to Florida and joining Spirit Airlines, she coordinated with the Fort Lauderdale station team to support the Dynamic Airways Flt. 405 evacuation in which 22 people were injured, and responded to both the Pulse Nightclub and Fort Lauderdale Airport Shootings. During the 2017 hurricane season, Barbara coordinated multiple evacuation flights from the cities of Houston, Aguadilla, and San Juan, and led Spirit's partnership with Operation Puerto Rico Care Lift/Gift Lift. Through it, she coordinated over 160 tons of relief supplies to the island, followed by seven aircraft filled with donated toys for the children of Puerto Rico during the holiday season.
In the midst of the hurricane responses in 2017, she initiated a response to determine the safety of crews and team members that were in Las Vegas at the time of the October 1st Harvest Festival Concert shooting, in which 58 people died and 869 were injured. She again had to respond with a similar check of team members' families during the Marjory Stonemason Douglas School shooting which killed 17 and wounded 17 others.
In September of 2019, Hurricane Dorian caused the evacuation of the airline's headquarters and Operations Control Centre. Barbara led the Corporate Response Team to Atlanta, while the Operations Control Team evacuated to Detroit, where it maintained full operational control of the airline for five days before returning to normal business. Due to the work in preparedness and business continuity planning, the airline set a record for returning to normal business operations following a hurricane.
Barbara is an accomplished presenter, trainer, and facilitator, having spoken at symposia and conferences around the world on the topics of emergency response, business continuity, family assistance, crisis communications, emergency working groups at airports, and humanitarian response. She believes that sharing lessons learned will benefit the entire industry and that by 'paying it forward' mutual assistance is ready and willing when it is most needed during crises.
Barbara was most recently the Chair and one of the Founding Board Members of the Aviation Emergency Response Organization (AERO), prior to her move to consulting. She remains an active member of AERO and continues to support the establishment of Airport Emergency Working Groups at airports around the world.
