Phillip Renouf – Blog

Bell Canada helps Air France passengers

August 10th, 2005. Published under Business, Life. No Comments.

I haven’t seen this in the news anywhere so I thought I’d mention it. Apparently when Bell Mobility executives saw the smoke from the plane crash and found out what was going on they immediately set into motion getting enough cell phones and long distance calling cards to take to the Air France passengers at the airport to try and help them be able to call their family and friends to let them know they were all right. I just want to say bravo for stepping up and doing this without being asked and without trying to garner media attention for your good deeds. I am glad to see that you put the passengers needs a head of your own and did an incredible thing by enabling the passengers to be able to call their family and friends.

http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php?t=697713

2005 08 04 – Mobility team races to connect crash survivors to loved ones worldwide
“Hello maman” brings tears of joy and relief

As thick smoke billowed from the Airbus A-340 crumpled in a ravine at Toronto’s Pearson airport, a team from Bell swung into action.

Their goal: get cell phones and calling cards to the survivors to enable them to tell family and friends they had made it through the terrifying crash of Air France Flight 358 Tuesday afternoon.

“One young girl of about 17 was shaking so much she couldn’t dial the phone,” said Julia Quinton, Mobility’s Associate Director of Communications, who went behind police lines to help in a room packed with about 200 dazed and tired passengers. “She was holding my hand, my arm, so tightly as I dialed. Then I heard her say ‘Hello, maman’ and burst into tears. I had to struggle to hold back my own tears.

“She said the media in France were reporting no survivors. Can you imagine how relieved her family was to hear her voice?”

That’s just one of many stories of the fast and compassionate response from Bell that put 50 cell phones and 500 calling cards into the hands of passengers, crew and emergency workers within three and a half hours of the crash. All 309 people escaped with their lives after their plane ran off the end of runway 24-L after a flight from Paris.

And many of them got in touch with loved ones using Bell cell phones handed to them by Julia and Dave McCullough in a hotel ballroom near the airport where they were bused after the accident.

“Dave and I were there, but it was a total team effort that enabled us to do what we did,” said Julia.

CEO sets plan in motion
It started just after 4 p.m. Tuesday when Jim Jaques, Senior Vice-President, Consumer Marketing, noticed the heavy black smoke from his office window at Creekbank, a few hundred metres from the crash site. Interrupting the meeting he was in, he rushed to the next office to bring the smoke to the attention of Robert Odendaal, CEO of Bell Mobility and Video Services.

After checking the radio to get the news of what happened, it didn’t take long for them to act.

“As the pre-eminent communications company in the country, as the national carrier, we have a responsibility to the community and to the country that we take very seriously,” said Rob. “This was a crisis. There was no question we had to step up to the mark. And we did so immediately.”

It was a team effort from the start. Said Jim Jaques: “Rob said we should get some cell phones over there for the survivors, the families and friends who are waiting and the emergency teams. And I thought what a great idea. We’ll do it and can even go one better and get some long distance calling cards too.”

That set in motion a whole range of activities as teams from customer service, hardware, testing and development, network engineering, marketing, Bell Distribution and Unigistix all went to work.

“People put their private lives aside to do their duty for Bell and for the community,” said Rob. “They made personal sacrifices like coming back into work, or staying late, to ensure people’s needs were met. This is what makes a company great and I am very grateful to everyone who contributed.”

Jim cited the example of the network engineers. “Many of them were already out tramping through the storm because we had lightning strikes at a lot of cell towers. They really came through as they always do. Not only did they keep the network up and running but they also boosted our coverage in the airport area to handle the increased traffic.”

In another case, an employee at Unigistix, which is BDI’s warehousing supplier, jumped in his own car to deliver the 500 LD calling cards.

Activating and charging
At Creekbank, people were literally running through the halls to locate enough phones. “It took us a couple of hours – seemed like an eternity – but we got it done,” said Jim.

Ian McCaig, Edward Siddeley and Dave McCullough delivered a cart full of phones to Silvana Hollett and her Acquisitions Centre team. Then they got down to business. In many cases, the phones had not been activated and also needed to be charged.

“I just took boxes and dropped them on eight reps’ desks and told them to get busy programming them for overseas calls,” said Silvana. “Everyone pitched in and within an hour every phone was ready to go. That was quite an accomplishment considering some people had never programmed a phone before.

“Everyone felt pretty good to help out. Once the last phone was programmed there was some spirited clapping going on, even from those employees who stayed late to make sure the entire job was done right and done quickly.”

Into the “war zone”
From there, Julia and Dave loaded the phones into Dave’s car and he and Julia headed to the airport. Once there, though, and after a frustrating wait while authorities figured out what to do, they were re-directed to a nearby hotel where the passengers who did not need hospitalization were being bused.

After explaining repeatedly that they were there to help the passengers and their families, Julia and Dave had a police escort past the media scrum to the room where most of the passengers were being held. A room where even the waiting families had not been allowed to go.

“It was like a war zone,” said Julia. “Huddled families, crying babies, people talking in every imaginable language. And about three-quarters of the people were wrapped in blankets because their clothes had been burned or torn off in the accident.”

Some people thought they were selling something, Julia said, not believing this help was being offered with no strings attached.

They moved through the room offering phones and calling cards and much more. Meanwhile, they had also given some phones to Air France personnel who distributed them to families waiting in a separate ballroom.

Going the extra mile
“For three hours, no one had really talked to the passengers except to get them to this gathering spot, so we spent a lot of time talking and simply making sure people were OK. I think I handed out three packages of tissue for every phone. But the cards were a real surprise to people – they were shocked to get them . . . and so appreciative.”

Julia said part of the challenge was to offer help without intruding on the private moments people were experiencing. “The initial shock had worn off by the time we got into the room, but they were still quite emotional.”

In one instance, Julia really went the extra mile, making a decision on the fly that may not have been strictly by the book.

She gave a phone to the leader of a group of about 30 teenaged exchange students just starting their trip to Canada. “He was no more than 18 himself. I said he should keep it as long as he needs it, even throughout the trip, because people don’t get over an accident like this right away. I gave him my card to call me when he’s finished with the phone, but I told him if he didn’t call it was ok. What’s one phone considering everything else that was going on?

“He phoned me three times Wednesday morning to thank me, to say how much he loved Canada because of that.”

A powerful team effort
It wasn’t the only phone call Julia received Wednesday morning. Another was from Air France, wanting to know if they could borrow some cell phones for the executives and investigators who were flying in from France that morning. Our answer? Oui, bien sûr. And within half an hour, they had 30 phones at their disposal.

“The whole experience was amazing,” said Dave. “It just shows once again the resourcefulness of everyone involved – load it up and let’s go.”

News of Bell’s initiative even reached New York, where BDI’s Mark Weisleder was attending a prepaid card conference. “I read Julia’s email to the conference at the beginning of this morning’s session. There were tears around the room and I received a very loud ovation from everyone.”

“It was a powerful night,” said Julia. “An amazing company. Thanks to all the people who made it possible to provide this unforgettable gesture of connecting people in need. It was an honour for us to be able to help, even in a small way.”

Phil