The Spin: How Seattle airport spokesperson Perry Cooper turned tough questions into a win with Gee, Ursula

A new report ranking Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) among the least stressful major airports in the country is getting attention, but it’s what happened during a recent radio interview that’s now drawing a closer look.

SEA spokesperson Perry Cooper joined “The Gee and Ursula Show” on KIRO Newsradio to highlight recent upgrades, while also fielding tough questions about long walks and delays getting to the airport’s “N” gates.

That exchange is now the focus of the latest episode of “The Spin,” where host Luke Duecy breaks down how Cooper handled the criticism and why it worked.

‘The Spin’ analyzed Coopers strategic communication tactics in response to tough questions

Despite being pressed by co-host Gee Scott, Cooper transparently acknowledged the inconvenience while steering the conversation toward future improvements and broader context, leaving all of us feeling a lot better about delays and long treks from terminal to terminal.

Listen to what Cooper said when Gee asked about another inconvenience, navigating through the airport to get to the “N” gates.

“That’s going to be a challenge for us for the future, quite honestly, that becomes our space limitations for the number of gates that we’ve got,” he said. “We do have, in the midst of our airport master plan that’s coming up, we’re going to be going through our state environmental process here this year, and start to speak more towards that, which will add a new North Terminal and 19 new gates to the north.”

Did you catch the spin? Cooper took the point Gee raised about the inconvenience of traveling, which he knows is a challenge, and used that as an opportunity to guide all of us toward the future solution and gain a little empathy along the way. Then Cooper said something pretty bold.

“Your choice is either do that to get out of there and get to the terminal faster, or you’re going to be sitting on your plane on a taxi lane somewhere, waiting to get to a gate that hasn’t emptied yet from the flight in front of it,” he said.

He asked listeners if they would rather walk and take a shuttle to the “N” gates, which is faster, or sit on a plane and wait a long time for a gate to open that’s closer to the terminal. Instead of using data and metrics, he empowered all of us to make a decision that doesn’t really exist, in order to illustrate the challenge of maximizing the small size of land the airport sits on.

Cooper’s statement was a series of positive pivots with truth and transparency mixed in, which is why Perry Cooper is pretty great at what he does.

The full breakdown highlights a master class of how corporations or organizations try to make bad news, less bad, or ideally, no news at all, while reporters seek the truth.

Watch the full episode of “The Spin” in the video above.

Follow Luke Duecy on X. Read more of his stories here. Submit news tips here.