Flower Airlines Flight FX001 flying from Kuala Lumpur to Urumqi with a Scheduled Time of Departure (STD) from KUL at 1000 hrs (today’s date) and Scheduled Time of Arrival (STA) to URC 2230 hrs has crash landed into the Xinjiang mountains at about 2130 hrs as it was approaching Urumqi International Airport. You are the CEO of Flower Airlines.
What would your initial reaction be? How would you handle the situation in the first instance?
What assistance/solutions would you offer to the Next-of-Kin (NOK).
A. Submit together with the completed Declaration of Originality to your tutor by the deadline.
B. Your submission should be at least 1000 words.
C. The deadline for submission is Sunday 20th Jan 2019 at 2359 hrs. Late submission will not be tolerated and penalties will be imposed accordingly
D. Materials from reliable online resources and websites are allowed in your submissions and must be duly cited and credited accordingly.
E. You may use either IEEE or APA referencing.
3. Assignment Marking Criteria Your assignment will be graded as follow:
a. Ability to simulate proper reaction
b. Ability to list processes, procedures & actions
c. Ability to provide assistance & solutions
d. Ability to handle media effectively
Answer:
Introduction
The report throws light on analysing the different kinds of crisis management activities which are required to be undertaken by the Flower Airlines in managing the situation of crash that has taken place. The initial reaction of the CEO after the crash along with the different manners in which the crisis can be handled are required to be identified which will be helpful in treating the situation appropriately without any discrepancies. The ways to control the media are expected to be determined which will be essential in managing the overall effectiveness appropriately.
Initial Reaction after Crash
The CEO of Flower Airlines needs to implement stringent control over right of entry to crash site to make sure that the different types of services related to rescue shall not be deflected from the tasks of saving lives of the individuals. Furthermore, the CEO needs to appoint the expert investigation on the crash site immediately for managing the situation quickly. Additionally, he should be generating permission for entering condoned zone by essential personnel as it is necessary (Barry, 2017).
Figure 1: Airplane Crash
(Source: Barry, 2017)
Ways to Handle Situation in First Instance
After the crash has taken place in which evading along with prevention efforts have been failed, the Flowers Airlines needs to frontier and contain damage done to the different stakeholders, assets, surroundings and organization by responding to situation of crisis immediately.
Furthermore, Airport Authority Medical Services are to be requested for deploying the entire medical team to the crash scene where the incident has taken place which will provide medical support to the injured awaiting the advent of the Hospital Authority Medical Control Officer.
Additionally, Airline Company needs to provide with a list of individuals who travelled, cargo and crew on board the crashed airlines instantaneously after the incident as there will be coordination will be requested as to facilitate rescue operations along with care of non-hospitalised passengers.
Figure 2: Ways to Protect from Air Crash
(Source: Barry, 2017)
Listing of Processes, Procedures and Actions
Firstly, communication with authoritiesis the first step which is required to be taken by them wherein apart from giving different instructions for the various stakeholders to prevent themselves, showing proper concern for the different fatalities and their kin is considered to be cornerstone for the thriving crisis communication. The coordination is the essential aspect which is required to be adopted by the airline company to prevent further damage to the stakeholders.
Proper monitoring along with supporting the work of the emergency department actively will be helpful in resolving the problems as necessary. Fire services along with police resources play a significant role, and these are required to be acquired by the respective departments of the airlines’ company to bring the situation under control appropriately without ineffectiveness.
There should be the deployment of the resources which will be essential in informing the exact situation to the airline top or higher authorities which will make them aware about the resources which are necessary for the controlling of the case (Brataas, 2018).
As to reduce the particular type of events in the future, it is required to provide the skilled workforce along with specialised tools and technical manpower and sustain to the site of crash which is required by Crash commander.
Figure 3: Percentage of Individuals Injured
(Source: Shaw, 2017)
Solutions to be Offered to Next-of-Kin (NOK)
Flower Airlines needs to suggest Next-of-Kin establish a dedicated call centre to deal with the different enquiries from the relatives or the loved ones.
There should be activation of many next in kin phone services on the front page of the website of the company as the dark site will be helpful in citing the area wherein the incident occurred. The airline company needs to be active for a specific emergency (Shaw, 2017).
The airlines will be guiding Next-of-Kin to put together a competent team by providing training to the employees as to handle the phone calls accurately. The team needs to communicate the different news to family members and the airline department with clear language and manage the requests with proper patience (Eaton, 2017).
Figure 4: Accidents by Stage of Flight
(Source: Dijkstra, 2017)
Ways to Handle Media
In such cases, the crisis is visible highly which is getting considerable coverage of media which is because of the sensational aspects and interesting and the entire effect is on the victims (Dijkstra, 2017). These are the substantial reasons wherein crisis plays a significant threat to the organization, and this affects the reputation of the organization. If the crisis is portrayed by the reports of the media, the people will express sympathy with the victims and blame the organization for such proceedings (Shaw, 2016).
In the respective case, the media will be playing their role in covering the entire scenario of Flower Airlines which will be affecting the brand image and reputation. In such occasion, the Flower Airlines need to take the following steps which will be helpful for them in managing the situation appropriately without misleading the viewers on the television.
- The Flower Airlines needs to inform the media regarding the crash situation in brief as this will be helpful in handling situation appropriately (Wu, 2016)
- The company should not avoid providing a statement to media as this will spread negative rumors on the overall brand image of the organization (Wensveen, 2018)
- Flower Airlines needs to keep a proper check on the stories as this will help the company in becoming more aware of the fake and real news which can affect the reputation of the company (Stolzer, 2017)
Figure 5: Aircraft Crash
(Source: Shaw, 2016)
Conclusion
Therefore, it can be concluded that the crisis management plan is one of the most effective approaches which is required to be achieved by the organization which will be helpful in handling the situation appropriately. The media plays a significant role in analyzing the different news regarding the organization as this has affected the reputed brand image of the company negatively. There are various aspects which are required to be maintained by Flower Airlines ensure that the situation is handled effectively and there are no such issues which will be useful and become more conscious regarding the news which is generated by the media channels.
References
Barry, W. S. (2017). Airline Management: Business Management in Transport 3. Routledge.
Brataas, K. (2018). Crisis Communication: Case Studies and Lessons Learned from International Disasters. Routledge.
Dijkstra, A. (2017). Safety management in airlines. In Resilience Engineering (pp. 183-203). CRC Press.
Eaton, J. (2017). Globalization and human resource management in the airline industry. Routledge.
Shaw, S. (2016). Airline marketing and management. Routledge.
Stolzer, A. J. (2017). Safety management systems in aviation. Routledge.
Wensveen, J. (2018). Air transportation: A management perspective. Routledge.
Wu, C. L. (2016). Airline operations and delay management: insights from airline economics, networks and strategic schedule planning. Routledge.