 |
Communication in a Crisis: Indonesia AirAsia
Abstract
The case discusses the crisis communication strategies adopted by PT Indonesia AirAsia (Indonesia AirAsia), a low-cost carrier in Indonesia, and its founder and Group CEO, AirAsia, Tony Fernandes (Fernandes). On December 28, 2014, Indonesia AirAsia announced that its flight QZ8501, travelling from Surabaya, Indonesia, to Singapore, with 162 people on board, had gone missing. The announcement was made soon after the flight lost contact with the air traffic control. On December 30, 2014, Indonesia AirAsia officially confirmed that the flight with 155 passengers and 7 crew members on board had crashed into the Java Sea. Soon after reports surfaced of the flight going missing from the radar after the air traffic control lost contact with it, Fernandes took to social media to announce that the AirAsia aircraft was missing. Three hours later, he tweeted that he was taking a flight to Surabaya, where the flight had reportedly gone missing. While Fernandes continued with his communications through the social media over the next couple of days, search teams found debris and bodies floating on the Java Sea. |
|
Issues
The case is structured to achieve the following teaching objectives:
- Critically analyze crisis communication strategies at Indonesia AirAsia.
- Understand the issues and challenges faced by the carrier while communicating with its customers and investors during the crisis.
- Understand the need to have a crisis communication plan in organizations to handle crisis situations effectively.
Keywords
Indonesia AirAsia, Low-cost carrier, Southeast Asia, Tony Fernandes, Crisis communication, Crisis management, Social media, Facebook, Twitter, Civil Aviation Authority, Montreal Convention, National Search and Rescue Agency Republic of Indonesia
