Hitting Turbulence

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is two-fold: to analyze the corporate responses of three major airplane crashes that occurred in the 1990s, and to examine how the strategies that each airline used and the nature of the crisis environments both served to help, and hurt, the companies’ futures. ValuJet Flight 592, Trans World Airlines Flight 800 and EgyptAir Flight 990 will be analyzed through the lens of two prominent crisis communication theories, Fink’s stage analysis theory and Benoit’s image restoration strategies, in order to provide a comprehensive assessment of each crisis. I will then give insight as to the effectiveness of each airline in response to its crash, keeping in mind the unique environment that surrounded each situation. ValuJet made poor crisis management decisions that, when combined with its lack of satisfactory safety standards both before and after the crash of Flight 592, irreparably damaged the airline’s public image. TWA, like ValuJet, made errors in its strategy choices after the crash of Flight 800, but was able to escape blame and restore public confidence because of the heavy media focus on the unsuccessful criminal investigation. EgyptAir made appropriate crisis management choices after the crash of Flight 990, and also took advantage of the tense political situation in which no obvious regulating presence exerted authority, and thus successfully evaded responsibility for its crash.