If you work in an airline or airport organisation and wish to download the slides, please email contact@simpliflying.com

1. Singapore Airlines A380
Emergency Landing
Social Crisis Management Case Study
We Believe in Thinking
Differently about Aviation

2. The Singapore Airlines
A380 Emergency Landing
On the 6th of January 2014, a
Singapore Airlines A380 flying
between London and Singapore
had to divert to Azerbaijan due to
a loss of cabin pressure.
As we have often highlighted in
our previous crises management
decks, social media once again
played an important role in the
crisis communication.

3. What happens on Twitter…
To help our airlines better
understand how people use
social media in these
situations, we focus this
analysis on the different “types”
of users we see during
emergencies, and how airlines
can best engage them.
…often makes the news!

4. The Different Social Personas in
the SIA A380 situation
We Believe in Thinking
Differently about Aviation

5. When we analyzed the Asiana
incident in SFO we highlighted how
passengers were increasingly likely
to share images even after escaping
something dramatic like a plane
crash.
In this incident we saw this trend
reach new heights with the arrival of
the “in-flight oxygen mask selfie”.
Needless to say the image was
quickly picked up by the media.

6. The quick thinking BBC journalist
The first journalist to pick up the selfie was BBC’s Tony Brown who
even managed to surprise the original poster with his fast reaction.
At that time this was one of the only 2 tweets that could be found, a
further testament to the need for airlines to react immediately to these
crises as journalists will not wait for official statements.

7. Journalists will often latch on to
passengers who tweet heavily or
who are the first to tweet. In the
example shown on the right, the
passenger sent over 35 tweets
with updates on the situation.
This kind of passenger behavior is
very common as stranded
passengers find themselves with
nothing to do, plenty of time and a
need to let others know what is
happening, including the media!

8. The angry passenger
While some twitter users
tend to focus on the
facts, trying to update the
world about their
situation, others use the
social network to
complain.
Understandably levels of
stress, anger and
reactions vary greatly
depending on the
situation

9. The thankful
At the opposite end of the
scale we find those who take
to Twitter to say thanks for
having escaped a potential
tragedy of just for the efforts
made by the airline’s staff.
Although these users are
usually a minority, they can
become a significant
component with some strong
brands, as it happened in this
situation.

10. The helpful advocate
Sometimes fans of the brand
will step in to help the
company and answer some of
the queries or fight back at
users who are being very
negative.
Once again this only tends to
happen in the case of very
strong brands with a well
established fan-base.

11. The concerned relative
Even when the passengers
themselves are not tweeting of
Facebooking, we often see
relatives using social networks to
receive information.
In this case, Singapore airline
was able not only to reply to the
initial enquiries but also to
provide updates as the situation
evolved.

12. How did Singapore Airlines perform in the
crisis?
Singapore Airlines did well
in being quick to post the
first announcement on
Facebook, then Twitter.
This was then constantly
updated as they learnt
more about the incident.
Many passengers and their
relatives were replied to
promptly on the official
pages.

13. How can you be better prepared
for the next crisis?
Find us on:
Twitter
Facebook
Linkedin
We Believe in Thinking
Differently about Aviation

14. Identify the personas you need to deal
with, and be prepared!
Every crisis has common
elements – from the personas, to
airport chaos. And airline
marketers looking to stay ahead of
the game should be prepared to
deal with this.
This deck should provide insight
into the minds of the different
personas during a crises. And the
infographic on the next slide
provides a larger framework.

15. Download full infographichere

16. American Airlines Flight 24
Download full infographichere

17. For more case-studies:
www.SimpliFlying.comhas worked with over 40 airlines and airports globally
SimpliFlying
on customer engagement strategy. If you’re keen to ensure that
your crises management strategy remains relevant, get in touch to
learn more about our consulting and training services.
Helping airlines & airports engage travelers profitably
http://www.SimpliFlying.com