Posted: April 20th, 2022

Aviation Crisis Management

Aviation Crisis Management
Aviation Crisis Management Toolkit.
Where it all began.
Hall’s (2010) review of crises begins with the impact of the 2007 financial crisis.
Following on from this Hall (ibid) goes on to recount a number of well-known global crises
that have had lasting impacts on international passenger flows.
Concurrently, Aviation has evolved in terms of technologies, sectors and route networks.
Once popular destinations are now struggling to appeal to potential passengers and
previously less visited destinations seeing an upturn in arrivals.
Meanwhile, once popular airlines are now vanished from the skies and niche airline
subsectors come, and go, as consumers tastes and situations change.
Crises take their toll.
UNWTO (2019) estimated that worldwide international tourist arrivals increased 6% to 1.4
billion in 2018. In relative terms, the Middle East (+10%), Africa (+7%), Asia and the Pacific
and Europe (both at +6%) led growth in 2018. Arrivals to the Americas were below the world
average (+3%).
Then Covid-19 happened.
The current global pandemic has impacted on the Aviation industry more so than any crisis
since WW2. However, alongside Covid-19, the Aviation industry is existing in a time where
shocks, the result of a range of crises, are creating a turbulent and unstable business
environment that is increasingly difficult for organisations to operate in.
Crises have wide ranging ramifications for Aviation organisation.
The impacts on these organisations vary considerably depending on the type of crisis, the
severity of the crisis and the way in which the organisation has planned for, responded to
and recovered from the crisis.
The resilience of the Aviation industry is in question.
The questions that form this assessment toolkit are designed for you to critically
examine a range of Crisis Management themes within the Aviation industry and
within the context of a global turbulent environment.
Useful Sources
UNWTO library / IATA – Crisis Communication in the Digital Age / WTTC economic tools /
Toolbox for Crisis Communications / Skift / CAPA / Canvas Book Club, Podcasts and Videos /
World Economic Forum – Global Risk Report 2022 / Coombs “SCCT”
Preliminary Literature Review.
The word crisis comes from the Greek “krisis” meaning differentiation or decision (Glaesser,
2003). Crises can be identified as ‘wildcard (events)’ – high impact, low probability
(Cooper, C & Hall M, 2019), therefore they are events that require important and immediate
decisions to be made.
Triangulation is the use of more than one method of research to add depth to data and
analysis, contributing to greater confidence in findings (Bryman, Bell, & Teevan, 2009).
Using the diagram below, research a definition of “crisis” from three different sources. When
this has been done, create your own working definition. (100 words for all definitions).
Journal:
Year:
Author:
Definition:
Textbook:
Year:
Author:
Definition:
Other source:
Year:
Author:
Definition:
Your Working Definition:
The following sections of this Assessment Toolkit requires you to focus on a specific sector of
the Aviation industry. This will enable the Toolkit to become your portfolio of Crisis
Management, sector specific, knowledge.
Please select from one from the following:
1. Legacy Carrier: ☐
2. Low-cost Carrier: ☐
3. Primary Airports: ☐
4. Secondary Airports: ☐
5. Aircraft Manufacturer: ☐
6. A sector of your choosing: ___________
The Aviation industry recognizes that a variety of risks to stakeholders are prevalent globally and that safety issues exist anywhere people
travel (IATA 2018). Hazards include, but are not limited to hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis, and floods; health risks such as SARS, pandemic
flu and localized outbreaks; as well as actions such as technological / industrial failures, accidents, terrorism and political unrest.
Complete the table below. Choose two crises from the following Crises Domains:
Political, Environment, Socio-Cultural, Economical and Technological. (400 words total).

Crisis Impacts on Specific Aviation Organisation.
Organisation:
Crisis: Impacts of Crisis on Aviation Organisation:
Organisation:
Crisis: Impacts of Crisis on Aviation Organisation:
AssignmentTutorOnline

How a stakeholder responds to a crisis often affects the public’s perception of the
stakeholder, Chang et al (2018). Thus, how to effectively deal with complicated crisis
situations is of the utmost importance in order to restore image and reputation after the
crisis. Effective crisis management during a crisis has a positive effect on a stakeholder
reputation and brand equity, and will facilitate the recovery after the crisis (Grundy and
Moxon, 2013; Hansson and Vikström, 2010).
Evaluate the response strategy utilised by an organisation of your sub-sector. (500 words).
In early 2019, Lonely Planet named Sri Lanka as its #1 Destination for 2019, a potential
boost for passenger flows into the country. On April 21st 2019, seven suicide bombers struck a
number of churches and three luxury hotels within the country.
In April 2018, 29 airlines were serving Sri Lanka offering 300 flights a week. However,
following the Easter attacks, the connectivity was reduced to 239 flights a week, which
amounts to a loss of … 8,000 [seats] per week,” Jayaratne, J (2019). As an attempted
recovery strategy, the Sri Lankan Government has announced that it will reduce the price of
aviation fuel, ground handling and embarkation fees for six months at Colombo airport, to
encourage airlines to reinstate schedules, increase the number of flights and lower ticket
prices.
Many experts and academics see the “recovery” stage as the final part of the crisis process
for stakeholders. It is at this point that stakeholders adopt policies to normalise operations
in the hope to moving forward from the crisis.
Analyse a recovery strategy carried out by an organisation from your sector. (500 words)
The International Civil Aviation Organisation (2018) state that in order to be resilient,
industries need to move from managing a disaster, to managing risks and building resilient
infrastructures that are sustainable.
Critically discuss the resilience of the Aviation industry in relation to crises. (600 words).
This can focus on the resilience of your chosen sector or the Aviation industry as whole.
The WEF (2020) writes “today’s risk landscape is shaped by an unsettled geopolitical environment in which new centres of power are forming—
as old alliances and global institutions are being tested”. For the economy, “ammunition to fight a potential recession is lacking, and there is a
possibility of an extended low-growth period. Climate change and related environmental issues are ranked highest in terms of likelihood.
Identify and analyse potential crises that could impact upon your specified sub-sector of Aviation. (400 words).

Identification and Analysis of Potential Crises.
Organisation:
Organisation:
Reference List:
Reference list:

——–

Management of Aviation Crises
Toolkit for Aviation Crisis Management

This is where it all started.

Hall’s (2010) crisis review begins with the effects of the 2007 financial crisis.

Following this, Hall (ibid) recounts a number of well-known global crises.

that have had long-term consequences for international passenger flows

Aviation has evolved in terms of technologies, sectors, and route networks all at the same time.

Once popular destinations are now struggling to attract new visitors.

Previously underserved destinations are seeing an increase in arrivals.

Meanwhile, once-popular airlines have vanished from the skies, and niche airlines have proliferated.

As consumer tastes and circumstances change, subsectors emerge and disappear.

Crises exact a toll.

According to UNWTO (2019), global international tourist arrivals increased by 6% to 1.4 billion.

billion in the year 2018