Germanwings' crisis communication strategies

Last week I read an evaluation of the Germanwings' crisis communication by a fellow blogger.

Her blog described the three phases of the crisis and how Germanwings failed to address the public with accurate information about the crash and failed to show empathy and regret. Other bloggers also evaluated the crisis communication of Germanwings mostly negatively but some positively as well. In this blog entry I will highlight the different strategies applied by Germanwings during the crisis.

Germanwings' crash Credit: Getty/Pixel8000

The case

On the 24th of March 2015 a Germanwings airplane crashed into the Alps killing all 150 people on board. The plane was traveling from Barcelona to Düsseldorf. The co-pilot Andreas Lubitz crashed the plane on purpose. You can read more about the tragedy here.

 

 Social Media Engagement

As I mentioned in my previous post about the Samsung case the early and clear communication is crucial in the case of a crisis. The public and the media need accurate information in order to make sense of the issue. Germanwings' communication started off in the right direction but after the first couple of tweets they remained silent. As research showed the constant communication and prompt answers to the concerns of the public and the media is indispensable in a crisis. Germanwings should have kept the public constantly posted as soon as new information arrived.

After the tragedy was confirmed Germanwings should have posted an own emotionally loaded apology statement instead of just re-tweeting it from Lufthansa. A video showing the CEO apologizing and showing empathy would have been a better way of showing regret than just the twitter post.

The changed Germanwings logo Credit: Germanwings

Germanwings and Lufthansa also changed their logos from colorful to black and white. But they still had not given any further information about the crash.

 

Press Conference

As the next step four hours after the crash a press conference was organized to inform the media. During the press conference it was emphasized that the co-pilot was medically fit to fly the airplane. Couple days later the fact that the co-pilot had severe depression episodes and that Lufthansa knew about it was uncovered. This controversy had a massive impact on the credibility of Lufthansa and Germanwings.

 

Incentives for the families

Nevertheless, the company offered flights to France for the family members and relatives to be close to the scene of the tragedy and the families obtained a payment to help them. Of course the loss of loved ones can never be compensated but the organization at least tried to show sympathy and understanding.

 

Taking responsibility 

Another positive aspect of the crisis communication was that Germanwings and Lufthansa took the responsibility instead of using the co-pilot as a scapegoat and putting all the blame on him. Although it was a bit late the organization apologized and showed empathy and regret.

 

Conclusion

In summary Germanwings failed to stay in touch with the public through social media and had no social media strategy. The lack of providing information gave space to other sources to report their side of the story.

The way they handled the crisis in the later stages was better because they provided information to the media, took responsibility for the tragedy and showed empathy and regret.

How could have Germanwings done their crisis communication better?

Please share your thoughts and ideas in the comments.

Eva is studying corporate communication at the University of Amsterdam. She loves to travel and explore new cultures and places.