Malaysia Airlines flight to Beijing vanishes

Malaysian Airlines released a statement earlier in the week explaining how flight MH370 has disappeared. The flight leaving Kuala Lampur was expected to land in Beijing at 6:30 but no plane arrived. The flight carrying 277 passengers went off the radar South of Vietnam.

This unfortunate situation is not only a macro level crisis but a meso and micro level crisis as well.  This crisis is macro level because it has created panic amongst not only the Malaysian population but worldwide unnerve as well. This is also an international crisis as the passengers on the flight were from 14 different nationalities.  This crisis is also meso because of the situation that Malaysia airline is in. The company must now deal with this crisis in order to keep their name from being tarnished as an unreliable airline company.  Lastly, this crisis is also a micro level crisis because of the individuals on the lost flight as well as the families of the passengers.

            Fortunately, Malaysia airline has done a remarkable job at being timely with notifying their audience, which is very important when dealing with a crisis this large a magnitude. Malaysia airline been as transparent as possible, ensuring that the information they release is accurate and quickly widespread. The airline has even gone so far as changing their twitter page to grey in order to represent the sorrow and grief they feel for the missing passengers as well as for their families. Not only is Malaysia airline doing their part but the Malaysian military is sending out a helping hand as well. "In times of emergencies like this, we have to show unity of efforts that transcends boundaries and issues," said Lt Gen Roy Deveraturda the commander of the Philippine military's Western Command.

            As social media has made it easier for news to spread faster throughout the world it is admirable that Malaysia airline has taken this with advance. Social media has allowed companies to share valuable information much quicker than other forms of communication such as TV, and newspapers. Individuals can now get news instantaneously. This proves to be very valuable for organizations in a crisis situation because they are able to communicate to their audiences efficiently. The challenges that social media poses is that individuals on the web now have the ability to post information online that can potentially be inaccurate. Therefore, it is very important that Malaysia airlines update their reports and monitor what is being posted in order to combat any invalid information posted.

Source: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-26492748

Malaysia airline twitter page