As Ethiopian Airlines flight ET702 flew past its scheduled destination of Rome, aviation experts and novices alike were sharing information online at the speed of light. Once the aircraft had landed, it was discovered that it was a rogue co-pilot who had forced the plane to proceed to Geneva in order to seek asylum. No one was injured or harmed. Though, it’s what happened before the aircraft touched down that should be of concern to aviation executives globally. This deck offers insights and lessons.

1. Ethiopian Airlines ET702
Hijacking to Geneva
Crisis Management 2.0 Case Study
Thinking Differently about
Aviation Marketing

2. Era of the “anywhere” newsroom
This was the first time we have
seen an airline incident receiving
blow by blow coverage on social
media, even before the aircraft
made a landing!
As Ethiopian Airlines flight ET702
flew past its scheduled
destination of Rome, aviation
experts and novices alike were
sharing information online at the
speed of light.

3. The end doesn’t matter
Once the aircraft had landed, it
was discovered that it was a
rogue co-pilot who had forced
the plane to proceed to Geneva
in order to seek asylum. No one
was injured or harmed.
Though, it’s what happened
before the aircraft touched
down that should be of concern
to aviation executives globally.
This deck offers insights and

4. ET702 Hijacking
Citizen journalism at its peak
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5. The news first hits Airliners.net
The forum full of
aviation enthusiasts,
geeks and airline staff
is the first to see a post
about the plane’s
corresponder set to
“7500” – the
international code for
hijacking. Updates
follow every few
seconds, with exact
location and altitude.

6. Then it’s on Twitter…

7. Live Maps of the
flight hits Twitter
Ex-Reuters journalist,
Matthew Keys, is one of
the first to tweet out Live
maps of the airplane
circling Geneva, even
before landing.
https://twitter.com/MatthewKeysLive

8. Live ATC
Recordings
released
Matthew Keys goes on
to release Live
recordings between
the hijackers and the
Geneva Airport ATC,
first on SoundCloud,
then on his Twitter
account.
https://soundcloud.com/producermatthew

9. Leading industry blogs report Live!

10. Leading blogs report Live!
In times of uncertainty,
industry-specialist
blogs like
Airlinereporter.com and
Jaunted become
trusted sources of
information for the
general public.

11. Other aviation executives and
enthusiasts join in with updates
By this time, a hashtag,
#ET702, has been established
on Twitter and lots of aviation
executives and enthusiasts are
contributing to the
conversations.
In this age of instant
communications, messages
spread far and wide. And
quickly too.

12. SimpliFlying chips in with our 2-cents

13. The tweets, photos and Facebook posts cross
14mn impressions

14. The Accidental Spokespersons make the news

15. Ethiopian Airlines issues a press statement
Ethiopian Airlines Press Release:
Ethiopian Airlines flight 702 on scheduled service departing from
Addis Ababa at 00:30 (local time) scheduled to arrive in Rome at
04:40 (local time) was forced to proceed to Geneva Airport.
Accordingly, the flight has landed safely at Geneva Airport. All
passengers and crew are safe at Geneva Airport.
Ethiopian Airlines is making immediate arrangements to fly its
esteemed customers on-board the flight to their intended
destinations.

16. And then deletes the release…

17. Then releases it again with minor changes

18. ET702 Hijacking
What airlines need to learn…
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Aviation Marketing

19. Social Media is full
of mis-information
While social media is full of quick information, it
can often be inaccurate. If the airline is not there
to listen, fact check and correct the wrong
information, then it has the potential to spread far
and wide. This often impacts the brand
negatively.
In this case, while most of the information
happened to be accurate, there were claims of
the door being destroyed, when it was merely
opened on the inside. There were also tweets
about the plane crashing, initially.

20. If you’re on social media, get your
crises management strategy right
Not only is Ethiopian Airlines present on
Twitter and Facebook, their Press
Release clearly stated the links to their
channels. This set the expectations that
anyone can engage with the airline there
for more information.
For most of the duration of the incident,
the airline’s Twitter account talked about a
bed of roses. And once there was a
statement, they quickly reverted to ads
about London and Africa. There was no
engagement. Twitter was being used
like a radio!

21. Don’t start digging the
well, when you’re thirsty
It appears from the incidence that Ethiopian Airlines
has “checked the boxes” for being on social media,
but not invested in any resources in developing a
strategy around crises management or customer
service.
This, despite the fact that many of their staff possibly
found out about this incident on Facebook or Twitter,
before an email from their boss arrived.
And all this backfires when there is a crisis situation.
Had they planned ahead, engaged passengers and
journalists online and set the facts right, the damage
to the brand could have been reduced. But now, it Learn more about our in-house
Crises Management MasterClass
cannot be undone.

22. ET702 Hijacking
Crises Management 2.0 – How to
prepare for the next crises?
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23. Download full infographichere

24. American Airlines Flight 24
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25. For more case-studies:
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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
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