Crisis Communication for Airlines – Episode 309
A veteran crisis-communications expert and author of “Transport Management: Successes and Failures” (2026) joins the show. Linda Tavlin draws on more than 35 years of experience to discuss how transportation organizations—especially airlines—should communicate during major accidents and crises.
Linda and John Goglia reflect on their long professional history, including work on major aviation disasters. They illustrate how poor communication during crises often worsens outcomes, while good communication can significantly reduce long-term damage.
Linda shares a story about two airlines she helped train. After both had major accidents, one airline followed her approach to communicating about the accident and the other did not. The outcomes were very different.
Linda’s approach to crisis communication includes advice on who should communicate to the different groups who deal with an accident investigation. John also discusses the communication strategy in the investigation of the 1996 fatal ValuJet crash.
John, Linda and Todd Curtis also discuss the investigation of the 2013 Asiana crash in San Francisco, where a television station broadcast information about the pilots in the airliner that was both false and offensive.
Resources:
NTSB Aircraft Accident Report NTSB AAR-96/07 – ValuJet Flight 558, January 1996
NTSB Aircraft Accident Report NTSB AAR-97/06 – ValuJet Flight 592, May 1996
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