Crisis Management: Hong Kong Airlines

Some ground crew members complained they had been working non-stop for more than 24 hours before being able to go mom. All these had turned routine management issues into crisis. HOOCH stopped providing her services. Without Whacko’s services, Hong Kong Airlines faced frequent flight delays . The efficiency of Hong Kong Airlines to response the crisis is far from satisfactory.. Reporters were also unable to get in touch with the communication department of Hong Kong Airlines for their responses on the chaos. Hong Kong Airlines should set up five-step public relations process to survive from the crisis.

For the environmental scanning, budget airline is an airline that generally has lower fares and fewer comforts. She should increase the freight punctuality rate. For planning, they should increase the pushball car and give promise to improve the freight punctuality rate. Endorsing spokesperson Tony Hung can enhance the awareness of Hong Kong Airlines. For the message design and execution, they should emphasize on the freight punctuality rate and openness. Finally, they should evaluate the freight punctuality rate and the rate of passengers via Hong Kong International Airport.

For the image restoration, Hong Kong Airlines should offer corporate apologia in front of press media. Free upgrade offer is also a kind of scheme to catch influenced customers for the next flight. For the reputation rebuild, Hong Kong Airlines should build transferable network among different airlines to offer customers a ‘promise’ with not more than one-hour flight delay. Part A Hong Kong Airlines was in a state of chaos after a severe typhoon struck the city with gale-force winds and rain, shuttering much of the city.

Typhoon Vaccine roared into Hong Kong on Monday 23 July 2012, steadily intensifying throughout the day. The Hong Kong Observatory issued a tropical cyclone warning No. Signal on Monday 5:44 p. M. , eventually raising it to a No. 10 signal at 12:45 a. M. Tuesday 24 July. It is the worst storm to hit Hong Kong in 13 years. 348 international flights were delayed and 39 cancelled in the aftermath of Typhoon Vaccine. A number of airlines, including Cathy Pacific, Dragon Air, Air India, Hong Kong Airlines, Air China, Korean Air, Delta, etc. Were affected, but Hong Kong Airlines was the one who suffered the most. Angry as almost all of the 90 flights scheduled on 23 July evening and 24 July were delayed or cancelled. Long queues stretched as far as the entrance of the arrival all. Many travelers complained the poor arrangements by the airline for her confusion and delayed trips, with hours of waiting, tempers occasionally became so frayed that police had to be called in to help maintain order. Cases of alleged assault on crew members were reported. A female ground crew broke down and cried after slapped across the faced by an angry passenger.

There was at least one arrest – a 31 -year-old woman who poured a bottle of distilled water over a male ground crew on 28 July, Saturday. On the staff side, some ground crew members complained they had been working on-stop for more than 24 hours before being able to go home. There were also reports that crew members collapsed right after duties and were sent to the hospitals for treatment. On Saturday 28 July, about 20 staff members took sick leave in what was seen as a protest against the management’s manpower arrangements.

The airline had to deploy workers from administrative offices to help at check-in. There were also rumors that about half of the experienced senior ground crew members had resigned showing their disappointment on the persisted poor management of the airline. One week after the flight disruption, on 29 July 2012, Hong Kong Airlines was still struggling to clear a backlog of passengers at the Hong Kong International Airport. It was not until 1 August 2012 had Hong Kong Airlines been able to resume her normal services. 2.

Analysis Hong Kong Airlines and its sister company Hong Kong Express Airways have long been criticized for severely delayed flights. For instance, in June 2012, a Hong Kong Airlines flight to Beijing was delayed for about 13 hours; another Hong Kong Express flight to Okinawa was delayed for 23 hours, forcing one package tour group to cancel heir holiday. According to an informal survey, the flight punctuality rate of Hong Kong Airlines is only 68% as compared to that of Cathy Pacific and Dragon Air of 82% on average.

The July chaos had highlighted problems of the airline completely, from weaknesses in staff and resources management to poor financial management, bad relationship with service partners, low ability and adaptability in attending to incidents, and poor risk management. Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Company Limited (HOOCH) was used to be a business partner of Hong Kong Airlines providing cleansing and maintenance revise to the airline’s fleet. However, due to continued slippage in payments, HOOCH stopped providing her services to Hong Kong Airlines in June 2012.

Without Whacko’s services, the airline entered imminently into a service agreement with a small scale maintenance agency – the China Aircraft Services Limited (CALLS). Due to limited resources of CALLS in all aspects, from cleansing crews to pushball cars, Hong Kong Airlines faced frequent flight delays. Some of the cabin crew members even complained that they had been asked by the airline to assist the new maintenance agency in aircraft cleansing in order to buy mime for the next flight. With delay almost as a norm for Hong Kong Airlines, both the ground and cabin crew members faced tremendous pressure from upset travelers.

Instead of providing support to the frontline staff and finding ways out for the problem, the airline even asked the cabin and ground crew members to line up with non- constructive responses pushing all faults to weather effects or flight control. The prolonged harshness of Hong Kong Airlines and the ever increasing criticisms from the public have evolved most, if not all, staffs loyalty to the airline. Without attending to the issues properly and timely, the staff disappointment towards the airline had eventually developed to the ‘strike’ incident in end July 2012.