A painful agony for airline employees

A Malaysia Airlines cabin crew member taking a headcount onboard their Boeing 777-200ER flight MH318 before take off on route to Beijing at 12:40am yesterday. Malaysia Airlines flight number MH318 replaces the flight number of the missing airplane, MH370, that was retired as a mark of respect to the passengers and crew while the flight route remains unchanged.

By Updesh Kapur/Doha

During the take-off procedure, during descent preparing for a landing or merely during cruising altitude at 35,000feet, every move of an aircraft is carefully monitored by the airline’s operations team.

An incident, regardless of severity, can affect the company’s reputation in different ways.

Airlines prepare for all possible scenarios that could shake up their operations. A hijack, bomb threat, terror attack, explosion, natural disaster – situations are endless. It’s not a matter of “if” but “when” the worst can happen. Every airline fears the worst. It is part of their crisis preparedness plans. Manuals are prepared for airline staff to follow procedures and carry out responsibilities in the event of a crisis.

But none can imagine the unprecedented events that have unfolded over the past 10 days about a missing passenger jet in south-east Asia.

The mystery disappearance of the Malaysia Airlines aircraft has left all asking endless questions about  its whereabouts and, more importantly, what happened to those onboard.

Anxiety over the fate of the 239 passengers and crew on the Boeing 777 that vanished from radar screens more than a week ago is unimaginable.

Distressed families and friends have been waiting nervously for news of their loved ones since the jet went missing on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in the early hours of Saturday 8th March.

Fearing the worst, they cling on to hope, praying for a miracle they will soon be reunited with those who boarded flight MH370.

The world has been eagerly watching developments glued to mobiles for social media updates and live bulletins beamed by TV news networks.

As another day passes with the search widening and probe intensifying, hopes fade of finding the aircraft in one piece and those onboard alive. Experts have emerged from all quarters to give their own account of what could have happened. Sadly the theories remain theories as every day goes by with little concrete news of the aircraft.

With aid from neighbouring countries and those further afield, Malaysia has garnered unprecedented support from the international community in its efforts to locate the missing plane. Sadly, many are now relegated to fearing a doomed jet somewhere amid large land and sea corridors covering northern and southern Asia.

Despite search and rescue teams mobilised 24/7, hope is fast fading this is a rescue effort, but more a search operation for wreckage. It is by far the biggest ever operation of its kind for a civilian aircraft in the history of aviation.

A harrowing experience for all involved.

While the trauma can be felt of the affected families, spare a thought for the Malaysia Airlines community around the world. Thousands of staff, the majority working at head office in Kuala Lumpur and the city’s international airport, who have been just as affected as those watching from the outside.

The incident triggered off alarm bells for the company’s emergency operations team at HQ at past midnight on March 8. Since then it has been a constant flurry of activity within different departments to follow procedures of how to react to such a situation.

Camaraderie and solidarity will undoubtedly be the focus internally to support one another in these times of need.

With 227 passengers and 12 of their colleagues missing, this is hard to swallow for the men and women working at one of Asia’s vibrant airlines.

 From the pilot and cabin crew communities to the training and route network departments; from flight operations and revenue management to sales, marketing and human resources; and from staff travel and ground handling right the way up to senior management – all will be affected in one way or another.

Cockpit and cabin crew regularly clock in and out of Malaysia’s flight operations centre at Kuala Lumpur International Airport before and after routine trips. The mood will be sombre to say the least. Passing through head office to carry out personal tasks too will be a muted affair as they wait for news of their colleagues.

Airport ground staff and office-based employees will be going through the anguish of their flying colleagues. Whether on official duty, on holiday or simply having met any of the missing crew on the ground, the fact that employees within the tight knit Malaysia Airlines community would have flown with the crew at some point, is hard to digest. There will be a support network for management working in the crisis centre trying their utmost to cope, knowing all too well the airline has full responsibility as guardian and protector of those onboard for the journey from A to B.

With pressure mounting and exhaustion setting in, it is not uncommon to have company medics on site to help those involved in the emergency deal with the situation.

The support network of staff around the clock is crucial for those working their phones, working their computers and making decisions in the emergency crisis centre.

Pre-determined teams will have been developed to handle various activities based on pre-planned scenarios. And these teams would comprise of individuals who would have gone through some form of crisis training, drafted in from their day to day jobs that may not necessarily be related to the crisis work they are tasked to carry out.

This will include the family assistance centre where trained individuals will be by the side of loved ones of those onboard offering care and assistance; call centre agents to receive calls from family members and the public; and a dedicated media centre hotline manned by the communications team to take calls from journalists around the world. In essence, training is crucial. The world is watching how effectively the airline deals with a stressful environment that requires a level head, calm and little or no nerves.

As we have seen, the scale of the incident has been too large to handle, hence support from other airlines to assist Malaysia’s crisis team leaders in their emergency response efforts. The pressure is intense. None of the individuals can stay focused round the clock. Colleagues working in shifts take turns to fill the seats occupied by the front line core team members as fatigue easily sets in.

It will undoubtedly be difficult to concentrate on the job in hand for airport staff to perform check-in duties, board and receive passengers off flights while their mindset is focused on one of their own planes and those on board disappearing without trace.

Every front line Malaysia Airlines staff in uniform would surely be subjected to questions of what happened by inquisitive passengers. Speculating, gossiping and rumour mongering will not be encouraged by the airline. They will have to, and rightly so, stick to the company’s corporate line and not even engage in so called “off-the-record” comment as the latter will never be observed by the media in a crisis situation.

Spreading rumours about what could have happened is not in the corporate script. Stick to the company line, which staff would have been issued with, to avoid being misinterpreted and misquoted by family members or the media.

Malaysia Airlines has been hit by criticism about not revealing enough information and not being timely in its dissemination of information.

But, like any airline trained in such scenarios, speculating is not part of the communication mantra. Communicating statements through press releases, social media and even the daily press conferences is a must, but only information that is verified and trusted can be released to avoid conjecture. Management at every level would have gone through some form of simulation exercise to see how they would cope in the event of an emergency. Without any form of training, employees cannot be expected to be able to professionally respond and work diligently in a crisis situation.

No exercise, however, will truly prepare an organisation or individuals 100% in the event of a real-life crisis that we are witnessing dragging on into its second week. Sadly, events surrounding MH370 have led to so much assumption and speculation that Malaysia Airlines is being forced on the defensive to protect its reputation.

A difficult time when business continuity is essential for Malaysia Airlines to ensure operations run as normal as possible for the global operator which flies to over 60 destinations worldwide.