In March 2014, Malaysian Airlines flight 370 disappeared on its way to Beijing. To this day, the fate of the plane has not been established. The tragedy of the aircraft’s disappearance was exacerbated by the images of distressed relatives herded into hotels in Kuala Lumpur and Beijing and being drip-fed information, initially via text message.

The cold approach was ill-suited to the situation. The media also mixed with the relatives, and some of them, desperate for information, stormed a press conference. The scenes made for top news around the world, and the effect on the company’s image was disastrous.

Malaysian Airlines had followed a “managed communication” approach. It was designed as a one-to-many strategy. The company was supposed to be an indisputable source of information and fully in control of its dissemination. Its traditional press conference approach proved to be challenging in an environment that was extremely fluid, involving a complex web of stakeholders from families to various national governments and search agencies.

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