ValuJet Flight 592 Case Study 1

Case Study

Gal Dahan

Cardinal Stritch University

PR 355

Kelley Kling

April 15, 2021

ValuJet Flight 592 Case Study 2

Introduction

Airplane crushes are always the biggest nightmare that can occur to an airline company. It is not
only about the risk of losing and harming people’s lives, but also creating a huge crisis that can
extremely harm the company, and in some cases, destroy and shut down companies forever. For
the company ValuJet, this nightmare occurred only a few years after it kicked into the market.
Throughout this case study, I will provide a summary of the case, specify key actors and
stakeholders that were involved in the case, and explain the different analytic tools that were
applied. Furthermore, I will myself develop some potential solutions to the case, and at the end,
will discuss, describe, and justify the selection of these tools and review the lessons that could be
learned from the case.

Explanation of the Case

ValuJet entered the airline market in the early 1990s. This company entered a specific
area in this market, which was the low-cost airline companies. In the beginning, everything went
well for ValuJet. However, on the 11th of May, 1996, the company tackled the most traumatic
crisis that can happen to an airline company, a plane crash. This plane crash took the lives of 110
customers and crew members, with no survivors.

As the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and Federal Aviation

Administration (FAA) started to investigate the case, the president of ValuJet, Louis Jordan,
supplied an initial response regarding the crisis. His response was straightforward and honest, as
he deeply apologized to the victims’ families and all the people that were affected by this
tragedy. He mostly supplied some supporting pieces of evidence about the safety of the company
and its airplanes and repeated that ValuJet, NTSB, and FAA are working hard on this case and
looking for an insight into what led the plane to crash after only 10 minutes from its departure.

ValuJet tried to increase its credibility again by starting an aggressive review of its safety
and maintenance procedures immediately after the accident (Coombs, 2014, p. 219). They also
treated the tragedy with compassion and care, as they provided grief counselors along with the
traditional covering of funeral costs and the arranging and paying for families to visit the site of
the crash (Coombs, 2014, p. 220). Also, they said that they plan to build a memorial near the
crash site.

However, things started to get complicated as the list of the passengers on the flight
appeared to be wrong, as one name was missing from the list and another name was uncertain.
More negative information started to flow on social media and news, and this time it was a report
that the crush could be avoided only if the oxygen generators on the plane were proper. As
president Jordan tried to “stop the fire”, the NTSB actually approved that the oxygen generators
were the cause of the crash.

SabreTech Company was the main provider of all the different plane mechanisms and
parts of ValuJet’s planes, and it seems like they were also involved and in charge of this crisis. It
was concluded that SabreTech failed to follow some clear instructions regarding the oxygen
generators, they ignored at least three specific warnings from ValuJet supervisory personnel that
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the removed generators were extremely dangerous and should be disposed of as hazardous waste
(Coombs, 2014, p. 222) and many more reasons that apparently led this plane to crash.

Eventually, in July 1997, ValuJet decided to merge with AirTran (another low-cost
airline company) and gave up on their name, logo, and slogan. The main reason for this merging
was to escape the stigma created by the crash of Flight 592 (Coombs, 2014, p. 225).

Focusing Events Theory

One of the main theories that were presented in this crisis was the focusing events theory. This
theory can be described by how the media presents and shows the crisis, features who is the
blame for its occurrence, and also how the media decides which parts of the crisis are important.
This theory fits this case because it relates to crises that occurred suddenly and are rare (plane
crushes), garner a large scale of attention, and both policymakers and the public prioritize them.
This theory mostly focuses on three things. 1. Who was the blame (caused by human or
mechanical failure). 2. Normalcy, which means the extent to which the crisis is a manifestation
of normal procedures, and 3. Learning the different changes that arise in response to the crisis.

Crisis News Diffusion Theory

Another theory that was shown but was not fully committed was the crisis news diffusion theory.
This theory really emphasizes the accuracy and speed of the messages that are shared. In this
case, the messages were shared quickly, but not with full accuracy. This theory also deals with
the distribution of the information in response to the crisis, which I think was very bold here as
the company did provide a good amount of information to its publics. The last characteristic of
this theory is how the different ways in which people receive info are featured, and the resilience
of those sources in and during a crisis.

Image Repair Strategies 

The company used several strategies from this category. The first strategy relates to
denial but focusing more on shifting the blame to someone else. At the end of the crisis, ValuJet
shifted the blame to SabreTech and claimed that they were in charge of this tragedy due to their
impaired supply of oxygen generators.

ValuJet also tried to reduce some offensiveness by offering the different victims grief
counselors and supplied traditional covering of funeral costs and arranging and paying for
families to visit the site of the crash.

Another strategy from this category was bolstering. Bolstering serves to remind the
stakeholders and customers of past good work by the company. Jordan, ValuJet’s president used
this strategy very clearly when he said “And yet, if you look at the little history book we’ve
written in the last three years or close to that, you see the most successful little airline that ever
started, the one that grew fast, the one that created jobs for fine professionals, the one that made
a lot of money for investors and shareholders, the one that was profitable from the first day it
ever operated, by paying attention to and avoiding any waste, and by always doing the things that
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were right, to serve our customer in a market where hundreds of thousands of people told us they
wanted an alternative to high airfares” (Coombs, 2014, p. 224).

The last strategy was mortification. This means to express concern about the crisis and
ask for forgiveness. Right at Jordan’s first speech, he expressed concern and deeply apologized
to the people that were related to this tragedy.

All these strategies can really help companies look better, solve the crisis faster, and learn
from the crisis and the mistakes along the way.

Suggestions for Improved Response

Overall, I think that ValuJet handled this crisis pretty well. The president showed a lot of
care and compassion towards this situation and tried to give as much information as he could and
stayed connected with the people that were affected by this crisis. The company used many
different strategies to solve this crisis and make it look better, and I think that their last decision
to merge with another company was smart. Having this negative reputation is such a huge risk
for an airline company because it can be a “shadow” that might never leave.

One thing that I do think should have handled differently was the list of the passengers.
This is a key thing that any organization cannot allow itself to fail in. The list represents people’s
lives, and having a mistake on such an important thing can affect extremely badly on a company
and of course, on the people that are looking for reliability and credibility. I think that they
should have checked the list again and again until they are sure that this is the correct list, before
publishing it.

Final Solution and Discussion

As I said, I think ValuJet did a fine job at this crisis. However, I do believe that the
solution I suggested about the list could help the company at the beginning of the crisis, and help
to avoid some negative comments from people and from social media. Reliability and credibility
are highly appreciated in these kinds of crises, as people are looking to hear the real truth, as
these situations are life/death related.

I think the main lesson that could be learned from this crisis is that a company should
always check its products and their quality. Airline companies cannot rest on these kinds of
things, as they can be life-threatening situations. Everything should be tested a couple of times,
and often. Also, when a crisis does occur, stick to the truth and be open and ready to share
information are some main keys that should be implemented.
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References

Coombs, W. (2014). Applied crisis communication and crisis management. SAGE Publications, 
Inc.