Qantas Airways experienced an uncontained engine failure on a flight from London to Sydney in November 2010. The Airbus A380 was forced to make an emergency landing in Singapore with no injuries to the 459 people on board. As a precaution, Qantas grounded their entire A380 fleet until January 2011 while they investigated. The media response was neutral overall but noted it could harm Qantas' reputation for safety. Passengers praised the crew's handling of the incident but stakeholders criticized Qantas' lack of communication during the crisis.
2. Brief History
• W. Hudson Fysh and Paul McGinness scouted
out the route for a contest among Australian
fliers.
• January 1920 – joined together to find funding
in Fergus McMaster.
• Qantas was officially born on November
16, 1920 in Mascot Aerodrome, Sydney.
• Headquarters were later moved to Brisbane in
1929.
3. Brief History cont.
• Qantas began flights as joy rides and air taxi
services.
• November 2, 1922 – 84 year old Alexander
Kennedy was the first passenger on a
scheduled flight.
• 1924 – Qantas introduced a four-passenger
plane with an enclosed cabin for the first time.
This plane was flew an Australian Prime
Minister for the first time.
4. Brief History cont.
• In October of 1953 Qantas agreed to fly to and
from North America.
• September 1959 – Qantas began services with
the Boeing 707.
• 1992 – Qantas purchased and merged with
Australian Airlines.
5. Brief History Cont.
• In November of 2010, the Qantas Airbus A380
fleet was grounded after one of the
“superjumbo jets” blew out an engine.
• Plane made an emergency landing in
Singapore with its 459 individuals on board:
433 passengers and 26 crewmembers.
• Flight QF32 was flying between London and
Sydney on a regular service.
• Debris was scattered in 15 locations in Batam.
6. • Explosion was due to “uncontained engine
failure.” This occurs when turbine debris
punctures the engine casing and the light
cowling that covers the unit.
• There were not any injuries
7. Organizational Response
• Qantas chose to ground all six of its A380 fleet
• The captain and crew calmly filled the
passengers in as things progressed.
• Upon landing, Qantas arranged for hotel
rooms to be available for the crew and
passengers of the flight.
• The A380 fleet began resuming flights in
January of 2011.
8. Media Response
• For the most part the media was neutral
• However, many stated that this crisis would
cause harm to the airline’s previously pristine
reputation for safety.
9. Stakeholders Response
• The passengers on flight QF32 were very happy with
the way the crew on board handled the situation and
maintained all composure.
• Many criticized the way Qantas utilized their social
media pages and the lack of communication between
Qantas and its stakeholders.
• Qantas provided a statement on their company
website and a statement with a link to the website
news release.
• However, they did not update their Twitter pages.
• 90% of 2,000 investors agreed that the Qantas brand
was at risk.
10. Recommendations
• The captain and crew must be sure to handle
a situation such as this with care and grace in
order to maintain composure.
• Utilize social media sites as a quick and easy
way to communicate with stakeholders.
