ORDER ARTICLE PERMISSIONS/REPRINTS/OFFPRINTS/TEACHING NOTES
To order permissions to include this article in textbooks, edited volumes, course booklets, online/digital course packs, etc., and/or to order multiple individual hard copies for classroom use, please contact the copyright owners, NeilsonJournals' Publishing Editor, Peter Neilson at pneilson@neilsonjournals.com
Air India Flight AI171: A Crisis Communication Case in an Evolving Responsibility Context - Applying Situational Crisis Communication Principles to an Aviation Disaster
Archana Shrivastava
Birla Institute of Management Technology, Greater Noida, UP, India
Volume 19: 2026, pp. 00-00; ABSTRACT
The case examines the crisis communication strategy adopted by Air India following the
tragic crash of Flight AI171 in June 2025. It chronologically demonstrates the evolving
communication strategy in the face of intense scrutiny from fact-based disclosures to empathetic
messaging, welfare initiatives, and trust-building exercises. Anchored in the core analytical
framework of Situational Communication Crisis Theory (SCCT), the case allows students to
analyze how responsibility attribution, crisis type, and reputational threat influence the
appropriateness of communication strategies. It allows for critical reflection on whether measures
promoting welfare and empathetic messaging alone can suffice for long-term reputation
management and what other support initiatives would be necessary to enhance stakeholder trust in
the post-crisis phase.
Keywords: crisis communication, Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT), reputation
management, stakeholder trust, empathy in communication, Air India.
