It’s an image problem

When tragedy grabs hold of the mainstream

It’s been a high-profile year for commercial airline operations and not necessarily for the right reasons. The Boeing 737 MAX tragedies have dominated the headlines, while the recent vision of the Aeroflot Sukhoi Superjet 100 (SSJ100) becoming a fireball has raised the conversation to fever pitch.

As always, the usual suspects have raised their heads across the board. Early, unfounded speculation and a social media feeding frenzy set the ball in motion. In the case of the Aeroflot accident, some passengers apparently still tried to evacuate with their hand luggage. In more recent discussion, pilot error and the erosion of manipulative skills has resurfaced.