As tragic as the disaster of Air France flight 447 was, it has also proved a textbook case of effective crisis PR management. Without careful and sensitive handling the human cost of a disaster can quickly escalate to claim a corporate scalp as well if it not properly managed.

Reputation is vital in any business but for an airline it is everything. Any minor doubt about an airline’s ability to ferry passengers safely from  A to B spells the end of it.

But through the actions of its PR machine Air France’s reputation if anything has been strengthened by this tragedy. It has come through this disaster looking and sounding like a company that puts its customers’ interests above everything else.

The ill fated Flight 447 was on a scheduled international passenger flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris when for reasons yet to be established either broke apart over or crashed into the Atlantic Ocean. In the face of this desperate news openness, honesty, accountability, swiftness of action were the cornerstones of Air France's approach.

As it became clear that the delayed Airbus 330 would not be landing as planned management was open and honest with dependants and relatives keeping them up to date with developments as they unfolded followed straight away by briefing to the world’s media. Although speculation in a case like this is to be expected the way the airline collated and released factual information on a regular basis has kept this to a minimum. They have avoided the run away speculation train that results from a news hungry media being denied information.

Starved of news, media will resort to speculation to satisfy their viewers or readers appetite for the story. They stuck to the facts and got senior people involved from the start. President Sarkozy was down at Charles De Gaulle airport even before the crash was confirmed, highlighting to the world the seriousness that the company placed on it obligations to its passengers and their relatives. Trained professional counselors were on hand as soon as the crash had been confirmed to support the grieving.

But throughout this sensitive approach safety was the key message continually pushed by Air France officials. The Airbus 330 is a safe aircraft, Air France is an airline with an A1 safety record was the constant company line. Air France does have an excellent safety record and thanks to their PR machine potential flyers still firmly believe this. While this is true in times of tragedy it is only natural for questions to be asked and the airline knew it had to be on the front foot.

It was open in giving out details of its crash history and how it compared to other airlines. Up until now the airline’s worst disaster was in 1962 when a Boeing 707 crashed at Orly killing 130 people. This was followed by the Concorde crash in2002 that killed 109..[40] Although Air France flight 358 which crashed after overshooting the runway at Toronto airport 2005. Miraculously all 308 passengers survived without serious injury.

That is the only fatal crashes the airline has had in 50 years, it is also the first accident in commercial service resulting in fatalities in the 16-year operating history of the Airbus A330. Facts continually repeated in an effort to reassure potential Air France customers.

With thousands of jobs on the line and an industry already suffering hard in the recession it was vital Air France management got it right and persuaded the public that they are an airline that’s safe to fly with. All in all this objective has been achieved.

Although if the aircraft’s black box is found and an inquiry launched they may have to go through the same process all over again.