Sweden covered in ash : A study about crisis communication during the ash cloud crisis 2010

The purpose of this essay is to investigate how the crisis communication was perceived between SAS, massmedia and citizens during the volcano crisis in 2010. The questions posed are: - How did the communication between SAS, media and citizens function during the crisis? - How did senders, intermediaries and beneficiaries experience the information and communication during the crisis? - How important was the internet communication for SAS, media and citizens during the crisis? The collected material consists of interviews and desktop research of material from Internet. The study shows that the communication between SAS, the media and citizens worked well on the social medias but was weaker in all other mediachannels. SAS was also weak in following up information received by media and travelers, and they therefore they had a different picture of the situation during the crisis. SAS thought that the communication worked fine between the parties involved. Media and citizens felt that SAS gave them poor information and that they could have been better with giving deeper and more information. Internet played an important part in communication during the crisis. Internet and social media has become increasingly important for SAS and without the internet in this crisis, SAS would have had difficulties in maintaining its credibility and reputation for many customers. With the social media, SAS could easier establish a dialogue and help their passengers.