Definition

Crisis management helps organisations to identify potential, impending or actual crises and to respond to them in a co-ordinated and successful manner.

Objective

A crisis situation is the result of a major internal or external event which impacts upon the Organisation in the context of public safety, staff safety, service continuity, or Organisation reputation and related public confidence (e.g. the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001). In some cases, a crisis may be defined as an event that is not directly related to the Organisation but that is linked to its activities and that has substantial public interest e.g. failure of an external supplier. The high-level objective of crisis management actions is to identify potential, impending or actual crises and to respond to these in a co-ordinated and successful manner. Effective crisis management plans should ensure that a measured response is provided to staff, the media and to stakeholders, and where appropriate should ensure service continuity of air navigation services (ANS). Planning for contingency measures should be considered within the larger framework of crisis management.