Eastern's employee communication crisis: A case study

The Key to survival of organizational crisis may lie with the employees—yet this group remains virtually overlooked by crisis researchers. A concern for the employee public during times of crisis combined with an interest in cultural approaches to organizational research lies at the heart of this case study. Personal interviews with pilots of Eastern Airlines, and open-ended survey responses reveal that these employees actively seek information in spite of high perceptions of constraint induced by company crisis. The pilots indicate that their communication needs are rarely satisfied by either company communications or the press.