"From what I've seen, Alaska [Airlines] gets very high marks," said Lisa LeMaster, president of the Dallas-based The LeMaster Group, a communications and crisis management firm that has consulted for commercial airlines.

"What counts most in these situations is speed," said LeMaster, who praised the Alaska Airlines Web site for having "updates constantly" since the crash. "Feeding the dragon is really hard now; so many news organizations are trying to publish the news instantly."

In time-pressed situations, especially with a loss of life, LeMaster said, companies have to "number one, deal with the emotions of the friends and families." "Number two, you deal with the facts. Don't speculate. The media start asking why and what happened long before the black box is found. You can't listen to those people."

 < back to news