Aena: The Air Traffic Controller Crisis

The long weekend of the Constitution is the last of several long weekends throughout the year in Spain before the Christmas holidays. In 2010, it fell between December 3 and 8, and it will always be remembered in Spain for the "air traffic controller crisis." It was a weekend when heavy air traffic was expected. All Spaniards turned to the media - TV, radio, online newspapers and social networks - to keep abreast of minute-by-minute developments in the covert strike that paralyzed the country. The Communications Department of Aena, the publicly owned company in charge of airport management, had to convey to the public what was happening in a context of heavy dependence on new technologies, where information carried by traditional media was quickly rendered worthless and obsolete. María Jesús Luengo, Aena's communications director, therefore need to address how to implement the new communication tools in a crisis situation.