Rolls-Royce need to start communicating and fast

The emergency landing last week of a Qantas 'super jumbo' is being dealt with in two very different ways by the two firms at the centre of the scare.

While Qantas has been up front and utterly transparent with its CEO saying this earlier today:

"We know our brand is very important to us and it is a consumer brand that gets a lot of attention. So our view on how to communicate this issue is to be open and transparent and to front up and to talk about them and make sure all the information we have is available. I'll leave other organisations to judge what's appropriate for them."

In contrast, Rolls-Royce, the makers of the engine which exploded soon after take-off from Singapore en route from London to Sydney, have remained quiet. The result of this poor crisis handling can be seen in the Rolls-Royce share price below:

While it is true that, when faced with a crisis situation, firms should not speculate. It is also true that, in today's 24 hour media age, transparency and an open channel of communication are essential in protecting a hard fought reputation.

Rolls-Royce need to start communicating and fast.