You learn more about an organisation in a crisis than you do in years of normal operations. The systems that look robust on paper get tested. The people you thought you could rely on reveal whether that confidence was justified. And you discover your own limits.
I went through two major disruptions that shaped how I think about crisis management: the Iceland volcano eruption in 2010 and the Qatar blockade in 2017.
When Eyjafjallajökull erupted
In April 2010, a volcano with an unpronounceable name shut down European airspace for six days. At Cargolux, we went from full operations to zero flights overnight. Not because our aircraft were damaged, but because authorities deemed the ash cloud too dangerous to fly through.
The immediate challenge was information. Nobody knew how long the closure would last. The forecasts kept changing. Customers had cargo on the ground with no clear path forward.
We made an early decision that proved important: communicate frequently even when we had nothing new to say. Silence creates anxiety. Saying “we still don’t know, but here’s what we’re doing” is better than saying nothing.
The operational response required creativity. Some cargo was rerouted through airports outside the affected zone. Road transport covered distances that would normally be unthinkable for air freight. We prioritised shipments based on urgency rather than commercial value. Pharmaceutical products and manufacturing components that would stop production lines came first.
What I learned was that crisis management is mostly about decision-making under uncertainty. You will never have complete information. Waiting for certainty means waiting too long. Make the best decision you can with what you know, then adjust as the situation develops.
The Qatar blockade
Seven years later, at Qatar Airways, a different kind of crisis emerged. In June 2017, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, and Egypt severed diplomatic and economic ties with Qatar. Overnight, the airspace of neighbouring countries closed to Qatari aircraft.
For Qatar Airways Cargo, this was existential. Our hub in Doha suddenly could not reach key markets through normal routing. Flights that used to transit Saudi airspace had to find alternatives.
The operational response was similar in some ways to the volcano: reroute, adapt, prioritise. But the blockade introduced complexities the volcano did not. This was not a natural disaster that would pass. It was a political decision with no clear end date.
We had to build alternative supply chains for Qatar itself. A country that had imported many goods through its neighbours now needed air and sea connections to replace blocked land borders. Fresh food supply became particularly important. You cannot stockpile vegetables.
The lesson from the blockade was about resilience over efficiency. In normal times, supply chains optimise for cost. In a crisis, flexibility matters more than efficiency. Having alternative routes, backup suppliers, and relationships with multiple carriers is insurance you hope never to use but desperately need when things go wrong.
What crisis teaches about leadership
Both disruptions taught me that crisis reveals character. Some people rise to the moment. They become calmer under pressure, think more clearly, and take ownership of problems that are not strictly their responsibility. Others freeze or focus on protecting themselves.
You cannot know in advance which category someone falls into. The best predictor I found was how they handled small problems. People who owned minor failures and fixed them quickly tended to perform well in major crises. People who made excuses or passed blame for small issues did the same when the stakes were high.
The other lesson was about communication. In a crisis, people need to hear from leadership. Not just information, but direction. “Here is what we’re doing and why” reassures more than a perfect explanation of the problem.
Finally, I learned that recovery matters as much as response. The volcano ended. The blockade eventually eased. In both cases, how we returned to normal operations shaped how customers and employees viewed us afterward. An organisation that emerged stronger, with better processes and stronger relationships, built lasting advantage from temporary disruption.
Crisis is inevitable. How you prepare for it and learn from it separates organisations that thrive from those that merely survive.