Over on Twitter, I was alerted to a letter published in Business Traveller Magazine where a customer had sent in a legitimate complaint letter to United Airlines, sharing his experience of poor service in Business Class and suggested that more investments be made into customer service training.

It was great that United Airlines actually responded to the letter in the magazine itself. And that’s where the positives ended. Of the five key points raised by the customer, only one was directly addressed. In fact, the response went on to totally digress from the topic and talked more about the airline’s new premium cabins, and not customer service. That got me thinking, it’s probably not just the cabin crew at United who needs lessons in customer service, but even folks from Corp. Comms.

This is very ironic, because just a couple of weeks ago, at the Loyalty 2010 event, while having lunch with Robert Sahadevan, United’s VP of Loyalty, I was very impressed by the focus they have on their frequent fliers and premium passengers. Hence, this response was disappointing, to say the least.

I thought I’d do my bit here for United (and help other airlines too, who need to get their basics right – you know who you are)

Step 1: Listen to the customer

The key word here is LISTEN. Not look. Not hear. But listen. The difference is stark. If you look or just hear, then you hardly absorb any of the content, let alone understand. It’s very important to seek get an idea of why the customer is saying what he’s saying.

Step 2: Identify the key issues mentioned by the customer

Once you’ve listened to him, identify the key issues the customer has expressed – both positive and negative. In this case, there are five key issues, as I’ve highlighted below (click on the image for larger font). They include the Business Class passenger’s request for water not being answered, to the responses he received from the flight attendants.

Step 3: Address the issues

Needless to say, after the issues have been identified, they need to be addressed. Even if you intend to dodge the bullets, do it subtly. Not the way United’s response totally ignores the issues raised and goes off on a tangent. It almost seems to me as if a United Airlines Corporate Sales person has written this reply!

Not only are hardly any issues been addressed, Rahsaan appears almost proud of the fact that he’s doged every bullet in his response. From his LinkedIn profile, Rahsaan seems too experienced to get this wrong. This gives me the feeling that this may have more to do with United’s policy governing Corporate Communications, than a personnel’s overlooking the issues. Which is a scary thought!

Step 4: Apologise, if you’re wrong

Nowhere does the response from United Airlines make any mention of what they’re going to do to change the situation. In fact, they don’t even accept that they’ve done anything wrong. Let alone apologize for it. Frankly, the letter seems as if it’s been written by a computer, not a person. A personal reply needs to be just that – personal.

There’s nothing wrong in apologizing if you’re in the wrong. The least United can do is to learn from the likes of Southwest Airlines and JetBlue – remember the famous video apology by then CEO David Neeleman?

Step 5: Thank the customer for his feedback

Nowhere does the United response thank the customer for taking his time to send the (very valuable) feedback. Not at the beginning. Not at the end. That’s the least they couldn’t have done, isn’t it?

—-

If you’re from United Airlines and reading this, I’d love to hear your take on this situation. Was it a one-off? May be Customer Service should be responding to such letters, not Corporate Communications.

What do you think? What are some of the best practices of airlines that do customer service right? Let’s share our suggestions with United Airlines so that they can make flying better for all of us!

• Meet the new Chief Marketing Officer of United Airlines – Dave Carroll. He sings and plays a guitar!
• United Airlines brand may go for a spin as customer feedback line is terminated
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• Rohit Bhargava feels that United Airlines lacks a brand personality. Is he right?
• Virgin Atlantic embraces cribbing pax, asks him to choose in-flight menu

Now that you’ve had a chance to digest the imperatives of a social media policy from my article last week entitled “Five Imperatives For Your Airline’s Social Media Policy“, we decided to write a follow up post with additional considerations for inclusion. Again, these are must-have elements that make your social media policy very user-friendly.

• Objectives – Talk about the objective of using social media, so employees have a background as to why the company is participating.
• Disclosures — Educate employees about the FTC guidelines (pdf) about endorsements and testimonials, which is explained well in this article.  Basically, they are required to disclose the company’s connection with the product or service.
• Use common sense — You can explain that further in your company’s language, but it’s a good one to include.
• Give and take – Much of social media is about give and take, meaning that you “give” value, and “take” help or value back.  Don’t forget to work both sides of the equation.
• Personal versus work time — Define what is acceptable to do during work hours.  Updating a Facebook status may not be appropriate.  But, updating Twitter with personal updates may be, as it’s working towards building relationships. Whatever your opinion is, it’s important to define so employees have guidelines.
• Company values – Coca-Cola does a great job in their social media policy (pdf) of incorporating their company shared values.  The policy means more to employees when it’s framed in the context of the company’s overall values.
• Disagreeing – It’s OK to disagree with people’s opinions, but make sure you stay appropriate and polite.
• Crisis situations – If a topic of conversation appears to be a crisis, inform the public relations department.

Do you have anything to add?  What else is important to include in a social media policy? Let’s here it in the comments or on Twitter.

• Five Imperatives For Your Airline’s Social Media Policy
• Engaging the customer through Web 2.0: lessons from JetBlue Airways
• Airline brands must understand that social media is like a BBQ cookout party
• How can legacy airlines, airports or hotels make an entry into social media? Start from within
• Three lessons from American Airlines’ big blooper

It’s the long weekend in many countries. Canada, US, most of Asia-Pacific are on a holiday. Yet, it’s very nice to see that airlines are listening. Chris Brogan tweeted today that he’d pay JetBlue $7,200 for one year of unlimited flying “pass”. And @JetBlue immediately replied that they’re “listening”.

Somewhere else on Twitterland, Christi Day of Southwest Airlines was dealing with an outburst from @TheKevinSmith, on Valentine’s Day eve, which finally involved Southwest’s VP calling Smith personally.

Though these may seem like normal twitter conversations, to me they reflect a paradigm shift in the way airlines have started to deal with their customers. It wasn’t too long ago, where I had to print out and post a letter to an airline for a missed-connection claim, because their email inbox was full! And the matter took over 5mths to get resolved (in the end, I didn’t get my $$).

JetBlue and Southwest have both been beacons of change in the industry, and they’ve shown a more human side of airlines – generally considered faceless corporations. Kudos to their efforts to connect with the customer directly, and truly listen. I think it shows where the future of customer service is heading.

What do you think? Has your favorite airline been listening to you lately?

• Why do I regret having never flown Southwest? It’s the humor!
• A Southwest Airlines employee goes out of her way to help a distressed passenger
• United Airlines brand may go for a spin as customer feedback line is terminated
• Making ancillary revenue work with brand strategy – my interview
• Five steps to Customer Service Excellence for United Airlines (with real-life case study)

So you’ve got a sizeable social media presence for your airline over the past year. And now, the employees are starting to participate too. But there’s a constant tug of war, between Legal, Corp. Comms and Marketing – on how employees should and shouldn’t participate in social media. The solution? An airline-wide social media policy.

What is a social media policy, you ask?  Basically, it addresses the concerns that many airlines have when getting started in social media… What if an employee says something they shouldn’t?  How do we respond to passenger complaints and compliments?  How can we possibly control what our employees are doing online?  If you’ve been up and running on social media for a few months, it’s time you formalize your thoughts in this area, and ensure everyone at the airline is on the same page.  Here are five key imperatives for your social media policy:

1. Explain the Scope in User-Friendly Terms

When you say “social media policy” to many of your employees, they may think “that doesn’t apply to me because I’m not in Marketing.”  So, it’s important for your policy to explain what types of activities it covers, possibly including their personal Facebook profile, their Twitter account, YouTube accounts, etc.  Giving these types of examples up front in the policy will ensure that employees understand that their online persona is a reflection of the company, even if they are not an “official spokesperson” for the company.

2. Authenticity and Transparency

I could write an entire blog post alone about what these two terms mean!  But, basically, employees need to be transparent; meaning that they should use their real names in anything they are writing online, and disclose that they work for your airline when appropriate.  For example, if they are commenting on a blog post related to the airline industry, they should be clear that they work for your airline. And state clearly whether or not their views are personal, or official.

Authentic and transparent also mean being human. Show who you are as a person, not just an employee.  Be real.  Be wrong.  Be personal.

3. Confidentiality

Being authentic and transparent don’t mean that everything that happens in the company is open for public consumption. Employees need to understand what is confidential, and exercise judgment about what to share and what to keep private. Explaining what is considered confidential and off limits for social media, is an important part of your social media policy.

4. Think About Who is Listening

Before anyone writes anything online, they should think about who could see it.  If your competitor saw it, would that be OK?  If your airline’s promotions agency saw it, what would they think?  These questions should be asked with every online interaction. If the employee is unsure, they shouldn’t post it.

It’s also important to remember that the Internet is permanent.  Anything written will stay on record in some way.  Nothing is ever fully deletable.

5. Guiding Principles

Porter Novelli, a public relations company, has a set of guiding principles in its social media policy.  This is a great way to summarize the policy into overarching guidelines, rather than rules, that are easy to remember.

• The web is not anonymous. Assume that everything you write can be traced back to the company, if not you personally.
• There is no longer a clear boundary between your personal life and your work life.
• Do not lie or withhold the truth.
• he web contains a permanent record of our mistakes. But do not try to change things retrospectively.

I can picture these as thought bubbles running through someone’s head before writing anything online.

While these are the 5 most important items to include in your social media policy, there are many more considerations when writing one.  Look out next week for a follow up post with more on this topic.

What do you think?  Have we missed any imperatives? Have you had success with a social media policy? What are the key elements there? Let’s discuss.

(Photo credit: Transparency, Big Ear)

• Must-have elements for your airline’s or airport’s social media policy
• Three lessons from Jet Airways on how not to treat employees
• SimpliFlying in The Media: CNBC, ex-United, Flightglobal, Los Angeles Times, Tips from the T-List, Mashable…
• Three lessons from American Airlines’ big blooper
• What makes Volaris from Mexico the world’s happiest airline? Interview with COO, Andres Fabre

A special day in aviation

Two important events took place in aviation today – both of which conjored mixed feelings in me.

1. The British High Court declared illegal the potential X-mas strike by British Airways‘ Unite union. The good news is that this promises hassle-free travel for almost a million BA travelers over the holiday period. The downside is that the union is keen on re-grouping to go on strike early next year.

2. It was the last day at work for Paula Berg, the force behind the successful new media brand strategy of Southwest Airlines for the past decade. She’s leaving to move back with the true love of her life – the mountains. So again, a bitter-sweet news. (Watch Paula’s video interview on SWA’s media strategy here)

What’s the link between Southwest Airlines and British Airways?

“So, what’s the connection”, you may wonder?

Paula had emailed me about her move last week and in her note included 68 reasons why she loved working at Southwest over the last ten year. Can you imagine an employee putting in so much affection and effort while she’s leaving? This only happens when the company has treated her like family.

This is not just something Paula expressed, but also what Southwest’s outgoing President Colleen Barrett confirmed over a year ago in her final interview – that the airline’s prime customers are its employees. And keeping them happy keeps the end-customer happy too.

Now, Southwest Airlines has some of the largest number of employees who’re in a union. But they seldom have employee trouble. Probably because they feel loved and give love back. Whereas at British Airways (and many other airlines), there often seems to be employee trouble. I think two things need to happen here:

1. The airline needs to think more about the employees like family, rather than numbers. If they’ve been promised something, they should be granted it on time

2. The union and employees shouldn’t just think of the airline as a golden goose they can hold hostage on a whim. Think of the long term too. If the Unite strike had gone through during the holiday period, it would have probably brought British Airways to its knees!

And even now, when customers fly British Airways over the holidays, do you think they’d feel the love? Probably not. And this would reflect in their lower service delivery standards too, which already isn’t the best in the world.

Hence, I’d like to share with the world, and especially anyone who works at British Airways, a classic from Southwest Airlines’ Paula Berg , which I’ve sought permission for re-publishing from her email. I hope this warms some hearts and melts some hot-heads and make life better for everyone this holiday season.

Quoted from Paula’s personal email…

68 REASONS WHY I’VE LOVED WORKING AT SOUTHWEST AIRLINES

1. This puddle.
2. The response you receive when you tell someone that you work for Southwest Airlines.
3. Free flights.
4. The People – There are times when I pass folks in the halls that I don’t even know and am overwhelmed with the feeling that any one of these people would give you the shirt off their back if you needed it.
5. Bags Fly Free – It just feels good to work for a Company that tries to do right by its Customers.
6. The Freedom to move about the Company – I love that several of our VP’s began their careers on the frontline – loading bags, working the ticket counter, and servicing aircraft.
7. On business trips with colleagues, I can look around the dinner table and think, “There’s no one else I’d rather be with right now.”
8. Halloween – how many people can say they’ve seen their CEO in platform boots and a cod piece?
   
9. Having a team of Schedule Planners on hand to “optimize” our Halloween performance schedule.
10. The view from the deck.
11. Having a personal weather man to let you know when to head home or hunker down to avoid bad weather.
12. Lunch in the cafeteria always feels like a high school reunion.
13. The Button Man (sometimes known also as The Magnet Man) – because every Southwest event needs a souvenir.
    
14. Hearing the Southwest Choir practice in the atrium behind my office.
15. Casual Dress.
16. Hand-written notes from Colleen Barrett.
17. Kisses from Herb Kelleher.
18. That Warrior Spirit.
19. Parties in the hanger.
20. Rapping, singing, flipping, and beat-boxing Flight Attendants.
21. Aviation bloggers and enthusiasts.
22. Employee lanes at the airport.
23. Eight percent 401k match.
24. Best corporate blog three years running according to PR News (…and if I do say so myself).
25. The Culture Committee.
26. There is no shortage of peanuts or peanut references.
27. There is never a dull moment.
28. The Spirit Jr. Costume.
    
29. This photo.
    
30. Texas – From the hospitality to the maverick spirit, and all the folks that call you honey, sugar, and darling.
31. Southwest swag – like the Southwest Airlines lint roller, the Cargo koozie with the crab arms (“we ship your catch”), the flip-flops that leave the Southwest logo imprinted in the sand, and the Southwest bike (one of these days, I’m gonna get my hands on one of those bikes).
    
32. Fred Taylor and Proactive Customer Service.
33. Employees first, Customers next, Shareholder’s last.
34. 36 years of profitability.
35. Profit sharing.
36. Free parking in the Employee lot at the airport.  With the upcoming renovation of Dallas Love Field, this option in no longer available.  And, technically, being that I wasn’t actually an airport Employee, I was never really supposed to park back there anyway.  But, oh the good ole days!  (NOTE:  To the owners of the red Camero and the black Porsche that are still parked over there, you better move your cars ASAP or you’re gonna get towed!)
37. Crazy email strings – Like the one a co-worker accidently sent to hundreds of people that revealed highly confidential information about a new city.  Doh!  Or the one that someone intended for a few friends, but accidently sent to the entire company, asking what they wanted her to pick up for a Bar-B-Que.  Everyone responded.  Not everyone thought it was funny.  I think you know where I stand on this one.  It still makes me giggle.
38. Weekly emails from Carla looking for her missing mail cart (…I love you, girl!).
39. Daily emails announcing that there is queso, Bar-B-Que, or birthday cake in the breakroom.
40. Parking next to a Boeing 737.
41. That new plane smell.
42. Driving into work with the planes taking off on the runway along Denton Drive.  Sometimes I want to race them, but the potholes and my less than favorable standing with the police always stop me.
    
43. Stuart Thomas’s abstract Halloween costume illustrating RASM and CASM.
44. Countless “Wanna Get Away” moments – like the time I took a fly ball to the chin at the Customer Relations/Rapid Rewards softball game and had to come to work for a week with a black and blue goatee.  Or the time that I split my pants from seam to seam and walked around all day in chaps.  Or the time I walked into a plate glass window escorting Jim Wimberly to a photo shoot.
45. The joy of looking up someone’s phone number in the online Company Directory and discovering a ridiculous employee photo.
    
46. The “no drinking before 5pm” rule.
47. The Freedom to be yourself – In 2002, while working in the Customer Relations Department, I went nearly three months without washing my hair, just for fun. In the third month, my supervisor called me in to his office and gently suggested that I may want to “keep our Customers in mind.”  I love that it took that long.
48. Secret project codewords like Sockeye, Wyatt ERP and Tipper.
49. The crossword puzzle in Spirit Magazine.
50. Brainstorming sessions in the Magic Factory.
51. Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride from Headquarters to Dallas Love Field on the Southwest shuttle bus.
52. On any given day you might see a live Texas longhorn, NBA Legend Bill Walton, the Stanley Cup, or a margarita machine on campus.
53. The Southwest cans of water.  I mean really…how cute are these things!
    
54. Doug Lawson – our resident “Viv Engineer” who, among other things, studies the movements and behavioral patters of animals (like ants, bees, and herds) and applies that knowledge to algorithms that make our airport operations more intuitive and efficient.
55. Linda Rutherford – without Linda, there would be no blog and no Emerging Media Team.
56. License plate frames that say “my other car is a Southwest 737.”
57. Bob Jordan’s Mustache.
58. Sitting on a plane and listening to the folks around you talk about how much they love Southwest Airlines.
59. Amazing people like Bill Owen, Anne Hancock, Brian Lusk, and Carole Adams, who, for me, will always epitomize the Spirit of Southwest.
60. Dallas Love Field – just 15 minutes from my apartment to the gate.
61. Lunch at the PR table.
62. The view from the window seat.
    
63. Getting a thumbs’ up from Gary.
64. Chetto Drafts in the Landing.
65. James Tibbons and this video.
66. The Southwest Communications Department – I’ve spent nearly every work day for the past six years with the same group of people.  They know me as well or better than anyone, and they have loved me, nonetheless.
67. My very good friends, who have taken care of me when I was sick, had me at their homes for holidays, allowed me to loaf on their couches when I didn’t have a television or a home, and were on call to bail me out of jail if I were ever arrested.
68. Bloody Marys on a plane – they’re just better up there.

Much LUV, my friends.

• A Southwest Airlines employee goes out of her way to help a distressed passenger
• Southwest Airlines’ success secrets on social media revealed by Paula Berg
• Three lessons from Jet Airways on how not to treat employees
• Must-have elements for your airline’s or airport’s social media policy
• What makes Volaris from Mexico the world’s happiest airline? Interview with COO, Andres Fabre

Twitter is the latest rage, and companies are flocking to it in hordes. Half of Fortune 100 companies are already on Twitter. Helping put some order to the chaos is Jesse Engle’s CoTweet – a startup that has caught the eye of big Twitter corporate players like Ford and JetBlue. CoTweet helps frontline staff collaborate in real-time conversations with the customers. And it comes packed with workflow and CRM-type tools.

How can airlines tame Twitter?

Twitter is different when it comes to branding and connecting with your customers. Twitter is all about earning the right to be heard, as opposed to putting a list of people together and sending them an email. And this is why a number of brands struggle with it.

When I met Jesse at the Inbound Marketing Summit in Boston last month, I thought he’d be the best person to talk about how airlines can get on-board this latest craze and actually master it. And he sure obliged to my request.

Watch the full interview (8:30 mins) to hear Jesse explain:

• How airlines with little money or resources can get started on Twitter (1:07)
• How to set up an initial team to handle Twitter (1:30)
• How to listen well on Twitter (1:50)
• How many minimum hours per week are needed for managing Twitter (2:10)
• How to deal with irrelevant “noise” on Twitter (3:05)
• Should an airline’s Twitter profile be personal or corporate? (4:20)
• How to scale up Twitter “operations” once they start going well? (5:20)
• Why we should talk to Morgan Johnston from JetBlue =p (5:31)
• What does a successful Twitter strategy look like? (6:25)
• What’re the future opportunities on Twitter (7:28)
• If airlines can manage frequent fliers through Twitter (7:57)

So, what do you think about airlines’ efforts on Twitter branding? Do you think Jesse’s suggestions make sense? Let’s discuss in the comments or over on Twitter (@simpliflying)

• Here is why JetBlue is the most loved airline brand on Twitter
• Alaska Airlines’ brand strategy on Twitter, revealed by Elliot Pesut in exclusive interview
• Perfect storm: JetBlue versus Southwest on Twitter – real incident
• Engaging the customer through Web 2.0: lessons from JetBlue Airways
• JetBlue’s all you can fly offer used for a good cause: a human billboard for students in Zambia

In the past few weeks, I’ve interacted with senior executives leading Marketing/Digital Marketing at a number of legacy airlines. Most of these have hardly made baby steps into social media branding. The biggest hurdle they seem to face is not achieving success in their new initiatives, but proving themselves internally.

And that’s only natural, since most monolithic organizations have more naysayers than doers. And the doers seldom have more clout than the naysayers. So, how to overcome this challenge?

Look within – start from the inside

My suggestion to these executives was to look at the upcoming marketing plans/campaigns. Something that’s already been budgeted for, and would be rolled out in the next three months. Then, work with the marketing team to “social media-fy” that plan. Basically, you’d want to add wings to the campaign through social media. And make sure there’s a way to measure the results (even if qualitative) so that you can measure the before-and-after effect of social media on the initiatives.

This allows you to achieve a few things:

1. You prove that social media adds value
2. There’s no need for substantial additional budget to run the SM activities
3. Working from an already-planned initiative is much easier than proposing brand new (=risky) social media campaign
4. You can then duplicate this for a couple of other marketing initiatives and then branch out social media gradually
5. You prove your worth, and get started on the road to becoming a social media rockstar

Once you’ve done this, you can easily embark on the 11 steps I’ve suggested earlier, to quick-start the social media branding strategy at your airline, airport or hotel.

Does that help? Legacy airlines, are you listening?

If you have questions about the process, or would like to seek personal help in making this work, feel free to reach out to me by email: shashank[at]simpliflying[dot]com. Meanwhile, I’d love to hear your thoughts on your efforts in social media in the comments or over on Twitter (@simpliflying)

• Do you work for an airline? This five minute video on social media can change the way you do marketing
• Reality Check: Three reasons why legacy airline brands are dead (and who to look out for)
• Love airlines just as much as branding and social media? Would you like to write a guest post for SimpliFlying?
• So you work for an airline? Here are Eleven steps to lead the social media branding initiative, and become a rockstar!
• Three ways the Cathay Pacific brand can come alive by infusing social media into the People site

I was sent this video at 1am last night, by Stuart Barwood. Even though I was in bed, I began watching it in bed on my iTouch. Not only did I watch it completely, I couldn’t sleep for quite some time afterwards. I couldn’t help but share it with my friends, clients and well-wishers who work with airlines. Because if there is something can help someone catalyze the social media branding efforts in his airline, it’s this video.

At one point in the video, the screen flashes, “In the near future, we will not find products or services, they will find us“. A simple sentence that can have significant implications on how airlines do marketing. Add on to this the fact pointed out by Morris Sim, CEO of Circos Brand Karma, at the recent WebInTravel event in Singapore, that statistics from Alexa that showed that about 1 in 20 visitors to travel websites in APAC were at Facebook right before. Social networks like Facebook could be so helpful to our business if we know how to make use of them. The time has come to act. Enjoy the video.

The ray of light…

There’re strong indications that mindsets are already beginning to change. Just look at the number of airlines active on Twitter (squint a little on the chart below). As Rohit Bhargava mentions, “what’s now needed a vision from the highest level of marketing to…pour more internal support into the nacent social media activities starting within the company that have such big potential but are likely underfunded and underappreciated.”

And as a (very) frequent flier, and a keen social media marketer, I’m happy to help. Just drop me a line.

For those looking for where to start, some of my articles may offer some insight:

1. So you work for an airline? Here are Eleven steps to lead the social media branding initiative, and become a rockstar!
2. Five and a half secrets for airlines to drive revenue from social media: Keynote presentation from LCC Summit in Al-Ain
3. Keynote presentation from Sydney: How airlines can have conversations with customers on social media

• Keynote from IATA Commercial Symposium 2009 – Driving revenue for airlines from real-time customer insights on social media
• Airline branding: Keynote video from Abu Dhabi, and CNBC Arabia
• Southwest vs. United: Why Authenticity Wins, Even In TV Advertising
• Keynote presentation from Sydney: How airlines can have conversations with customers on social media
• Five and a half secrets for airlines to drive revenue from social media: Keynote presentation from LCC Summit in Al-Ain

I often get asked by senior airline executives and readers of this blog, “How can we deal with real-world PR crises using social media?” Well, the recent war of words Facebook and Twitter posts between RyanAir and SAS Scandinavian Airlines offers a number of lessons in the matter.

For the unaware, here’s a a gist of what happened. Just a few weeks ago, Ryanair said it would offer SAS executives and board members “free tickets on any of Ryanair’s 100 Nordic routes”, then surprisingly rescinded the offer. Nevertheless, SAS’ Director of Communication and EVP, Claus Sonberg, made his first flight with Ryanair from Oslo to London, which could be followed via both Facebook and Twitter.

What was meant to be just an update about the flight experience turned out to be an online “shouting match” with Claus pointing out how RyanAir was more expensive and a “Fletcher Reede” constantly brought out RyanAir’s perspectives. So now, what are some lessons airlines can take away from this?

1. Integrate new media and old media

Something I feel SAS did quite well in this matter was to make good use of both old and new media. There were press releases, interviews in newspapers, even as the action took place on Twitter and Facebook. No segment of the audience was left out.

Many of the times, organizations get too excited about new mediums like Twitter and Facebook, and end up isolating the traditional mediums – which might have a greater in some market segments. The best way is to learn from example – like how Ford’s Scott Monty does Social Media Press Releases.

2. Don’t just talk. Listen, then respond

Crises handling changes drastically in social media, as compared to traditional media. For the simple reason that people an airlines is communicating with can actually respond, in real-time too. Which means that they will ignore anything that’s not relevant to their concerns, at that very moment. So then, how can an airline conquer this situation?

Monitoring Twitter, Facebook and even blog mentions, in addition to press releases is a must. Such monitoring would bring up the current issues people are talking about. Then the airline should try to address these in their responses. So for example in SAS’ case, none of the posts on Twitter were “@” replies addressing people’s concerns. They were merely 140char versions of press-releases: one-way announcements. Not something that can sustain interest.

3. Add insight from analytics for targeted responses

You must be thinking that it’s not possible to respond to every single person who replies on Twitter or leaves a comment on Facebook. That’s absolutely right. This is when the airline needs to use basic analytic tools for observing trends and addressing concerns shared by a number of people.

For example, on Twitter, there are a number of valuable analytic tools that help bring out trends.  One such tool is the Twitter StreamGraph, which shows you the latest things people are talking about a particular brand, SAS in this case. And as you see in the screenshot below, lots of people have been confusing SAS’ tweets as promotion of RyanAir’s in-flight product. That’s certainly something that needed addressing.

4. Give power to the listener

The one obvious-yet-often-ignored rule of interactions on social media is that brands must involve the people they’re talking to in the conversations. In SAS’ interactions on Facebook and Twitter, that wasn’t the case very often.

Posts on social media by the brands should aim to instigate discussion among the fans or followers. The brand should act as a facilitator of discussion, as opposed to initiating every discussion. Brands need to listen more than talk. Once the people feel they’re being heard, their affinity increases towards a brand. Mind you, concrete action is seldom needed, but listening is key.

5. Don’t just let the traditional PR team handle it

This is probably the toughest to achieve in these five steps. Traditional PR and corporate communications teams are good with old media, but not necessarily new media. If a crises is being handled on social media, then it’s essential that the team is complemented with someone who’s a practitioner of social media. The key word there is practitioner – because if the person(s) hasn’t personally been active on social media, it might actually be detrimental to the brand.

The best option for airline that do not yet have a social media department is to let the Corp. Comms. team lead crises handling, but complement it with at least one or two people who know social media deep within. IF there are none, then hire a consultant. But I’d advise against doing it in-house, and without much prior experience.

Coming back to SAS, I think they did a decent job at managing the process on social media. However, there’s certainly scope for improvement.

What do you think? Did SAS do a good job? If you were in their shoes, how would you have done it differently? Let’s discuss in the comments or over on Twitter (@simpliflying)

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Twitter has a huge aviation community – from airlines and airports, to cabin crew and aviation enthusiasts. Whether you like to fly a plane or just watch planes fly, there are lots of aviation geeks on Twitter with whom you can converse about your passions or just listen.

Many of these (very interesting) Tweeps are tapping into Twitter’s real-time network to offer up travel tips, airline recommendations (or warnings), and an inside look at life in the cockpit (or cabin). Personally, I have made some amazingly talented new friends on Twitter, whom I wouldn’t have known otherwise, from Melbourne to Muscat.

This list has 11 great aviation geeks to follow on Twitter, however please feel free to suggest others in the comments (or if you tweet on things that fly, leave your own Twitter info – for individuals only, not companies). These are in no particular order.

And you can certainly start with this list if you’re looking to follow my 11 suggested steps to lead the social media strategy for your airline!

Of course, if you aren’t following us on Twitter yet, we’re @simpliflying.

11 airline Journalists/Bloggers to follow on Twitter

AvWeekBenet : One of the aviation journalism “legends” of our times, Benet Wilson has some amazing knowledge about the industry and always a pleasure to Tweet with. Everyone who’s anyone in aviation has probably been interviewed by Benet at some point of his or her career.  Benet currently writes on Business Aviation for Aviation Week and she’s one of my personal favorites.

flyingwithfish : Steve Frischling is an ace photographer turned travel guru. His advice on how to pack light, or travel safe is invaluable. I personally love the travel iPhone App reviews he does at his blog, Flying with Fish. His tweets are a perfect blend of photo tips, travel tips and views on airlines. Some Twitter services tell me that I @reply to him the most!

danwebbage : Dan Webb is a wonderkid, who’s quite an aviation freak. Still a college student, he does an outstanding job blogging passionately about the industry over at Things in the Sky blog. He’s also the co-host of the Airplane Geeks Podcast. Always full of his unique personal insights on Twitter.

roncallari : Ron Callari has a ton of experience working in the travel industry. He blogs at InventorSpot and works with travel and hospitality companies around the world. His over 4,000 followers on Twitter sure like his Tweets. Be sure to check out ‘United Breaks Guitars’ Viral Video Gets Counterpunched! http://bit.ly/4EYhF

aschonland : Addison Schonland hosts the very popular IAG Podcasts. He’s one of the most forward-thinking Gen X persons I’ve known, and is always brimming with great ideas about the next big thing in aviation. Always a pleasure to Tweet with. For some inspiration, just listen in.

BLRAviation : No one knows Indian aviation better than Devesh Aggarwal. Once a million-miler with Singapore Airlines, he’s now based out of Bangalore and runs the Bangalore Aviation blog. His insights and statistics on Indian aviation are a revelation on Twitter. He also knows the best kebab places in Bangalore (and has taken me there too!)

RunwayGirl : Mary Kirby adds the oomph factor to aviation geeks on Twitter! No one knows in-flight entertainment and equipment better than her. She gives us the ins and outs of what’s in the plane, from wifi to the IFE. She writes for  Flight International at RunwayGirl.

crankyflier : The self-acclaimed “airline dork”, Brett Snyder is probably one of the most famous aviation bloggers, having worked in a travel agency when we was a teenager and been totally “into” airlines ever since! His insights on his CrankyFlier blog and on Twitter are daring, straight-forward and always make you stop and think. Very intriguing perspectives.

jetwhine : Rob Mark is very experienced in the industry, and authors the award-winning JetWhine blog. He’s also the co-host of the Airplane Geeks Podcast.

MiddleSeat : Scott McCartney writes The Wall Street Journal’s “Middle Seat” column and is the author of the new book “The Wall Street Journal Guide to Power Travel: How to Arrive with Your Dignity, Sanity, and Wallet Intact.” He’s got very refreshing perspectives on the latest happenings in aviation, and if you can’t keep up with his column, do read his Tweets.

flightblogger : How can this list be complete without mentioning probably the only Boeing outsider who often knows more than the insiders! Jon Ostrower is the FlightBlogger and tweets about the latest Boeing updates. Even the employees read his blog and Tweets to keep up to date with the latest developments in the company!

Feel free to add your favorite aviation Tweeters on this list, ans share this resource with your friends!

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