A brilliant analysis of the situation has been done by Miquel Ros on the AllPlane blog, and they’ve kindly allowed us to re-post their article here. It’s quite insightful as to how the events have unfolded. Enjoy the read!

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At the time of writing these lines the effects of the Spanish air controllers unannounced and almost total strike are still being felt throughout the whole South-Western European airspace. This industrial action has forced the closure of the entire Spanish airspace and gravely affected that of the surrounding countries (Portugal, Morocco), the chaos at airports has been total, more so when the controllers’ walk-away has coincided with the start of a five day holiday in Spain. The Spanish government has had to recur to extreme measures such as declaring the “state of alert” and putting the ATCs under military control.

It is not my intention here to delve into the causes of the crisis or on the chronology of the events , but to look at how the different actors of the crisis have been using social media to get their message through.

The role of social media during crisis has become more and more important and this crisis. I find that the current situation has many points in common with the recent volcanic-ash episode that forced the closure of practically all European airspace. As I explained in a previous post, the recent Social Media for Airlines conference, dissected the response of airlines and organisations to sudden short-term disruption of air traffic. In that case, the crisis was a catalyst that pushed organisations to embrace social media. And this case is no different…

Spanish air traffic controllers dived into social media first

In fact when the crisis started all the social media artillery seemed to be on the side of the air traffic controllers, that had their own blog and at least two Facebook fan pages presenting their point of view (this one seems to be the main one, but has much less activity than this other page that is focused on the current conflict…This put them automatically on the spotlight, with thousands of angry people directing their anger at these platforms. The Spanish ATC Twitter account was replying to comments and actively tweeting until Saturday morning when it seems that it stopped tweeting (the deluge of mostly negative comments was possibly too much for whomever was managing this account).

Snapshot of Radarvirtuel around 7pm CET, air traffic returns slowly to Spanish skies, spot the empty region in Central Spain and around Madrid airport (MAD).

AENA jumps on Twitter

The government side did not have this sort of social media channels in place when the crisis started to unfold. Spain’s airport and air traffic management organisation (Aena) had an institutional website that was in no way suited for this task, providing just some informative notes and a contact telephone. There was no Twitter account to speak of until Saturday mid-morning (more than twelve hours after the strike had started), when the official Aena Twitter account was opened. The first time I checked it out it had only two followers and they had not even had the time to upload an avatar picture for their Twitter profile. To their credit however, they got up to speed fairly quickly, I checked it again 15 minutes later and it had already over 1000 followers, by early afternoon they had reached 3000 and it was tweeting a constant flow of information on Spain’s airport network situation. Besides English and Spanish it had also streams in the other official languages of Spain: Catalan, Basque and Galician. We hope that, as in the volcano crisis, this level of engagement with the public will remain going future.

Key hashtags to follow

It is unusual for events taking place in a mid-sized non-English speaking country with little Twitter penetration to make it to Twitter’s global trending topics, but at some times today the Spanish airport chaos made it to the top of the list, for example: #controladores, #barajas,

Other hashtags you can monitor to follow the events are:
#aena #huelga #controladores #prat #estadodealarma #DGAC #Spanishstrike

most of the tweets related to these hashtags are in Spanish, but quite a few are in English too.

And obviously Eurocontrol, was also informing via Twitter, by the way, it must have been a complicated day for them since there were not only issues in Spain but also closures and disruption due to snow at Schiphol (AMS), Paris-Orly (ORY) and UK airports such as London-Gatwick (LGW).

Airport Hotels get part of the action

Other unexpected side actors of this crisis have been Hotel Auditorium, a huge hotel next to Barajas airport with its own twitter account as it is in this hotel that air traffic controllers were holding a meeting on Friday night while the crisis was at its peak. They required police protection after the ATCs were discovered by a number of distressed passengers that had been hosted at the hotel after their flights got cancelled (as a side note, I also had the chance to stay at Hotel Auditorium earlier this year after my flight was cancelled due to an air traffic controller’s strike in France).

I have also seen the potential of Twitter as a tool to arrange alternative travel plans, for example, I have spotted several people on Twitter looking for car-sharing arrangements to travel by road to their destinations as well as some online car-sharing companies, such as Comuto and Amovens, promoting their services.

And other online services that thrive with public attention in days like this are the air traffic live monitoring sites, such as FlightRadar24 or Radarvirtuel, that I already used, with spectacular results, during the volcanic-ash crisis.

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Crises Management 2.0 – Live on Twitter!

While the situation was unfolding, there were at least two passengers (@cmckella & @jaysears) on board the airplane who were tweeting away regular updates of the situation from their perspective, which included photos of the cabin and cops around the aircraft. Soon enough, major newspapers and news channels were quoting these two for the most current information about what’s happening on-board the aircraft.

Though, it wasn’t long till American Airlines’s Twitter account (@aairwaves) jumped into the middle of the arena and took on the queries head-on. It seemed like they had read our infographic on crises handling through social media (see below), because AA did a good job at it.

Infographic – Five steps to successful crisis management for airlines, in the age of social media

Here is a graphical journey of AA24 on Twitter

Passengers Jay Sears and Campbell McKeller sent out tweets every couple of minutes from inside the plane, which were very detailed. It started with them sharing the situation with their friends, before the media caught wind of the situation and started tapping on them too.

How American Airlines’ @AAirwaves took control of the situation

1. They engaged directly with Jay and Campbell, who were on-board the airplane
2. They started to answer queries from the local media
3. They calmed nerves by ensuring transparency in the situation by clearly stating the cause of the incident (a phone call, not a hijacking attempt).
4. They became the go-to source of information for anyone interested in the incidence, as can be seen from the final screen shot of the “AA24″ search on Twitter, where a majority of the retweets are originating from @AAirwaves

In essence, American Airlines did a commendable job of keeping things straight during the crisis, and engaging with the key stake holders directly. They looked well prepared for a situation like this, and have set the bar high for other airlines to follow.

Great job, @AAirwaves! For this feat, their effort is also being featured on SimpliFlying’s Clever Airlines.

• Top 10 Crisis Management Case Studies: How Social Media Can Help Airlines Deal With Their Worst Nightmares
• Crises Management for airlines and airports in the age of social media- Presentation from ACI Europe
• Royal Brunei Airlines emergency landing of flight BI098 – SimpliBrilliant Crises Management in the digital age
• How airlines used social media innovatively to battle the ashcloud crisis [from Mashable]
• [Infographic] Five steps to successful crisis management for airlines, in the age of social media

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Virgin Blue, after fighting hard as a “renegade” brand for a slice of the Australian carrier market is tipped to undergo a marketing face lift and re-invent itself as a full service brand. Some of the purported changes include the introduction of a new business class product, integrating the other brand properties (Polynesian Blue and V Australia) as well as the introduction of wide body aircraft on trunk routes between capitals.

(Image credit: ABC News)

Virgin Blue going upscale?

It is apparent from the changes the new CEO, Ex Qantas Senior exec John Borghetti is primarily going after the lucrative corporate segment of the market, one which Virgin Blue has traditionally struggled to break into due to Qantas’ having a strong and loyal customer base.

The biggest hurdle here will be to ramp up the company’s loyalty programs to make them attractive to corporate clients. The easiest way Virgin could do this besides upgrading it lounge system is to integrate with a global airline alliance, such as SkyTeam or Star Alliance, to boost its loyalty offering and expand code share operations.

It’s not going to be easy to attract new the new corporate business without impacting the most loyal customers who were attracted to the “renegade” brand. The shift away from competing head to head with other low cost carriers such as Tiger and Jet Star will surely allow it to focus more on its new customer acquisition path and deliver a more differentiated product. However it’s a delicate balance between attracting a new segment and not turning away the loyal customer base who share an affinity with the current culture and image.

Virgin Australia Airlines?

The other issue facing Virgin’s re-birth is the long-standing agreement between Virgin Atlantic Airways and significant shareholder Singapore Airlines prohibiting it from using the Virgin moniker for international flights.

I’d hasten to say the use of Virgin Australia Airlines, which was registered several years before the 2008 launch of V Australia will be the primary candidate to encompass all 3 brands.

Mr Borghetti has also recently swept the brands senior leadership team under the one reporting structure, not only implementing a few commercial side changes but also positioning Martin Daley as Product and Guest Services lead across the single carrier brand. Martin was one of the early Virgin Blue culture “creators” and will be integral to ensuring a consistent and on brand culture across all brand properties.

Finally, rationalisation of loss making routes across brands should also be on the cards as part of the marketing change out with yield being a primary focus of V Australia. A focus on greater diligence on revenue generation across the house of brands will be imperative once it becomes a branded house to ensure one branch of its network does not impact another’s profitability.

With most of the changes to come in before the end of the year, do you believe they can shake the low cost carrier moniker, bring the brands together and attract one of the most loyal market segments away from Qantas? Sounds like a big task, so let’s wish them all the best. And watch this space.

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• The “Jetstar-isation” of Qantas is not over yet. Is the LCC taking over the legacy parent brand?
• Australia’s Qantas Airways – the world’s most agile airline brand?
• Talking airline business with Virgin Atlantic VP, Paul Charles
• Three reasons why Qantas missed a branding opportunity with A380

At SimpliFlying, we saw a paradigm shift in the way airlines handle crises management, in the age of social media. Instead of writing an article on it, we put together an info-graphic, that details the five key steps for managing crises, in the wake of the volcanic eruption. Both a PDF version, and a PPT version are available for download and printing. An Apple Keynote version will be available soon.

Please feel free to share it with your colleagues, print it out or use it in your presentations, as long as full credit is given to SimpliFlying.

Special thanks to Steve Frischling for help with the content, and Arno Ghelfi for the design.

Infographic – Five steps to successful crisis managment for airlines, in the age of social media [PDF]

• Top 10 Crisis Management Case Studies: How Social Media Can Help Airlines Deal With Their Worst Nightmares
• American Airlines rocks on Twitter during the AA24 security threat, while passengers tweet from the plane
• [Exclusive Videographic] How airlines dedicate resources to social media marketing
• Crises Management for airlines and airports in the age of social media- Presentation from ACI Europe
• [Infographic] How travel marketers calculate ROI on social media and why the future is mobile

Though, too often, quotes in the press are either truncated, or lost in translation. Hence, here I share with you many more quotes I had been asked for, and sent out to various press outlets. I think they give a unique insight into the United/Continental merger.

On the brand change to United: Though both brands are globally recognized, I personally would have preferred to see the Continental brand survive, because they’ve done a fantastic job of resurrecting the brand over the years, while United has struggled with its re-branding efforts. As long as the name change doesn’t degrade Continental’s product or service, I think customers would be happy to move on.

On the executive appointments: It’s good for the airline in the long term, that Jeffery Smisek becomes the key executive, because he has a proven record as someone who can improve the airline, and please customers as well as shareholders. Moreover, Glen Tilton had publicly stated that his aim was to successfully lead an exit strategy for United Airlines, which this deal accomplishes. Hence, it’s only natural that he gradually shifts into a non-executive role.

On the HQ move to Chicago: A lot of Continental employees may be forced to move from Houston to Chicago, and many may forgo that option. It will also be difficult to retain the Texas culture at the company, which is cherished internally. There’s hard work ahead for the management in order to please the internal stakeholders.

On the impact on the passenger: Customers are likely to see fares rise on overlapping routes, like Houston to Chicago or Washintong DC. Ancillary fees may increase too, in the long term. Though, the frequent fliers wouldn’t have to worry much, as due to Star Alliance, both United’s and Continental’s frequent flier programs are quite similar now.

On what this means for future airline mergers in the US: The second merger of this scale in 24 months in the US is bound to put pressure on other independent airlines, like American and US Airways. Though, I don’t foresee these two merging, because of the huge overlap in routes. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see mergers in the low-cost arena, like Southwest getting in bed with AirTran, or even American Airlines cozying up further to JetBlue!

On impact on Asia: United already has a strong network in Asia-Pacific, and Continental’s presence in key markets like Japan and India will only make it a strong competitor against rivals like Delta. Though, in order to have any chance of acing against Asian carriers, the new airline will have to drastically up its game in terms of service, product and brand strategy.

So, what do you think about the merger? Would it be beneficial to the flying public? Would the combined airline be able to turn a profit? Let’s discuss in the comments or over on Twitter (@simpliflying)

• SimpliFlying in The Media: FinanceAsia, USA Today and Aviation Security International
• Feeling Like a Proud Dad as United Clarifies its Twitter Account :)
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• Will Delta and Northwest merger bring back the glory of Pan-Am?

On April 14, 2010, the eruption of the Icelandic volcano [i still can't pronounce the name!] resulted in chaos — more than 100,000 flight cancellations between April 15 and 21 — affecting millions of travelers, and the fallout cost the airline industry $1.7 billion. The silver lining was social media – and how airlines and authorities reached out to stranded passengers to help them out. And Eurocontrol led from the front. Eurocontrol’s efforts were much admired on this blog, and on other leading websites like Mashable.

In my conversation with Aurelie, she spoke at length about how she handled the tasks, challenges encountered and lessons learnt. Below is a summary of the exclusive video interview (Click here if you’re unable to watch the video interview)

• What Eurocontrol does? (0:31)
• An overview of how the events unfolded after the eruption (1:02)
• Why the public was being informed by Eurocontrol? (1:55)
• Why Eurocontrol set up their social media assets in the first place? (2:40)
• How the concerns of aviation professionals as well as passengers were handled through multiple channels (3:10)
• How Aurelie handled all requests and processes herself? (3.55)
• How were decisions on content on social media taken? (4:40)
• What were some of the challenges encountered in the process? (5:35)
• How working with other Twitterers like @airlineindustry helped use of common hashtags (6:33)
• Key indicators of success? (7:10)
• In hindsight, what would have been done differently? (7:41)
• Why collaborating with airlines was important (8:21)
• How will crises management be better in a future eruption? (9:00)

So, what do you think about EuroControl’s handling of the crisis? Is it repeatable? Isn’t it refreshing to learn about such a visionary effort in times of crises? Let’s discuss in the comments or over on Twitter (@simpliflying)

• Simpliflying Hero, May 2010: Aurelie Valtat from Eurocontrol
• [LIVE!] How airlines and EuroControl are conquering Icelandinc volcanic ash through social media #ashtag
• How airlines used social media innovatively to battle the ashcloud crisis [from Mashable]
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Hundreds of thousands of travelers scrambled to find alternative modes of transportation, last minute hotel bookings and even home-stays when the Icelandic volcano disrupted air travel around Europe over the last seven days. The official figure for airlines’ losses stands at $1.7 billion in just six days, with U.K.-based airlines British Airways and Virgin Atlantic likely to suffer the most.

Though it sounds like all doom and gloom, the silver lining of this crisis is that a lot of travelers looked to social media for help, and airlines and other authorities actually rose to the challenge. Here are some examples of winning information and customer service strategies that were implemented via social media.

Deep dive into social media for airlines

As I highlighted in-depth in my previous article, EuroControl was very impressive as they rushed to update passengers about the latest information about flights through a variety of online and offline mediums.

In just seven days, there were over 55,000 mentions of #ashtag, and the usage was so widespread that only 5.8% of the tweets came from the Top 10 users –- which is generally not the case.

As you can see in the SlideShare below, airlines not only updated flight statuses, but provided customer service as well, bringing down volume on their call centers. Air Baltic [Disclosure: SimpliFlying client] even confirmed with some passengers that their hotel expenses would be covered –- all this as a public conversation.

Since my first article, I learnt of many personal stories from airline staff handling the crisis. Here’s one.

To quote one person from this stealth team at SAS, “Now we have people (volunteers!) online from about 5 a.m. to 2 a.m. Most of the time there are 3-5 people working, and using the Microsoft Communicator to chat with the other members of the team, discuss issues, and make sure only one person answers a customer’s question. In total, I think about 15-20 people in both Oslo and Stockholm have been involved directly updating social media since Thursday. In terms of fans, we went from 15,000 Thursday morning, to having passed 21,000 today.”

A Blessing in Disguise?

Both airlines and EuroControl took charge of the situation not just by sending out messages, but by leading and participating in conversations. Airlines like SAS quickly learned how to scale up the efforts when needed, with the help of volunteers from across the company.

And the next time a crisis occurs, they will be much better prepared to use social media as a valuable information and customer service tool. The most important thing right now is to take the lessons learned and develop a coherent strategy for handling future crises.

You can read the full article, over on Mashable.com. And I’d love to hear your comments, here and over on Twitter (@simpliflying)

• Exclusive Interview: How Eurocontrol battled the ashcloud crisis through social media
• [LIVE!] How airlines and EuroControl are conquering Icelandinc volcanic ash through social media #ashtag
• Simpliflying Hero, May 2010: Aurelie Valtat from Eurocontrol
• American Airlines rocks on Twitter during the AA24 security threat, while passengers tweet from the plane
• Top 10 Crisis Management Case Studies: How Social Media Can Help Airlines Deal With Their Worst Nightmares

Staying true to the real-time nature of social media, within minutes, the news of hacking was doing rounds all over the internet. Of course, it’s only to be expected, when United Airlines sends an abnormal Tweet to it’s 56,000 followers. Though United later removed the specific Tweet, the damage was done.

Reversing the brand damage to the airlines, in 3 steps

This is a situation that any airline jumping on the social media bandwagon can face. So, what’s the best way to deal with it? Here are three simple steps.

1. Be quick. Delete the malicious tweets from your updates (obvious!), but do it quickly. United Airlines took 1 hr 6 mins before their public tweet was deleted. It could have been quicker.
2. Be candid. Send out a public Tweet apologizing and clarifying the matter. Brussels Airlines sent out a Tweet (below) but United has not reacted that way yet [Update, 9am EST: United just sent out a clarifying tweet]. It’s important not to resort to traditional means like a press release. They are too formal, take too long to get to the public, and target the wrong audience. Most importantly, Twitter is personal. So, be candid, like Brussels Airlines.
   
3. Be thankful. Identify the person who alerted you and thank him publicly. He’s likely to re-tweet it and tell all his friends how nice you’ve been to him or her. And you have instantly cultivated a brand advocate! Cathay Pacific did this very well today (even they weren’t hacked)

So, what do you think about the way these airlines reacted? How can they deal with such incidents better? Let’s hear it in the comments, and over on Twitter (@simpliflying).

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Qantas announced today a net profit after tax of A$58 million for the first half of the financial year, down from $210 million a year earlier, although the airline did recover from a loss in the second-half of last financial year. This 72% dip in profits resulted in the shares falling by up to 7.2% in early morning trades. However, Alan Joyce, the CEO, says the carrier has done better than most of its rivals. And it has, indeed, thanks to its agility.

Agility through smart cost-cutting

Although revenues dipped by 13.4%, costs were slashed by 16.2%, which shows Qantas’ diligence and discipline in reducing expenditure in the past year. The cutting of frequencies to unpopular routes and grounding of older aircrafts was key to these cost savings.

Load-factors have been the highest in five years – at 82.4%, on flights that carried a lesser number of total passengers as compared to the past year.

This simply means that flights were more full than in the past, despite the recession. Of course, the downside was that this was achieved by offering very low fares on certain routes, which are unsustainable in the long run. Alan Joyce eluded to this fact as well, by indicating that the industry’s survival depends on higher fares.

Agility in re-configuring the cabin

Qantas was one of the first airlines to add a Premium Economy cabin to their flights. Now, they’re standing by their decision by overhauling their cabins. Qantas will be removing First Class on most of its long-haul routes, with the exception of London and Los Angeles, and adding Premium Economy to their widebody jets.

This not just reflects the growing sentiment that Premium demand will change in the coming years, but also the fact that there are more First Class seats in the market than required. For example, from Sydney to London, a passenger has the choice to fly on First Class Suites on board Singapore Airlines, Emirates, Etihad, Qatar Airways and Qantas. Certainly a case of over-capacity.

Qantas is one of the first airlines in the world to remove the First Class in a systematic fashion, and change their long-haul plane configuration to Business, Premium Economy and Economy classes. This effectively increases the number of seats and hence reduces the cost per seat even further. Such agility will pay off for Qantas in the long term.

Leveraging on Jetstar

It’s a known fact that the two brand strategy, growing Jetstar aggressively, gives Qantas Group a very valuable option that few others can match. Jetstar’s profits tripled in the past year and continue to provide Qantas a very valuable asset to leverage on low-yielding routes. The two-brand strategy has also ensured that the Qantas Group doesn’t lag behind LCC competition from Virgin Blue and Tiger Airways.

Moreover, the recent Jetstar-AirAsia cost alliance should also help the airlines reap additional benefits in the near future through by tapping on each other’s scale and synergies.

In conclusion, even though profits have dipped, Qantas remains one of the most agile airline brands in the world and it’s this quick-thinking that will keep them ahead of most competition in the coming times. What do you think? Let’s discuss in the comments, and over on Twitter (@simpliFlying)

• The “Jetstar-isation” of Qantas is not over yet. Is the LCC taking over the legacy parent brand?
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• Five clever ways to earn frequent flier miles for upgrades
• Why a Qantas and British Airways merger is good (and why Qantas + Cathay Pacific will be even better!)
• The business of business class

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
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