Baltia Air Lines has been looking to take-off for over 20 years, and now are finally making serious moves to do so. The American airline has had more than its share of set-backs to prevent flight in those years; financial woes and lack of route approval amidst the then uneasy USSR hurt the airline in its starting years.

This new kid on the runway recently made news with their purchase of a Boeing 747. The formal press release was accompanied by a YouTube video which welcomed Baltia’s new prize into Malaysia for tune-up. The video is one of two recently uploaded by thee airline, accompanied by promises of more to come. It’s nice to see that even in its most early stages of setup, Baltia is making an effort to utilize social media. By introducing marketing via YouTube and Twitter, the airline is establishing itself in the new era and can only improve from here!

Baltia’s Twitter does not hide its grass roots- which in the case of this newbie airline may be beneficial to its followers. The account already boasts 539 followers and is clearly geared toward the shareholders whose investments laid the foundation for Baltia’s take-off. Despite less-than-impressive tweets, Baltia’s quick updates and thank-you’s set the stage for a Twitter account which uses the ‘personal touch’ in reaching out to followers (a trend social media has been flocking to).

Baltia’s take-off is a slow process, but looks to gain speed when round trips increase and profit begins. Travelling between the US and Russia, Baltia will be making one round trip (JFK to St. Petersburg) in its first month, three per week in the second and hopes to make five trips in the third. Baltia will offer four classes in flight- coach (voyager), coach plus (super voyager), business and first. Baltia remains hopeful and projects a $40 million profit off the 747 annually.

Hopefully for Baltia, the tenth time is the charm in take-off! We’ll continue to see how the airline uses social media in its most crucial time, hopefully expanding to Facebook as business finds ground. Starting your launch right with social media- Clever, Baltia!

Virgin America has unleashed a new social-media based campaign in recognition of its expanded routes to Mexico. The trendy airline uses Loopt Star, a rewards program which tracks subscribers by location log-in and offers promotions.

Both San Francisco (SFO) and Los Angeles (LAX) airports offer new routes to Cabo and Cancun respectively. In both locations, Loopt log-in booths allow customers to book a complimentary ticket for a friend when they book one for themselves (promotion ran 11:00 am to 3:00 pm). This can all be done wirelessly through Loopt Star’s iPhone app. For the less adventurous, two for one tacos were sold at Virgin taco trucks outside the airports (proceeds were given to local animal care). See Mashable’s article on this here.

Virgin America is maintaining its ability to set precedents for social media based promotion; this is the second time it has used rewards in advertising new destinations. They’ve created a perfect storm of advertising via an up-and-coming app, rewards (which ultimately create more traffic on their planes) and local charity. We’re seeing now that social media can be taken to entirely new levels- accompanying rewards give incentive and special extras make a new standard in advertising, unique to its promoter. Inteligente! That’s Spanish for Clever; enjoy the new routes Virgin and customers!

EasyJet is certainly not new to well-executed social media. In fact, the British airline has some of the best customer response tweeting online, accompanied by an active Facebook page and Youtube broadcast. Adding to this all-star line-up of social media, Easy Jet has implemented an opportunity to receive free tickets via Twitter. Every Thursday has now been dubbed an “EasyJet Thursday” and asks followers to simply Tweet about the organization for their chance at a free getaway.

The kicker of Easy Jet thursdays is its exceptional use of Twitter’s facets. The airline asks that when customers Tweet their hopes for free tickets, they mention @EasyJet as well as trend the topic #easyJetThursday. This keeps EasyJet (on Thursdays atleast) among top trending statements on Twitter. Trending is a great way to gain face time; as people look through the top trends of the day, they too will in turn take on the trend. This goes back to a major theme among Clever social media use: amplification. The key in social media is its everywhere-everyday-anytime ability, thus when the billions of people who are constantly cruising the net come across interesting topics- they amplify!

In the case of EasyJet Thursdays, it seems that they ampliFly. See the guidelines for EasyJet Thursdays here.

EasyJet using Twitter to its full extent: clever!

Delta has released a new Facebook application, Delta Ticket Window, which allows users to book a flight without leaving the cyber-comfort of their social network. The first of its kind, Delta expects a large portion of the 37,870 people who have already connected with the airline via Facebook to continue patronage through this new option.

Facebook is the top choice in website navigation on ground and air, according to Delta’s wi-fi provider. The airline has also made it clear that information provided is routed directly to Delta and not Facebook or a third party host. No additional charges are implemented when …

Launching a social-media blitz when major changes are going on within your organization can sound more to be an added hindrance than effective marketing. However, the ease of implementing such means that very little work can be done to improve one’s marketing strategies and increase the organization’s exposure ten fold. Using Oneworld Alliance as a case study, let’s take a look at how a company can go from mainstream to Clever!

Oneworld Alliance has long paled in the shadow of its hard-hitting competitors Star Alliance and SkyTeam. Among some 28 other members, Star Alliance boasts United, Continental and US Airways as …

As VirginAmerica launches a new non-stop to Toronto route they have teamed up with Klout to create a clever new way of integrating this news into social media.

When airlines are starting new routes, it is important to fill the seats up quickly. Virgin America is doing so through their latest program, which targets the most influential users in social media and rewards them with free flights. The influence of those eligible is measured by Klout, a program which takes a close look at one person’s influence on another when it comes to Virgin America- through online …

JetBlue maintains a comfortable position among some of the best social-media using companies on Twitter. The airline gives nearly non-stop responses to querying customers via their Twitter page (http://twitter.com/JetBlue). The issue with older social media is the disconnect which seems to exist between its facets and the company itself. JetBlue has begun to remedy this situation by creating a spin-off list of their Twitter, JetBlue Team. This quirky group of employees give fast responses to customers via the main twitter page. By establishing a separate Twitter for the JetBlue team itself, the company gives a personal element …

JetBlue has already made an appearance in Simpliflying’s Clever Airlines blog, but is worth mentioning again for their outstanding promotion-based account, JetBlueCheeps. This Twitter, separate from the main account, releases specific sales each Tuesday and surprises followers with other deals throughout the week.

The Cheep Tweets detail take-off and destination airports as well as the number of seats available for the sale, then linked to JetBlue’s website for booking. It seems that a promotion such as JetBlueCheeps appeals most to the business traveller or entrpreuner, looking for fast deals to mostly international airports. This demographic is a major part of …

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