Since taking over the helm seven months ago, Estonian Air CEO Tero Taskila has been the driving force behind the airline’s makeover. But as he shares in our inaugural marketing strategy podcast, the changes that we’ve seen so far are just the beginning.

Being placed in charge of a company that has been losing money since 2005 isn’t exactly the kind of dream job that most people have in mind. However Tero Taskila has always relished a good challenge. After all, the Finn, who was previously the Chief Commercial Officer of Latvian competitor airBaltic, lives by the motto: “I want to have frustration and excitement in good balance.”

There’s certainly been no shortage of both and since assuming the position last June, Taskila has been busy overseeing the restructuring of the airline and introducing initiatives to increase the number of routes that it serves and the frequencies of its flights. And while there are plans to introduce long-haul services in the future, for now, Estonian Air is concentrating its efforts on becoming a leading regional airline and establishing a strong network in the Baltic States, Nordic countries and Russia….

We promised we’d make the New Year exciting for you. And here we are – delivering on the promise we made! After creating quite a buzz with our revamped SimpliFlying Heroes initiative that saw almost 3000 votes pour in over just a week, we’re back with something even more exciting. So sit back, relax and enjoy the show that we’re bringing you today (and every fortnight hereon)!

Today, we’re launching SimpliFlying Podcasts – a brand new product that should excite our readers, most of whom are travel marketers. Starting this Wednesday, SimpliFlying will be releasing Marketing Strategy podcasts for airline and airport marketers on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of each month. Each podcast will have great insights on the latest in marketing from the best minds in aviation.
Why you should listen to the podcasts
Helmed by Shashank Nigam, the CEO of SimpliFlying, every fortnight we will interview a well-known face from the world of aviation (mostly CxO level). The in-depth interviews will be followed by a detailed discussion of insights into the latest in airline and airport marketing by SimpliFlying staff.

The podcasts will be available …

This the Live coverage (click here if you can’t see it) from the inaugural SimpliFlying-Airline Business ‘Social media for the aviation industry‘ conference being held in London on Oct 1, 2010, specially for those who aren’t able to attend.

The detailed agenda can be found here. The conference begins at 9.20am London time. The award nominees will make their presentations at noon.

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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 …