Crowdsourcing has always been a fascinating and (often) rewarding aspect of social media. Ever since airlines realised the power of the social web, they have dabbled in crowdsourcing in various ways.

However, now, in a uniquely new initiative, Lufthansa Cargo has launched a new contest inviting people to use their imagination and present their “Green Solutions” and ideas for “Add-On Services” to help reduce the cargo company’s environmental impact and improve their services.

The initiative is unique because this is the first time a cargo carrier is entering the fray of social media to crowdsource ideas. Second, it has to be admitted that, if implemented, some of these solutions could not just pave the path for a greener planet but also for a huge change in the industry per se.

Great initiative, great ideas
The contest is open to anyone in the world and all entries are posted online in an open forum where people can review and comment. According to Lufthansa Cargo, proposals can cover any aspect within the Lufthansa Air Cargo Supply Chain (Sales, Handling, Transport,Customer Service) that fall within the categories of Green Solutions and/or Add-On Services. The exciting …

Yes, you read that correctly. I did not write Web 2.0. Of course, that’s not because it’s not relevant – it’s terribly relevant – but because this newer term encompasses Web 2.0 and then some. So what exactly do I mean by Mobile 2.0 and why is it important? Cutting to the chase, here are some things we all know: first, ordinary feature phones are dying a fast death and smartphone shipments are rising as iOS and Android become increasingly popular with others, such as Windows Phone 7, hot in pursuit. Second, people are increasingly using their phones to do tasks they earlier used their laptops or desktops for: hotel search, ticket bookings, banking, emails, etc. Third, smartphones are creating an all new category of the always connected traveler – a web-savvy, social-networking geek who isn’t afraid to declare to his virtual networks what he’s thinking or doing.
The future is mobile
Given the rapidly changing interactional/behavioural habits of the traveler, it has become important for airlines to target them where they can be found. Close your eyes and think for a moment about what the word mobile phone means to you: I’m quite certain that most of the readers here …

If you still need proof of whether social media matters or not, you only have to look at the turnout for this year’s votes for the 2nd SimpliFlying Awards for Social Media Excellence. By the time voting closed after 2 weeks of stiff competition, more than 30,000 votes had been submitted from over 4500 cities. And this was after having shortlisted the Top Nominees from close to 60 nominations. The finalists for each category have been announced and they’ll face off in Amsterdam on October 10.

The innovations begin

When airlines initially began their adventure on the socialscape, it was all about about feeling their way about on the social platforms of their choice. The primary focus at the outset was first, discovering how to drive traffic and building a fan-base, followed by the more important aim of utilizing the platform for customer engagement and provide them a real-time medium of information-dissemination and customer service. Slowly, however, they realized that social platforms could also aid them in driving revenue. Flash sales, deals and contests became popular to attract more customers. However, the real innovations were still some time away.

A changing landscape

That time, it seems, has …

Most social media and aviation geeks would have heard of or even used MySkyStatus and Cloudstream, two applications brought to travelers by Lufthansa. MySkyStatus instantly sends updates to your Twitter and Facebook accounts to indicate your departure, location, and arrival information. Cloudstream allows a traveler to “pack” articles, videos, and other entertainment into a digital carry-on that can be perused later on the flight, even without an internet connection. The best part about both these applications is that they are completely free of charge.

As coordinator of social media marketing at Lufthansa’s USA office, Alison Russo has been a key player in the launch of both these products, along with Lufthansa’s success on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms. It was not surprising, therefore, when she won comprehensively in our SimpliFlying Hero Poll for July 2011 with almost 60% of the votes.

Well-planned beginnings
Much of Alison’s (and Lufthansa’s) success can probably be attributed to the great amount of time and planning that is put in by the team at every turn. Right off the bat, when Lufthansa first started its social media journey, it realized that it was …

SimpliFlying Heroes is now just over one year old, in which time we have honored the nine of the world’s best individuals engaging airline customers. And on completing this first anniversary, we asked for some feedback from the industry folks and while they said they were very inspired by the stories shared, the asked if there could be public voting for Heroes, instead of just nomination. And we thought that’s a great idea!

Hence, from July 2011 onwards, you will be able to vote for the SimpliFlying Hero each month, from three nominees we put together (or you suggest). Additionally, we have decided that all SimpliFlying Heroes deserve a six month free membership to SimpliFlying Tribes, as opposed to the current one month. And that’s in addition to all the fame and the coveted certificate.

So without much further ado, please allow me to reveal the SimpliFlying Heroes nominees for July 2011 (…drumroll…): Jill Fletcher from Virgin America, Alison Russo from Lufthansa USA and Ali Bullock from Cathay Pacific.

Here’s a brief description of each of the nominee’s work at their respective airlines.
Jill Fletcher, Virgin America
Virgin America has been on the cutting edge of experimenting with social media …

When I recently delivered a keynote speech on how airlines can drive ROI from social media, the topic of selling airline tickets on sites like GroupOn and LivingSocial has was raised in the Q&A that followed. And the responses have been mixed on this – some airlines don’t mind trying it, while others are concerned with the huge marketing investment required. And these are very real concerns – that’s why we’re hosting a webinar on how airlines can leverage group-deals and social shopping (you can still sign up).

For now, let’s discuss the merits and pitfalls of such offers, with Lufthansa Brazil as a case study.
A word of caution about group-buying for airlines…

Marketing costs. Typically, to sell on a site like GroupOn, a minimum of 50% discount it required. Additionally, the site itself takes a commission that typically goes up to 50% of the sale price. That means for a $1000 ticket, the airline would only get $250. And $750 is the cost of marketing, which is steep by most standards.
Revenue management troubles. Group-selling sites require a specific quantity to be sold at a certain price. Many of the revenue management systems airlines use aren’t well suited …

As many of you are aware, I recently did the opening keynote on driving social ROI for airlines, at the Social Media in Travel Summit in San Francisco. I was honored to share the stage with some well-respected travel brands, like TripAdvisor, Google Travel and IHG. Though, the highlight of the conference for me were the presentations by KLM (remember Lonneke?) and the one discussion the social media of Lufthansa USA.

If you recall, the Lufthansa USA Marketing team has been behind some significant efforts in the past year, like Cloudstream – the digital carry on, and MySkyStatus – which updates your social status real-time, as you’re flying!

The presentation was made by Nicola Lange, the airline’s marketing head honcho for the Americas. Yes, it’s the same Nicola, who famously invited the guy who lost the iPhone4 prototype on a free Lufthansa flight to have beer in Germany! (Yes, Germans have a good sense of humor too

After her presentation, I had a chat with her, about the impressive work her team has put in, bringing a legacy airline into the brave new world of social media. And she kindly agreed to …

**This a follow up article to the LIVE coverage of the Lufthansa A380 inaugural flight to JFK, by Rachel Levy**

On Tuesday, Shashank called me and asked “What are you doing this weekend?” Knowing him, I knew that was probably trouble =p Apparently Lufthansa was going to be flying the Airbus A380 from Frankfurt to JFK for the first time on Monday, SimpliFlying was invited, and the press group was leaving on Saturday. While I love to travel, this was very last minute, but given the opportunity, I said yes, of course.

I didn’t realize, just how incredible this opportunity would be. From flying business class, to a tour of the maintenance hangar, a tour of every inch of the plane, to interviews of the pilots, head of maintenance, a visit to the cockpit dinner overlooking the runway, this was certainly the experience of a lifetime.

The A380 is not new to Lufthansa, nor is it new to Airbus, but Lufthansa is set to be the largest A380 operator in Europe. Airbus currently has 244 orders from airlines, Lufthansa being #3 with 15 planes, after Emirates and Singapore Airlines. Each A380 customer has the ability to customize …

**This was the LIVE coverage from the event. For post event trip report with videos and hundreds of photos, please click here**

Once again, we’ve been fortunate enough to be on the inaugural flight of an A380 to New York. Almost two and a half years ago, we brought to you the first Emirates A380 flight Live, and over the next couple of days, we will share the experience aboard the Business Class on Lufthansa’s first A380 flight to the US.

On Monday, February 28th Lufthansa’s A380 will make its inaugural flight from Frankfurt to JFK, landing around 2pm EST. Rachel Levy (@bostonmarketer), who’s been an integral part of the SimpliFlying team over the last year, will be sharing her experiences on Twitter and here. We have also created a Twitter list of all those on the inaugural flight, and you can follow them here.

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How often have you been on a flight, browsed through the in-flight magazine, flipped through the IFE channels, only to find nothing that interests you? In fact, as you increasingly travel on budget airlines, there are hardly any entertainment or reading options to begin with. Lufthansa has created a solution, called CloudStream.
Your in-flight content solution
CloudStream is a tool that creates a “digital carry-on” for travelers to pack with their chosen content (i.e. articles they’ve been meaning to read) as well as content they’ve discovered from our curated set of feeds. It is essentially the first digital media platform that takes advantage of travelers’ time in air.

The tool allows you to browse through a number of content categories, which include travel, health, sports or technology and choose from a variety of mediums, like blogs or podcasts. Once you’ve complied and downloaded your content, you can save it to your pen drive, or even share it with friends.

Keep Discovering, and share content with friends
What I personally like about CloudStream is the ability to discover new content, in the “Featured Carry-on” section, where SimpliFlying is showcased as well. …