Introduction

  • A back-and-forth public conversation between an airline handle and an individual handle; possibly demonstrating the infrastructure as a CRM tool, a promotional tool or a crisis management tool
  • A brief introduction to the handles that I have chosen to cover: @VirginAmerica, @JetBlue, @AlaskaAir, @QFTravelInsider, @SouthwestAir, @AirBaltic, @UnitedAirlines

Rationale for Choosing Airline Category

  • Sector’s emerging use of social media
  • Sector’s fragile relationship with customers – how social media is helping
  • The need for timely communication on all levels – from notifying passengers of a gate change to notifying the larger public of a crisis situation

Methodology for Choosing Airline Handles

  • Existing media coverage
  • Listings in Twitter directories
  • Recommendations from thought leaders
  • Overall social media participation

Twitter Usage

Potential areas for airlines to derive value from Twitter (incl. modern day examples):

  • Promotional: @JetBlueCheeps, @DayInTheCloud
  • Crisis Communication: @AlaskaAir (volcano), @SouthwestAir (hole)
  • Customer Care: @AlaskaAir (for better), @UnitedAirlines (for worse)
  • News: @AirBaltic
  • Relationship/Community Building: @QFTravelInsider, @SouthwestAir

The “norms” of using Twitter semantics and creating a background (derived from heuristic analysis):

  • Requests for DMs for private conversation
  • Usage of tail iconography as avatar
  • Creation of alternate handles (when necessary) to ensure tweets are the most relevant to the majority of followers
  • ECT.

Case Studies

Case Study 1: @AlaskaAir

Case Study 2: @QFTravelInsider

Case Study 3: @VirginAmerica

Recommendations