Indignant letters e-mails and phone calls can still get results for unhappy airline travelers, but more are finding that if you really want to vent can now be loud and fast and public.
At least that’s the buzz on Twitter, where airlines are discovering that fuming passengers who have been stranded, delayed or just plain piqued are increasingly letting their undiluted rage fly around the Internet, often from the confines of their cramped airplane seat.
Twitter and other fast-growing social networking sites like Face book and You Tube have sprung up as yet another front in beleaguered airlines public relations battle. Although such sites have practical uses for airlines – say, publicizing fare sales and flight information – experts said the technology has ut carriers on the defensive as they race to tame Twitter furies everyday.
“It’s almost an underground rage factory,” said Terry Tripler, at tripplersview.com a travel opinion website.” Rarely, I see Twitter messages praising an airline.It are usually attacking an airline.”
Twitter, which lets people broadcast 140-character instant text messages to countless readers, has quickly been embraced as a powerful tool to counter censorship. Twitter messages of “tweets,” from Iranian protestors after the recent disputed elections became a running part of the drama. Last Wednesday, Twitters featured posts about airlines included the following:
“Screw American airlines .Every plane has been broken. So done,’ read one post from Twitter user sheissilentto.”Shame on you Continental Airlines,’ read another post from user DiscoverU.
“United airlines, you are the bane of my existence,” user elnodonle wrote.
Continental Airlines declined to comment specifically on those posts.
“We are monitoring tweets and are responding directly or publicly where appropriate,” said Continental spokeswoman Kelly Cripe.”Twitter and a lot of the other social media sites and tools are a way for people to create a conversation or say something,” said Billy Sanez, who manages social media for AMR.
For US airlines, battered by volatile fuel costs and economic recession, bad publicity has become a part of daily operations But carriers can ill-afford to lose their customers. That’s why satisfying customers is more important than ever for airlines. But it’s not just the flood of irate Twitter postings that can give an airline new bump in their ride. Earlier this year, a Canadian musician recorded a song and video called “United breaks Guitars” after he said United Airlines failed to take responsibility for damaging his instruments during a flight. The video, which was posted on YouTube, became an Internet hit. United quickly apologized, and made a contribution to a music charity in the man’s name.
Kate Hanni, founder of FlyersRights.org, and a vocal airlines critic, said social networking has given voice to travelers who otherwise would have fumed in silence.
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