Flight cancellations from American Airlines created a lot of news coverage and consumer angst this week. The result of wiring problems on MD-80 airplanes, this situation got me thinking about how the involved communications teams are responding.
Are they holding cards close to the vest or communicating openly?
Are they leveraging the Internet and social media?
How are consumers reacting online?
American Airlines’ customers have been highly inconvenienced, with over 2500 flights cancelled. Their home page had a single line: “ADVISORY: AIRCRAFT INSPECTIONS AFFECT SOME AA TRAVEL.” This linked to a simple page of text summarizing the situation. It was not all that helpful.
American Airlines’ chairman Gerard Arpey’s press conference today is already up on YouTube (uploaded by a consumer, not American Airlines). In the video, he personally accepts responsibility and apologizes for the problems. Other videos tagged with “American Airlines” posted on YouTube.com this week have been viewed over 20,000 times.
In the blogosphere, Greta van Susteren’s post on the subject has created a good amount of consumer conversation with nearly 50 responses since 11am this morning.
These events show how consumer conversations take place in real time online. Communication professionals need to account for this in crisis communications plans. We need to monitor, analyze and interact with the blogosphere and UGC communities before, during and after such events.
As advisors in social media, we have a responsibility to encourage and facilitate a more open conversation in the market. This is even more important in difficult times.
Filed under: Online Behaviors, Social Marketing, Social Media, Web 2.0, Word of Mouth / Viral Marketing | Tagged: Aircraft inspections, American Airlines, blogging, Crisis Communications, flight cancellations, Gerard Arprey, Korye Logan
Obviously, American Airlines should be posting more content for its passengers, media, and public (including its own news conference videos) on its own website. So if you were a Crisis Communications Consultant to American Airlines (or another major client), which specific social media or Web 2.0 tools would you recommend they monitor, use, and how?
Chuck, Thank you for your comments. The most important advice I can offer is that companies must accept the reality that markets are now conversations – http://www.cluetrain.com/book/markets.html . Consumers are participating and, to some extent, controlling the conversation. Blogs, message boards and UCG sharing sites are three of the most common ways consumers interact in today’s market.
Companies need to assign staff to identify and monitor activity on social sites that are relevant to their business. This should be done prior to a crisis, as part of the larger CC plan. This will provide the knowledge of who the key participants are and where are they participating online. In some cases, relationships can be built with influence keys prior to a crisis.
In this case, here are some things AA should have on their CC radar:
1. Blogs about airlines – for example:
http://aviationblog.dallasnews.com/
http://theairlineblog.blogspot.com/
http://www.blogcatalog.com/post-tag/american%20airlines/
2. UGC sharing sites: such as YouTube and Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=american+airlines&d=posted-20080404-&ss=0&ct=0
3. Message boards: what are consumers saying online?
http://boards.msn.com/Travelboards/thread.aspx?ThreadID=621476
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=445
http://www.topix.com/forum/business/airlines
http://www.airlinecomplaints.org/forumdisplay.php?s=00a745736c80eea619ce56709ba09deb&f=16
4. Comments on Media sites: “Travelers share their tales” on MSNBC
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24051741
5. Competition: how do they particpate in the conversation? Southwest and Delta have active blogs.
http://www.blogsouthwest.com/
http://blog.delta.com/
Determining exactly how to interact with consumers is a strategic decision that must be considered carefully. Yet history has shown us (i.e. Tylenol) that open and honest communication combined with a timely and decisive response results in a more positive reaction from consumers. Today the reality is that companies must include a variety of online media in disseminating this communication.
Great post and comments. I was unfortunate enough to be caught in the maelstrom trying to come back from LA to Austin on April 9th, and was shipped from Orange County to LAX before finally booking a Southwest flight to get home.
I would add that the main effect of social media to corporate crises such as this one seems to be that it amplifies the successes or failures involved. As Korye mentioned, related conversations on Twitter, on blogs, and on social networks tend to spike when these types of things are going on. I myself published a couple Twitter and Facebook messages about my difficulties. The public is judging the company in real time, and these judgments remain on the internet for years afterward. So “crisis management” for corporations needs to start to include kicking their PR team into high gear in responding on influential blogs, within networks, on messageboards when things start to go down. This is made more easy if they actually already have a presence there.
How could companies actually use social tools to manage the crisis itself? Well, it seems like these companies have huge internal communications issues during these times. There is frantic talking into cellphones, pacing around with CBs, and hammering on the mainframe computer system by the gate staff. It seems like an internal PDA-driven social network that integrated instant messaging would be very helpful with organizing and disseminating information. But they need to get their internal communications in better order before they can extend any of that to customers.
Did anyone notice that Gerard Arpey was at an industry conference in California rather than back in Texas at the height of the American Airlines crisis? I blogged about this at http://riversidepr.typepad.com/riverside_public_relation/2008/04/american-airlin.html
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I find the corporate response to customer demands as “falling short” of bringing stockholder accountability to bear in rating the fiscal challenges in the current integrated communication market as worthy. The cyclocurrent communication models are changing with the reflectivity of the latest technological advances in that “keeping up with the Joneses” is one way to keep their target market afloat and in integrating feedback that is instantaneous and helpful barring I-net “flaming” or such tactics that can warp the perceived influence our customer base can bestow. Arpey does have challenges to face, but face time in a techno world can only lead to more I-net postings that can also disseminate “spin” and fodder without losing character core in the business model.
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