More Tweeting Than Loyalty Programs Amongst Airlines
There are now 191 airlines on Twitter, while only 179 airlines have loyalty programs according to Travel Daily News. Though the Pareto Principle applies here, as it does most things in life, with 30 airlines accounting for 84% of the tweets. Delta leads the pack by sending and receiving the most number of tweets. For some airlines, it seems as if their social media strategy includes having a Twitter account but not actually using it, as more than half of these accounts are infrequent posters.
What is all the tweeting about? Not surprisingly, 99.9% of the tweets are from consumers who have issues with customer service, timeliness, food and luggage. Only .1% of the tweeting is social conversation.
If you do need help from an airline and contact them via Twitter, be as detailed as possible and yet don’t expect an instant answer. For example, if you have a flight delay issue where you need help rebooking a connecting flight, tweet your request, flight number and reservation number to the airline. The airline can possibly help via a tweet if they have facts as compared to “this airline sucks and I’m never flying them again!”
Since each airline has their own strategy for social media and staffing thereof, responses to a similar request to each airline will have different responses. Thus, always have an alternative plan for communication for dealing with immediate flight needs or questions. (Keep your airline’s toll-free customer service number in your phone for this very reason.)
Here are some of the airline Twitter names:
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