Airlines increasingly turning to Twitter for customer communication
American airlines are embracing Twitter as a way to help customers, with uses including revealing cheap airfares and letting customers know about any weather that could affect their travel.
Hawaiian Airlines, airBaltic, easyJet, JetBlue, Icelandair, Southwest Airlines, United and US Airways are among the airlines which have used ExactTarget’s CoTweet in order to handle customer interactions for flight delays, rebooking, seat assignments, frequent flier programs and luggage handling.
Morgan Johnston from JetBlue Airways, said: “Tech savvy travelers are increasingly using social media to provide real-time feedback to carriers and share their experiences with others. You need to stay sharp if you want to keep up and stay engaged.
“CoTweet has helped us transition from a single listening post to a 24/7 monitoring hub with the ability to leverage multiple areas of expertise within our organisation to provide a seamless flow of information between our operations, and our customers.”
Jesse Engle, vice president of social media at ExactTarget, said: “Over the last few years we’ve seen a significant uptick in conversations about air travel across social media, which has opened the door for airlines to say, ‘We’re here, we’re listening, and we care!’
“These brands face some of the most challenging customer service situations around. By giving them the tools to capture, respond to, and even anticipate their travelers’ needs, we are helping the world’s biggest airlines drive greater customer loyalty and satisfaction ratings in a highly competitive market.”
Earlier this month, Heathrow announced that as part of its advertising campaign for both the airport itself and its shopping features; its Twitter feed would include weather reports and retail offers.