Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Major Airiline Embraces Web 2.0

Incase you haven't heard, American Airlines cancelled 3,300 flights last week in order to reinspect its fleet of MD-80 jetliners. Straddling hundreds of thousands of travelers across the country's already congested airports, they turned to blogging to reach them all at once. Their brand new blog is called "AA Conversations", and it runs on blogger (just like us!!) So far it only has three posts, all penned by "Billy S.", a sincere, apologetic voice who offers up useful information (and a heartfelt mea culpa) to stranded passengers. Billy has also posted a YouTube video which demonstrates how to contact customer relations via their website.
Billy S. says:
We regret very much that we had to cancel these flights, but it was necessary to ensure that an Airworthiness Directive and Engineering Change Orders were completed properly and approved by the Federal Aviation Administration.
If I was sitting in an airport paying 3.99 a minute for wi-fi, trying to figure out how to get a refund, I would be so annoyed to be reading about Airworthiness Directives. However, a look at the moderated comment section shows that this blog is generating at least some goodwill, albeit anonymously. A sampling:
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thanks for the details.

April 12, 2008 10:55 AM

Anonymous Anonymous said...

It's great to finally see AA communicating with its passengers. Thanks Billy S. for doing so!

April 16, 2008 8:53 AM

Blogger the bad lieutenant said...

Guess what? American Airlines is a horrible airline! It's true. Your staff are rude, your planes are uncomfortable and out of date, your food is terrible, your ability to get me to my destination on time is pathetic, and this blog idea is a joke! You stink!

I used your frequent flier miles to go to europe, and then i canceled my account b/c I don't want to ever use your airline again. Go hire the CEO of Singapore Air, Emirates Air, or any other service company and learn how to run an airline properly. You are all idiots.

April 16, 2008 8:21 AM

Anonymous Anonymous said...

um. your blog is dumb.

April 16, 2008 9:06 AM


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