If you’ve ever been on the social media profile of an airline, you’ve probably noticed that there are plenty of travelers who don’t like that particular airline. Social media websites like Twitter give travelers a chance to contact an airline and express their satisfaction or dissatisfaction openly.
At our PHL Airport parking company, we recently read an article by the Chicago Tribune about how customers react to airlines on social media.
According to the article, when a social media analysis firm (named Crimson Hexagon) analyzed five U.S. airlines’ tweets from 2014, it found that 47 percent of the tweets were negative and only 20 percent of the tweets were positive. (The rest were “neutral.”)
Two airlines in particular had the most negative posts - American Airlines and United Airlines. Both of these airlines had around 56 percent negativity, and many of the posts were about customer service, luggage problems, and airline delays. On the opposite end, JetBlue, which responds to its followers in a more social manner, had 33 percent positive posts.
In the Crimson Hexagon report, it said:
“One of the key takeaways of this study is that brands need to adopt a more fluid and informal language when communicating with customers over social media… Meaningful engagement with customers on social media by listening and responding to their posts is vital for airlines that want to improve customer satisfaction and retention.”
Have you ever tweeted to an airline? And if so, did they respond?