In February, we saw the whole Southwest vs Kevin Smith saga unfold. Not wanting to be left out, Virgin Atlantic Airways stakes the claim to the airline social media nightmare in March.
The story
Passengers on a flight from LAX to JFK spent 6 hours on the tarmac receiving very little food or water before finally boarding a bus for a 2.5 hour trip to the final destination. All in all, a 14 hour trip that had everyone up in arms. As passengers became restless, there are reports that airline personnel lost it on passengers telling one “You’re getting on my freaking nerves! You need to shut the hell up!”
There are also reports that passengers were stranded on the tarmac for 7 hours with food supplies so low that Pringles were rationed. “Four chips and half a cup of water.” The ordeal was caught on Video by Kontain.com‘s David Martin as well as a Dancing with the Stars contestant. Once again, showing that what happens on the plane, also happens around the world in real-time.
The Aftermath
What happened after the ‘flightmare’ from LAX to JFK has not been as big a story as the Southwest Air vs Kevin Smith episode, possibly because Virgin tried to make it right immediately. At first, there were conflicting reports about what happened on the flight, the length of time passengers were stranded, etc. Then after seeing the posts made by Martin, Virgin America CEO David Cush offered a full refund and $100 credit vouchers to all passengers
What this means to airlines
Prior to the social media age, these types of issues were simply customer service issues dealt with on a one-to-one basis. NOW problems like this are blasted out to the public in real-time and you need to know if it’s spreading and how to contain the damage. It’s completely realistic to expect a significant number of fliers when facing a choice between Virgin or JetBlue, they are picking JetBlue or just about any other airline. It’s important for the airlines to not only recognize these kinds of mistakes in a transparent manner, but also be equipped and monitoring what customers are saying, especially onboard the flight or in the airport. As more planes become Wi-Fi equipped, the more we will get real-time news from the sky and airlines need to be equipped and listening to their passengers.
