American Airlines’ quiet launch of a crisis blog
UPDATE: The Airline Biz blog from the Dallas Morning News includes an item about AAConversation, including quotes from Billy Sanez, the American Airlines spokesperson who evidently is the “Billy S.” who has penned the two posts that so far populate the blog. Sanez also answers questions about the use of Blogger.com.
In the past, I’ve argued against the creation of a blog in a crisis. Having a dark blog at the ready, I have maintained for some time, is a lousy idea. In a crisis, companies are suspect. A risk-averse public eyes the organization at the center of a crisis with skepticism. Logical arguments often seem defensive in the face of the emotion a crisis can produce.
It’s much better to already have a blog, with a community of readers with whom you have built trust, that you can bring to bear when that inevitable crisis strikes. Southwest Airlines, for example, has been able to communicate with travelers through its blog during crises ranging from missed inspections to fashion issues largely because Southwest had already established the blog when no crises were imminent.
I am, however, prepared to eat my words if American Airlines’ crisis blog works.
A non-participant in the social media space, American Airlines has been hammered over the last week as thousands of flights have been canceled stranding hundreds of thousands of passengers. Rational arguments about needed inspections pale in comparison to news footage of frustrated and angry passengers spending nights in airports instead of getting to their destinations, which can include weddings, funerals, and the like. The opinion of industry analysts that the FAA is more to blame than American for unnecessarily aggressive inspection demands doesn’t seem to have quelled the anger of passengers marooned in airport terminals as canceled flights mounted.
In the face of public outrage, American has gutted it up and opened AAConversation, a plain-vanilla Blogger.com blog, with the express intent of listening. As the blog states, “We…would like to hear from you. Please feel free to post a comment. We will continuously monitoring the site and will post regular updates.”
The first of two posts (so far) includes a video offering step-by-step instructions on how to contact the company online; the video was uploaded to YouTube, along with another—not on the blog—of CEO Gerard Arpey addressing the cancellations. The post also includes links to other resources to help travelers.
The second post announces the airlines’ return to a regular flight schedule.
Few have commented so far, probably because American hasn’t announced the blog’s existence. One of three comments as of this posting applauds the blogging effort while another questions a return to normal: “Returning service to normal is relative when you take into account how horrible AA service is ‘normally.’” The fact that the critical comment appears at all, though, suggests American is sincere in its desire to listen.
It’s encouraging that American seems to be willing to take its hits. It will be interesting to see the company’s response to the comments—who responds and how, whether changes will be implemented based on traveler input, and how active the blog becomes now that the immediate issue has passed.
I’ll watch and cross my fingers that the American Airlines crisis blog represents a sincere effort to engage the traveling public, and if it opens a dialogue that leads to action, I’ll happily revise my assessment of crisis blogs. Stay tuned.
Good find Shel. Note that there’s a typo in your link to the AA blog.
Posted by Kevin OKeefe on 04/14 at 05:37 AMshel - the link to aa conversation has a mis spelling
Posted by ted shelton on 04/14 at 06:18 AMThanks for the catch, guys. Fixed!
Posted by Shel Holtz on 04/14 at 06:26 AMNice post, Shel.
The fact that they haven’t announced this publicly makes me wonder how genuine AA is about listening. Is this a genuine attempt to get input and put a more personal face on this crisis, or is it just spin - a way for them to be able to point to the site and say, “look, we’re listening. Really, we are.”
I’m curious who “Bill S,” the author of the posts, is. They’re well-written, and the apologies hit the mark in my view - would have been good to see the CEO using this kind of language earlier.
Good to see they’re allowing both positive and negative comments through, though.
Posted by Dave Fleet on 04/14 at 06:38 AMScott Monty Twittered about the blog last night - your old agency, Crayon, is working on it.
Posted by Jeremy Pepper on 04/14 at 11:52 AMActually, in all fairness, crayon’s role was fairly minor. Our involvement was limited to advising American on the comment & response policy and helping to set up some of the back-end mechanics.
Posted by Scott Monty on 04/14 at 03:45 PMIt will be interesting to see how the blog unfolds. The story reminds me of Dell’s early steps.
Shel, this would be a good review for the fortune 500 blogging wiki. The new blog makes 58 blogging in the Fortune 500.
Posted by John Cass on 04/15 at 07:38 PMI have to say, I’m sick of the “here to listen” schtick. It’s a way for far too many to get out of having to actually DO anything. Sure I want brands, especially those that piss me off like AA to listen, but I also want them to converse. In the case of crisis blogging, “listening” is about the last thing I want - it’s about responding, updating, sharing. What do they want to hear me say? I’m upset that flights are canceled? Of course I am… that’s obvious. In that situation, I want AA to tell me what the hell is going on and when and how things are going to be fixed.
OK, late night rant over.
Posted by Jake McKee on 04/23 at 07:53 PMExcellant point Jake.Though they ‘say’ they are listening its the follow up that makes the customer know you are being heard.
Shel,I am sure big companies hear complaints all the time and with an airline i am sure there are many. Irecently have found myself as a frequent traveler useing the airlines the most and I have used AA a few times. I was not one caught up in the downtime but i understand it was frustrateing for so many. A blog from the company seems like a good idea to post complaints but I would be interested in going there if i knew it was going to tell me factual information on the company and what it is actively doing to make travel with them more attractive.Posted by carol clark on 08/06 at 07:41 AMShel
I don’t know it is a temporary issue or if the site as been pulled permanently, but the American Airlines Conversations Blog has been pulled:
<a >http://press20.blogspot.com/2008/08/american-airlines-blog-was-it-fake.html</a>Posted by Hayden Sutherland on 08/21 at 04:11 AM@shel, ya the blog def. has been pulled. But if you use google and enter the website name, you can actually go back see what the blog was like.. for those who missed it.
Posted by Carol on 11/04 at 09:38 AM
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