There will be endless social media and crisis communications case studies written about JetBlue’s response to flight attendant Steven Slater’s unauthorized slide, amusement-park style, down a jet’s emergency chute.
But, one thing is clear so far: While some companies choose to ignore thorny issues in social media when the news is especially dire or legal investigations hamper communications, JetBlue is answering virtually every tweet about the issue — even if it is to say that it can’t comment about ongoing investigations.
The mantra seems to be: Let no tweet go unanswered.
OK, JetBlue didn’t exactly react very speedily to the issue, and as Advertising Age pointed out Aug. 10, initially there had been no response to the Slater tempest on JetBlue’s Facebook page.
JetBlue certainly was feeling some social media heat immediately after the incident, although I don’t think there was much damage to the JetBlue brand.
Although Slater has become a hero to many, the flight attendant storm is not United Breaks Guitars.
JetBlue wrote its first blog post about the issue Aug. 11, two days after the Monday incident, and posted links to it on Facebook and Twitter.
Here’s the entire post, under the headline, Sometimes the weird news is about us…
“It wouldn’t be fair for us to point out absurdities in other corners of the industry without acknowledging when it’s about us. Well, this week’s news certainly falls into that category. Perhaps you heard a little story about one of our flight attendants? While we can’t discuss the details of what is an ongoing investigation, plenty of others have already formed opinions on the matter. Like, the entire Internet. (The reason we’re not commenting is that we respect the privacy of the individual. People can speak on their own behalf; we won’t do it for them.)
“While this episode may feed your inner Office Space, we just want to take this space to recognize our 2,300 fantastic, awesome and professional Inflight Crewmembers for delivering the JetBlue Experience you’ve come to expect of us.
“You can’t make this shtick up.”
Notice that JetBlue’s link to “a little story” refers to this CNN video, which makes light of the whole incident:
As of this writing, the blog post had 178 comments, many of which were supportive of Slater getting rehired, which is a very remote possibility.
And, although JetBlue hasn’t exactly been chatty about the Slater incident on its Twitter account, it has been engaging with followers about the events.
@kathybabb, a self-confessed social-media junkie from San Antonio, Texas, tweeted on Aug. 11: “Looks like Jet Blue’s legal dept is stifling social media responses. And getting snippy. Not good PR or SM. http://ow.ly/2oqkv #jetblue.”
@JetBlue responded: “@kathybabb Not entirely. http://bit.ly/aAvnJQ”
The link is to the JetBlue blog post.
@johnleesandiego tweeted Aug 12: “Why wasn’t the @JetBlue passenger who assaulted the flight attendant arrested?”
And, @JetBlue replied: “@johnleesandiego investigations are ongoing.”
@BrookebCNN, the twitter handle of CNN correspondent Brooke Baldwin, tweeted Aug. 12: “Hey Jet Blue — am hearing that you are giving $100 vouchers to the passengers on Monday’s Flight 1052. True?”
And, JetBlue tweeted back: “@BrookebCNN it’s not uncommon to give vouchers to customers that have an experience outside the norm – including things as simple as no TV!”
@JetBlue, with its nearly 1.6 million followers, has been renowned for blazing the trail in social media.
While other travel companies, including Continental Airlines, have at times gone silent on Twitter in the face of adverse news, JetBlue, at least, is conversing with its customers.
Related posts:
Here is some data to show you what is happening with JetBlue on social media: http://bit.ly/aXaPjy
Babar
@mutualmind