Flying social media course

Abstract Social media became important part of airline operations. It used to be considered a toy only that serves youngsters to share their feelings and thoughts. This has changed quite recently and airlines start to explore social media. Some of them have already unlocked its full potential and they use it for revenue boosting, crisis communication etc. Some airlines are still reluctant to dive in. This paper explains how the world of social media is being conquered and exploited by airlines and shows examples on how crisis communication is handled by airlines on social media and how social media can support collection of airline revenue. On top of that, it provides statistical evidence of increasing number of airline staff working on social media. The reason for that is that airlines feel growing importance of their virtual presence on social media. They simply believe in a big potential of their virtual presence on social media and the ability of this presence to be turned into “tangible” real-life relationship with their passengers. And their operational experience proves it works.