Citizen Journalism: Delta Airlines Passengers Stranded for 7 Hours on Tarmac

Categories: Citizen Journalism, Social MediaPosted on June 27th, 2007

I heard about this from a few people I talked to today, the consumerist, and even my wife was watching it on the news this morning. It sounds like a hellish experience. Delta Airlines unfortunately had it’s passengers, crew, and plan stranded on the Tarmac for 7 hours, which was Delta Flight 6499 JFK to DFW on June 25, 2007. Although nothing to do with Web Strategy, it does have something to do with Citizen Journalism.

Remember when Jet Blue had a similar incident? They made a public apology using online video. A social media consultant, I recommend that Delta respond quickly, authentically, and try to repair the damage. If you work for Delta, you can contact me, my email is on the top right of my blog.

The only thing I see on the Delta news page is positive news about Delta. Did I tell you that I believe that irrelevant corporate websites need to evolve? This is a great example.

Remember corporate folks, there are no more secrets, they just haven’t been discovered yet.

It’s kinda like you’re married! Apologize fast and sincere and fix the problem! Then apologize again!

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 27th, 2007 at 8:52 pm and is filed under Citizen Journalism, Social Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

[...] * Το είδα στον Jeremiah. [...]

Posted by NYLON » Archive » Οι πολίτες - δημοσιογράφοι παραμονεύουν on June 28th, 2007 at 2:44 am

I guess no one here is married and can relate!

Posted by jeremiah_owyang on June 28th, 2007 at 4:57 am

Jeremiah,

Thanks for passing this story - and insight - along. The good news is that recent research http://research.ittoolbox.com/surveys/survey.asp?survey=purchasing_smt_survey&p=1 does show that prospects go to corporate web sites for info. It doesn’t say what kind of experience they have though, and this is where your point is strongest. If we know they’re going there, then why not delight them and really optimize that channel (not with stupid corporate videos, but with content that starts and sustains conversations). I’ll keep tuning into your conversations!

Scott

Posted by Scott Bauman on June 28th, 2007 at 5:48 am

Hi Jeremiah,

The logo you placed in this looks Thai:)

Delta: The static web site isn’t irrelevant because it serves a different purpose (yes, I read Shel’s post). However, Delta should be engaging w/upset users in the blogosphere (and other areas, such as forums) to minimize the damage & make the appropriate apologies to affected consumers.

It makes me wonder why American airlines (not the company) have fallen so far behind some of the other airlines I’ve traveled on (Asian carriers, at least in my experience, kick butt on American companies in many ways.

Posted by Damon Billian on June 28th, 2007 at 1:44 pm

I am sorry Jeremiah, I disagree with “this is not web strategy related” - I think it absolutely is and here is why:
http://www.centernetworks.com/why-online-rich-media-audio-video-is-killing-corporations

Posted by allen stern on June 28th, 2007 at 5:03 pm

[...] I was really hoping that Delta Airlines (newsroom) would apologize after this week’s citizen video raging appearing on YouTube, and the blogosphere. I’ve gone to their website nearly everyday, and have not seen any apology or retribution for the delayed and miserable customers. CC Chapman had a horrible experience in the past, I wonder if anyone apologized to him? [...]

Posted by Web Strategy by Jeremiah » Delta Airlines has not reacted to citizen media, and doesn’t apologize on June 30th, 2007 at 2:41 am