Yesterday Delta Airlines Corporation experienced another power outage, but thank goodness it was not as catastrophic as the one they experienced last year. This power outage lasted for only 2.5 hours and it grounded 150 flights with several passengers left stranded across the nation. However, international flights were not affected. According to Bloomberg and the FAA (the Federal Aviation Administration), the power outage occurred as a result of “automation issues”. Once again, a similar experience occurred with another airline, United Continental Holdings Inc., but this time it has all been within one week. Thankfully, United’s power outage also lasted about 2.5 hours and it only affected their domestic flights.
Any sort of cancellations and delays will always create some sort of customer service nightmare, and it didn’t help the situation that “not all of these delays and cancellations are being reflected on Delta systems, including delta.com, the Fly Delta App, airport information screens or through Reservations agents”. As a result, there was a backlash on social media of passengers “marooned at Houston, Atlanta, Minneapolis and other regional airports”.
I wrote an article last year very similar to this about Delta’s power outage and I will paste the remainder below that includes accurate updates to the situation in 2017.
As soon as I heard about this, I quickly went to Delta’s Facebook fan page and literally prayed that video content was being published to address this major problem. Unfortunately, there weren’t any videos posted on the fan page that were addressing the problem. Instead it was just this:
In addition, I was greatly disappointed that Facebook LIVE video was not used to address customers, their concerns, and provide in-depth details on updates of flights, secondary avenues, refunds, etc. This is a major opportunity that Delta Airlines is missing out on and I encourage that the marketing team take a look at what Southwest Airlines did last year to help alleviate the stress from a power outage. I also strongly advise that United Airlines take heed to Southwest’s example as well. Unfortunately, you cannot find any posts on their Facebook fan page that addressed the power outage, but they communicated over Twitter (epic fail).
Why you may ask? Let me show you…
Instead of doing this:
Do this:
And you will receive more comments like this:
Now I’m not saying that Delta Airlines are not receiving comments such as these, but I want to address this gap that is missing from their customer service online and on social media.
Southwest Airlines’ power outage occurred in July 2016 and they posted three Facebook LIVE videos to address customers complaints and provide updates.
Here is a breakdown:
Video 1 received 1,315 likes and 193,761 views. Customers were introduced to Southwest Airlines’ Chief Communications Officer where she apologized about the inconvenience and was up front about expecting additional delays/cancellations the following morning.
Video 1 introduces Chief Communications Officer
The ending of the video stood out to me the most because it showed that Southwest was keeping track of the comments mentioned on Twitter and it let me know that they are listening to its customers. Boom!
Southwest Airlines is listening to you during the power outage
Video 2 received 5,602 likes and 823,847 views. Whoa! A huge spike here and this is why: Customers were introduced and had face time with the Chief Operating Officer directly! He apologized and shared the current state of affairs of Southwest Airlines’ operations. In addition, information was shared about rebooking, refunds, the amount of cancellations for the day, etc.
Most importantly, questions were addressed that were expressed online.
A few things stood out to me during this video:
- The title included “Our Chief Operating Officer”.
- The video was conducted as an interview where the camera would go back and forth to establish a focus on the interviewer as he asked questions and on the COO when he answered them.
- Captions were created and uploaded to the video.
Video 3 received 468 likes and 36,927 views. Customers were introduced to the Network Operations Control team and were given a mini tour of what it looks like. An explanation was given of what the Southwest Airlines Network is, the reasons for recent cancellations, and how the recovery plan is being implemented to get things back on track. Here we see a trickled down effect on this video with the stats and there are many factors that contribute to this, but the key here is that Southwest Airlines wanted to be up front and keep their customers updated. Simply put, there is no better way to do so than through LIVE video.
This is what stood out in the video:
- A mini tour was provided of the Network Operations Control Room.
- Once again the video was conducted as an interview where the camera would go back and forth to establish a focus on the interviewer as he asked questions and on the interviewee when he answered them.
- Questions that were asked LIVE were addressed.
These are a few examples of how Delta Airlines can use a similar approach to attack this power outage head on and be direct with customers. Outside of interviews, Delta Airlines can allocate specific time for Q&As, breaking news, behind the scenes of their control or communications room, updates on cancellations or delays, fares sales, refunds, and the list goes on. In addition, this would be a great opportunity for this phenomenal corporation to have a LIVE “State of the Union” addressing the major IT issues that the company is experiencing.
Going live on Facebook is all about connecting to customers on a much deeper and personal level. It literally tears down the wall between the customer and seeing who is behind a company or brand. However, I would like to express that I was elated that Delta used Facebook LIVE for the first time last year (2016) to showcase the new uniforms for the company during an “employee model” fashion show. They have also used Facebook LIVE for their 20th celebration of The Chairman’s Club, red carpet style.
This second power outage has occurred less than six months from the previous one and I really hope that Delta Airlines takes matters into their own hands even more by including live video into their communications strategy for the rest of 2017.