Air Canada and Social Media

 As more and more people are connected online, companies need to jump in as well. Air Canada is a good example of a company with a horrible social media reputation who turned it around and is doing great.

Air Canada Social Media: Major Events

Tanner's Broken Wheelchair: August 2010

Tanner is a 10-year-old boy with a terminal illness who was flying to NYC with his aunt to live out some of his final wishes. On the flight, his electric wheelchair was damaged. While Air Canada was fixing the damage, they didn't communicate their efforts to Tanner and his aunt or the public, leading Tanner's aunt to tweet: "So. @aircanada killed Tanner's wheelchair. We're now stuck at La Guardia. #tutusfortanner." Her tweet caused an outcry on social spheres, yet Air Canada gave no responses. Even though the company fixed the wheelchair and later flew Tanner and a cousin to Disney World, they never communicated to the angry public how they made the situation right.

 This whole incident was labeled a "disastrous public relations episode" and prompted not only the public and social sphere criticism, but responses from several news outlets and bloggers about how Air Canada (among other Canadian companies) was failing at social media.

One reporter offered five tips to Air Canada on improving their social media:
1. Listen well, and often
2. Reach out to the individual
3. Reach out to everyone
4. Keep posting updates
5. Keep the conversation going

Snow Storm: December 2010

Air Canada had an opportunity to redeem itself just a few months later when unexpected snow storms shut down London Heathrow Airport. Flights were being delayed and cancelled, and people wanted answers: “Our customers wanted to know what was happening to their flight and their first reaction was to go online or contact our call centers,” said Mathieu Lagacé, Community Manager at Air Canada. “In situations like this social media allows us to use new and different channels to communicate operational updates in a timely manner.”

Unlike the wheelchair incident from August, this time Air Canada got it right. Following the tips reported earlier, Air Canada interacted with thousands of customers, sharing up-to-dated information on the delays and responding to personal problems. “We knew we were on the right track when CBC News told travelers that for up to date information and travel advisories, they should start following Air Canada on Twitter,” noted Lagace.

Labor Negotiations: October 2011

While the previous incidents mainly concerned working with customers, in October 2011 Air Canada learned a lesson about interacting with and hearing employees' social media as well. During labor negotiations between Air Canada and the flight attendants' union, CUPE, proposed contracts failed twice, mainly due to the more than 3,600 flight attendants sharing their thoughts and frustrations about the contracts on a Facebook page. The flight attendants' actions demonstrated that "online, workers can form and express opinions that don't reflect the positions taken by their union. And those votes can cohere into large blocs. . . . Now, workers’ ability to connect and discuss can sow doubt the union is doing an adequate job. The result, for all parties, is disorder. Air Canada executives are reportedly ‘taken aback’ that the flight attendants are questioning the legitimacy of their union representatives.”

The lesson for unions is clear: engage with your members on all media platforms, period. The price of exclusion is high. Companies, for their part, should support broader, freer communications between unions and members. Executives need to know that the messages they receive from the union reflect the will of the employees--and that tentative deals result in collective agreements that produce lasting labor peace."

Worker Strike: March 23, 2012

Just last Friday, Air Canada had another opportunity to demonstrate their social media savvy. When Air  Canada workers spontaneously went on strike, Air Canada flights were severely delayed and sometimes cancelled. The social media response of customers was huge, particularly on twitter where they tweeted about what was happening. While most of the passengers' frustrations were directed toward the workers and not the company, Air Canada responded on twitter. They replied to individual comments as well as posted updates about the strike and what they were doing to resolve it. Their actions in the social sphere smoothed over another potential public relations disaster, showing again that they learned from the wheelchair incident how to best leverage social media.