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The recent volcano eruption in Iceland blocked flights in most of Europe and an important part of other continents too, for more than a week. Millions of passengers were stuck in various airports, an important number of flights were cancelled, and both airlines and the tourism industry registered hundreds of millions of losses. Unable to fulfill schedules the most affected companies were the airlines. The crisis erupted suddenly, but how companies managed to solve the problems caused was a more complicated matter.

The volcano eruption gave Twitter, a much discussed social media tool, a chance to shine. The social network has been used before for crisis management, but never was the importance of Twitter higher or more relevant than in this situation. At a point where call centers were unable to properly respond to all the incoming calls, Twitter proved to be a place where people received much needed updates and responses from their airlines.

How did airlines use Twitter?

KLM (Royal Dutch Airlines) was among the first European airlines to use the hashtag #ashcloud on Twitter and update its customers via this channel. During the crisis KLM had a Twitter Team that controlled and managed complaints via Twitter.

They reported returning home more than 40,000 passengers after the volcano crisis was over. KLM has used combined channels for their customer support service. They mixed the traditional methods of call centers, personal response and web updates with social media by using Twitter. We are sure that not all the customers were satisfied, but by using Twitter, KLM has managed to diminish the effect of the crisis and offer some of their clients quick responses and alternatives. This is basically what every client most appreciates during a crisis period.

Other airlines like Air Baltic have also used Twitter for customer service, and by analysing their Twitter page it can be easily seen that they managed to use Twitter quite effectively during the ash cloud crisis. British Airways have also used Twitter during the ash cloud crisis, and offered clients plenty of information, which assures the crisis will affect customer satisfaction in the least possible way. The company communicated via two Twitter accounts, one for North America and one for the UK.

Conclusion

An important part of the purchasing cycle and the relationship between a customer and an airline develops in a virtual environment. People purchase tickets online, do online check-ins, and now with the help of new technologies, airlines have also managed to bring customer service online. Twitter was used as a customer service tool by some airlines before the crisis struck, but the situation generated by the ash cloud only served as a proof of the level of importance that integrating Twitter into customer service has.

The way airlines handled the ash cloud crisis with the help of Twitter is another milestone set by the social network in the history of customer service. With the first real and important test approved, companies will have to consider integrating Twitter quickly.

There is no need in preaching the advantages or disadvantages that Twitter can bring to a business, but important and relevant cases such as this have put Twitter in the spotlight more than ever, and with more and more companies realising the benefits this channel could bring to their business, we consider that Twitter will keep its place in any social media strategy, at least in the foreseeable future.