Navigating Through Turbulence: A Look at American Airlines’ Social Media Crisis
Event
In July 2023, on an American Airlines flight from Dallas Fort Worth to Orlando, a lady became agitated and restless. She claimed another passenger “wasn’t real.” This led to her being ejected from the plane, affecting the entire flight’s departure. The incident quickly went viral, with videos taken by other passengers watching over 15 million times on the internet. This sparked a wave of memes and speculative comments online, turning a single incident into a widely spread social media phenomenon.
Could this have been avoided?
I believe it couldn’t have been avoided. At first glance, the spontaneous behavior of the passenger seems beyond the airline’s control: a passenger’s mental health issue affected the normal departure of the flight; other passengers recorded this scene with their phones. However, this incident highlights the importance of staff de-escalation techniques and training in handling disruptive behavior. If a more gentle approach had been taken, such as persuading other passengers to sign a “consent form not to spread pictures and videos on the internet,” or compensating and soothing fellow passengers in other ways, perhaps the situation could have been prevented from escalating to viral spread. Overall, airlines can only do their best and cannot completely avoid such situations.
Fault and Situation
The issue does not lie in the airline’s operational procedures but in the unpredictability of human behavior. That is, the widespread reaction and memefication of the event indicate that people on the internet enjoy quirky behaviors that disrupt social order, especially when recorded on video and spread through social media.
Crisis Management
American Airlines’ response was to prioritize passenger safety and security, involving law enforcement to manage the situation. The company said local law enforcement was called to the scene. “The flight was met at the gate by local law enforcement and the customer was removed from the flight,” a spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “Safety and security are our top priorities, and we thank our customers for their understanding and our team members for their professionalism in managing a difficult situation.” This response was appropriate and necessary. However, in the realm of social media, narratives often exceed direct facts, driven by speculation and humor. The airline’s direct influence on these narratives is limited.
Impact on Brand Image
In terms of crisis management, American Airlines’ handling of the situation likely did not severely damage its brand image among its customer base, who value the airline’s decisive and safety-oriented actions. However, the viral spread of the incident on social media platforms introduced an uncontrollable factor, over which the airline could only exert minimal influence.
Conclusion
I think the real point is the dual nature of social media, which is both a platform for immediate crisis communication and a breeding ground for narratives that can twist and amplify events beyond their original context.
Overall, brands face unpredictable challenges in the age of social media. While American Airlines considered passenger safety in handling the situation, the consequences of viral spread highlight the necessity of a nuanced understanding of social media dynamics in crisis management strategies. Even if there’s not much an airline can do in such spontaneous events, a more humane approach could be taken. For example, soothing the emotions of the passenger with a mental health issue, as well as calming other passengers, to avoid the possibility of such videos spreading on the internet from the start. After all, this is not a positive event for brand image.
