Delta Airlines Tracking Malfunction: another example of this unforgiving industry

Time to give credit where credit is due.

On Tuesday evening Delta Airlines experienced problems with their computer tracking system causing a delay in all flights across the U.S. Although the incident lasted a total of two hours, they received outrageous backlash from customers on social media. There are two realizations that occurred to me when reading about this topic. First, public reactions like this are unfair and unnecessary when airline incidents occur, and secondly, airlines crisis management deserves significantly more credit than it currently receives.

In order to gain perspectives, let’s look at some facts about a day in the life of Delta Airlines. Delta currently operates at 15,000 flights per day and more than 180 million passengers per year. Delta and its partners serve 665 destinations worldwide in 127 countries.

Source: https://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/by_the_numbers/

Okay, now what about things that all airlines must account for? In the US alone, there are 521 air traffic control towers, 5,116 public airports, and 26,527 daily passenger flights. Numbers like this demonstrate how little we know about the finite orchestration of airline departure; not to mention the 100,000 that take off around the world every day. Yet, people still complain…

Social Media for Airlines: a blessing and a curse

With all of these moving parts to account for, Delta Airlines still manages to lead the way in customer service on social media. They are qualified as number one of the top ten airline’s social media campaigns and of US airlines, they
have the fastest response rates of 11 minutes. Delta also occupies three twitter handles, @Delta, @DeltaAssists, @DeltaNewsHub all used to assist customers in refunds and keep them up to date on the latest information. All of these components demonstrate the innate characteristics of organizational listening and a strive to ensure customer service.

 Source:  https://twitter.com/hashtag/delta?lang=en

Although the only goal of an airline in crisis is to fix the problem that is affecting thousands, people still feel the need to say, ‘poor me’ on social media. This posting mentality demonstrates the narcissistic behavior that has developed in society through social media. When this sort of inconveniences occurs, it has become a societal norm to make a post about it, whether you are truly upset or not.  

 Source:  https://twitter.com/hashtag/delta?lang=en

 This kind of posting is also known as an ‘online firestorm’ due to its sudden unleash of large quantities of messages containing negative word of mouth and complaint behavior against a company. In this case of Delta Airlines, and all airline crisis in general, people tend to paint a ‘worst-case scenario’ picture via social media for their own personal image, not considering the image it creates for the company even if things are not as bad as they seem.

We all know there are inconveniences that occur when flying. Delays, lost luggage, sleeping in airports, the list goes on. But next time you go to rant on twitter about how you are stuck on the tarmac, remember that you are just a drop in the bucket of problems the airline must deal with, and instead of complaining, sit back, eat some peanuts, and be thankful you are not in their shoes.

About the Author:

Madalyn Klika is in her final months of a Master's Degree in Communication Science at the University of Amsterdam. She is from Louisville, Kentucky in the United States and hopes to pursue a career in who really knows.