Finnair Cabin Crew Strike 30/11/2010-09/12/2010
On Tuesday the 30th November Finnair released the following statement:
“Negotiations on a new collective agreement for cabin staff ended without results and National Conciliator Esa Lonka could not make any settlement proposal. The strike begins on Tuesday November 30th at 1pm. A large proportion of Finnair flights will be cancelled.”
Throughout the strike we monitored FinnairUK Twitter using Twitterfall for keyword mentions of Finnair, Helsinki, and strike amongst others. We saw what conversations were happening on twitter, who was having them and how this was effecting customers. More importantly how we could use social media to help.
Imagine the scenario; you are a customer due to fly on Finnair later in the week and hear of the strike. You then tweet :( all tweets here are real)
“It's that time of the year again: Finnair are having their yearly pre-christmas-strike. Way to lose regular customers. @FinnairUK”
Within minutes you get a notification that FinnairUK is now following you on Twitter. For a Finnair customer when this happens it opens a new channel of communication and shows Finnair is listening.
From a customer services perspective it allowed us to give important information and advice directly customers when they needed it. We replied to all FinnairUK strike mentions with the following tweets:
In the first instance;
And then if the customer needed further guidance;
Throughout the strike the FinnairUK twitter team were on hand to offer guidance, information and advice.
Advice on refunds;“@JediRise you are entitled to refund please click here to complete a form so it can be processed http://ow.ly/3leHc sorry for inconvenience”
Arranging calls from Customer Services to customers;
Assisted in rebooking customer flights;“@FinnairUK managed to get my flights rebooked thks to a lovely lady called Taija !! We go on tues the kids are happy again!!”
Up to date information on strike negotiations;
Throughout the strike we heard stories of stranded passengers, family holidays in jeopardy, business trips cancelled and plans to visit Santa in Lapland shelved. In every tweet we offered information, help and a friendly ear. We arranged call backs from customer services to confused customers. In short we were on hand as an extra service for Finnair customers worldwide.
Some of our customers on twitter commended our use of Social Media and followed us;“Just started following @FinnairUK. Like their rhetorics/ communications. Sounds customer-driven to me, good job in a tight spot!”
Some customers commented on our use of Social Media as added value for customers;“@FinnairUK Thanks. First time that I see social media used with actual value for customers instead of one way marketing. Good one!”
On the 9th of December Finnair issued the following statement on facebook;
“Good news! The Finnish Cabin Crew Union´s strike has ended Finnair returns to normal schedule gradually. Individual delays and cancellations are still possible during a couple of days. We recommend to check the flight departure times in www.finnair.com/info”
We issued the following tweet after speaking to the UK Sales Director
Some Twitter metrics for @Finnair UK before and after the strike.
Followers before strike 193 Followers after strike 292. Klout score before strike 44 Klout Score after strike 52.
Our management of FinnairUK's social media has since gone from strength to strength.
Why not get in touch to see how we can help you?
