Need Help from an Airline? Don’t Bother Tweeting

Which airlines are most and least responsive to respond to comments, questions, and complaints on social media?

The just-released Conversocial Airline Benchmark Report ranks the airlines two ways, according to the percentage of Twitter mentions they responded to, and according to the speed of those responses.

Of the airlines tested, Southwest was the most responsive, directly answering 37.5 percent of relevant tweets, while Alaska Airlines was the quickest, with an average response time of just 2 minutes and 34 seconds. Spirit was the worst in both categories, responding to only 11 percent of tweets, with an average response time of 5 hours and 48 minutes.

Responsiveness

From best to worst, the most responsive airlines were as follows:

1. @SouthwestAir
2. @Delta
3. @AmericanAir
4. @JetBlue
5. @AlaskaAir
6. @WestJet
7. @AirCanada
8. @VirginAmerica
9. @united
10. @SpiritAirlines

Speed of Response

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And average response times, from fastest to slowest, were as follows:

1. @AlaskaAir – 2 mins 34 s
2. @JetBlue – 5 mins 3 s
3. @Delta – 8 mins 45 s
4. @SouthwestAir – 10 mins 2 s
5. @VirginAmerica – 16 mins 21 s
6. @WestJet – 17 mins 7 s
7. @AmericanAir – 25 mins 5 s
8. @AirCanada – 1 hr 26 mins
9. @united – 2 hrs 10 mins
10. @SpiritAirlines – 5 hrs 48 mins

With even top performers like Southwest and Delta responding to fewer than 40 percent of tweets, it’s clear that Twitter has a long way to go before travelers can consider it a reliable channel for communicating with the airlines.

At some point, the airlines may be adequately staffed to handle customer-service issues via social media. For now, if you have an issue with an airline, especially a time-sensitive one, your phone is your friend.

Reader Reality Check

How successful have you been in communicating with the airlines via Twitter?

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After 20 years working in the travel industry, and 15 years writing about it, Tim Winship knows a thing or two about travel. Follow him on Twitter @twinship.

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