Why Should You Follow Airlines on Twitter?

Photo of Qatar Airways plane by Rob Verger

Lately, I’ve been enjoying receiving tweets from airlines, and there are a few reasons why.

First up, airlines frequently announce fare sales and other news on Twitter. United has been offering what they call “twares,” which are very brief sales broadcast on Twitter, and Southwest recently tweeted about their new pets policy—you can bring dogs and cats on board now—while Virgin America tweeted to announce that their entire fleet had Wi-Fi.

Then there’s the sense of place or culture that comes through at times: As a traveler, I love reading quirky Twitter updates from far away, like when @Aloha_Airlines wrote, “Twitter seems to be flying slow this morning in Hawaii. Wiki wiki already!!” (They are tweeting even though the airline is defunct—and posting some nice pictures, too, including this one.) And I enjoyed these tweets from @AirFranceUS for the, well, somewhat stereotypical sense of France they evoke: “Dior. Balenciaga. Ricci. Lacroix. With our uniforms, the most fashionable runway is 30,000 ft high. True style in service. http://tr.im/mzLe” And: “We love our Fauchon cheese crêpe crackers. Esquire does as well; they were chosen as one of the top 11 airline snacks. http://tr.im/mqq5”

But I’ll admit that my favorite updates are the strange or the random, like this one from @philippineair: “Using tickets bought with fake or stolen credit cards is a crime[.]” And @UnitedAirlines recently tweeted simply the words “United Airlines[.]” If Twitter isn’t entertaining you, then there’s no point.

@JetBlue and @Southwest have the most followers, and it’s practical to follow legacy carriers like @UnitedAirlines, @AAairwaves, @DeltaAirLines and @usairways. (Continental has two open Twitter accounts, but no updates, and US Airways isn’t too far ahead with only three updates, which are all from January 15, the day Flight 1549 landed in the Hudson.)

But I also recommend following a few more off-the-map airlines just for fun. Why not receive updates from Doha with @qatarairways, or from Hawaii with @FlyHawaiian or with the spirit of @Aloha_Airlines? Why not follow the “pride of Africa” with @kenyaairways?

What airlines are you following, and why?

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