What Is the Deal with American’s Blog?

Hmm, that title sounds rather Seinfeld-y, doesn’t it? But seriously, what is the deal? Maybe I should back up. How many of you even knew that American had a blog? Take my quick poll below. (I haven’t done a poll in awhile, so I thought I’d break it out again.)

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Now, I’m going to guess that a ton of people know about Southwest’s blog, fewer know about Delta’s, and just about nobody knows about American’s. And really, why should they?

Since the blog was first rolled out on April 11, there have been a whopping 5 posts. The last one? On April 25 – more than a month ago. Last we heard:

It’s time for us to officially join the mighty blogosphere, and that’s just what we have done. We’re going to take this “starter” blog and beef it up. And make sure our readers know that this is real folks at American blogging …and not someone’s nephew.

But while we get things rolling, we want to keep the dialogue moving. So, we’ll make some changes to spruce up the look of this space. In the meantime, keep checking in as I work to develop my voice on this blog and find others within American that can give new insight to our company.

Hmm. Since that time, nothing has changed. They certainly haven’t kept the dialogue moving. It still has the generic look and feel and nothing has changed. So, I sent a note over to Billy S, the man behind the blog, asking what was happening. The response? “Yes, we have been a little too quite. [sic]” That’s it.

I’m sure someone at AA reads Cranky. So, what’s the story? Are you guys in or are you out?

Brett

13 responses to “What Is the Deal with American’s Blog?”

Frank Vaughan

May 29, 2008

Maybe the blog was a victim of the downsizing?

The shirts figured there was an overcapacity in the blogsphere and they wanted to do their parts.

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rich

May 29, 2008

AA’s new plan: You can read their blog, but first you have to pay a $15 fee.

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james

May 29, 2008

I’ve like reading Southwest’s blog. I only found Delta’s blog when “Deltalina” came into being – but then again I don’t live in Delta territory.

If a company is going to have a blog or any type of web 2.0 medium they should refrain from posts like “Here’s our Blog” and “We changed the look of our blog” and just dive right into the content. Or, in AA’s case, just remove it.

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Zach

May 29, 2008

I don’t frequent airline blogs, but it seems as though it’s more a question of marketing than interface. Perhaps AA isn’t confident that a blog really fits with their image/business model, so they’re holding off on marketing it until they can make up their minds as to whether or not they even want to bother with it.

Apologies–this is way off the subject–but did you hear that US Airways is eliminating free pretzels/peanuts from their domestic service (including transcon flights)?

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Becky

May 29, 2008

I didn’t know about any of these blogs, so thanks for enlightening me!

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bryan in san francisco

May 29, 2008

ha ha. so sad. you can’t manufacture popular blogs.

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Benet Wilson

May 29, 2008

I learned about the AA blog in April, when I was chatting with their Corp Comm VP Roger Frizzel. I actually did an interview with their blogger, Billy Sanez, for Aviation Daily and a post on our Things With Wings blog on April 21. Here’s what he said about the blog: “We will have others in corporate communications helping, and we’ll see if we will include guest bloggers from other areas of American,” he said. “I will post as necessary. I don’t want to say that I’ll post once a day or six times a week. I just want to get pertinent information out that resonates with our customers.

I’ll leave the interpretation up to you kids.

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Steve

May 29, 2008

I just got an email that tells me that since I am American Gold that I will still be able to check two bags for FREE. Yeehaw. Unfortunately I have learned the checking bags lesson the hard way. I showed up for a job with no dress clothes.

When will they start charging for overstuffed roll-aboards? Here are some money making suggestions:

1. Charge for lap children.. at the going market rate.
2. $100 fine if they cry.

I predict the following:

1. A decrease in “family flying” as costs rise and deals become a thing of the past.
2. A decrease in flights, with more attention to business travel: one flight in the AM and one in the PM rather than 6 RJs.
3. A decrease in airport congestion because of the reduction in the number of flights.
4. A decrase in the number of airlines.
5. More attention on competition.. with airlines courting the business flyer rather than pandering unabashedly to the family one time a year flyer.

Is this all bad?

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CF

May 29, 2008

That’s great, Benet. I had forgotten about that. So, he says “I just want to get pertinent information out that resonates with our customers.” Does that mean that the $15 bag fee isn’t pertinent info? There’s something weird going on over there.

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Albert

May 29, 2008

Did you know American also had a Facebook app??? I thought that was more surprising than the blog … anyone here know what it actually does?

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CF

May 29, 2008

Albert – I seem to remember seeing that awhile. Most Facebook apps don’t do anything, but this one actually does seem to do something. Here’s an article on it.

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Benet Wilson

May 30, 2008

Cranky – I’d think the $15 fee was pertinent. And a blog post would have put a personal touch on the decision behind the fee. It was a missed opportunity for American. Cranky – did you email or call Billy to see what the dealio is with the blog?

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CF

May 30, 2008

Yes, Benet – that was Billy’s response . . . “Yes, we have been a little too quite.” That was it. Strange.

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