It’s always good to speak with people who lead execution, rather than just build strategy. Especially when it comes to social media branding, it’s the person Tweeting or Facebook-ing with individuals who often makes all the difference. One such person is Elliot Pesut (@elliottp) who leads the Twittering efforts of Seattle-based Alaska Airlines.

In this exclusive interview with SimpliFlying.com, Elliot details the airline’s Twitter strategy, and talks about the unique challenges of his job, as well as Alaska Airlines’ forays into social media and how it’s all about connections, online and offline.
Volcanic rise of @alaskaair on Twitter

Alaska Airlines’ social media efforts got a real boost after a volcanic eruption a couple of months ago, near Ancourage, one of their hubs. The eruption caused unpredictable delays to flights and the airline needed to inform its customers about changes in real-time, as well as sooth nerves. And they turned to Twitter, calming nerves online while updating passengers of their flight status. Don’t you think that is so much better than receiving an insensitive SMS telling you that your flight is cancelled?

Today, Elliot updates followers of which planes each day are wi-fi equipped and seeks their feedback on everything from new destinations …

After production delays of over two years, an analyst called the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, the “delay-liner”. But aren’t production delays part and process of every new aircraft that is designed from scratch? It was the case with the Airbus A380 and even the Boeing 747. I believe it is important to look beyond the hue and cry about the delays and would like share my thoughts about the engineering and design marvel that the Boeing 787 is, and how it can be a brand differentiator for many airlines.

I was fortunate enough to be given a private tour of the Boeing 787 cabin, and I published the photos on SimpliFlying earlier. Now, I’m publishing the exclusive video tour of the cabin, which is housed in a life-sized mock-up of the plane at Boeing’s state-of-the-art Customer Experience Center. I was very impressed with this flying machine, and you’ll know why when you watch the video.

Here are three things I feel that will make the Boeing 787 experience very different for airlines, and passengers.
1. Boeing brings back the charm of flying
Did you know that the windows in the Boeing 787 Dreamliner are much larger than any planes flying today? Did you know …

Once in a while, I get a chance to meet a person who totally knows what he’s talking about, and the world knows what he’s talking about too. Chris Brogan (@chrisbrogan on Twitter) is such a man.

In this exclusive interview, Chris Brogan, the social media mogul (yeah, not just any guru, but a mogul) is put in the hotseat of an airline CEO. He shares with us what he’d do to run the airline, how he’d implement Web 2.0 strategies at the airline to build the brand and how he’d make them work for the airline and for the customer.
As the CEO of an airline, Chris Brogan would…
Optimize customer service - by providing virtual concierge service

In the past, operational optimization has been the name of the game. But Chris has a different take on the running of an airline – focus on providing customer service.

“Now, there’s a need to understand that customer service is an opportunity house, not a cost center. Use social media to reach people where they are, to give them what they’re asking for, to forge a new relationship that goes beyond my gates, my dates and my planes.”

Tap on social …

Starting the first week of July, Malaysia Airlines’ subsidiary FireFly will be starting routes from Malaysia to Singapore. Of course, to get to heart of the matter, I met up with their Head of Marketing, Angelina Fernandez, who sheds light into the makings of this new airline and what makes it special. They call themselves the community airline, and offer free snacks (cookies!!) on-board even flights that last as little as 20 mins (Singapore – Melaka).
What makes FireFly special?
FireFly is being positioned as a community airline, “connecting the ethnically-similar communities spread across South East Asia“, as Angelina explains. Targeted at the business traveler – due to quick turnarounds (they fly ATRs), and proximity to the city center in Kuala Lumpur, as they operate out of Subang Airport. The airline also intends to build on Malaysia Airlines’ schedule through flight timings that are complementary.

For the un-initiated, till recently, Singapore-Kuala Lumpur was one of the most heavily protected air routes in the world. Since liberalization, connectivity has increased multi-fold, with airlines like low-cost AirAsia, Tiger Airways, JetStar Asia and now FireFly sometimes offering prices even lower than the bus fares. Enjoy Angelina’s interview (just 3 mins) and then read on for …

Once in a while, you have a conversation that makes you believe again, that there’s an alternate to trying to nickle-and-dime customers to make money at an airline. That is, by providing such exceptional customer service and brand delivery that people come back to you because they like flying with you.

I recently had such a conversation with Greg Latimer, Managing Director of Brand and Product Marketing at Alaska Airlines. He made me believe again, that an airline brand is indeed what it does, not what it says it does.
How does Alaska Airlines build customer loyalty?
When you hear Greg’s thoughts, you know you’re talking to an industry veteran. Alaska Airlines is well known for having very loyal customers, partly due to the rewarding loyalty program that they have, but there are many other factors, as I discovered.

Greg reveals that Alaska Airlines is religious about focusing on its primary brand differentiators, which drive customer loyalty, such as its caring customer service (for which the airline has won numerous awards.) Moreover, since what gets rewarded gets done, employees were rewarded at least $900 each last year, when customer service metrics were met.

Alaska Airlines also involves its customers in being part of the brand …

AirTran, the American low-cost carrier, announced a couple of days back that it’s launching wifi on every single one of its 136 planes by mid-July. It wasn’t just the scale or speed of the implementation that startled many, but also how the announcement was preceded by a very innovative social media brand campaign.

And I took this opportunity to bring SimpliFlying’s readers up, close and personal with the brain behind this campaign – the Creative Director for the Everyflight.com project, Pat Hanna.

What was Everyflight.com about?
Over the last three weeks, AirTran has been running a teaser promotion asking their customers what they would want to see on every flight. The integrated teaser and launch campaign was developed in partnership with Cramer-Krasselt, Chicago, and was supported by TV spots, radio, Internet banners, out-of-home and airport signage.

At the heart of the effort was www.everyflight.com where people could make their own suggestions, vote “boo!†or “yah!†on previous submissions, view charts and graphs including a leader board and poll map, and sign up for a chance to win a seat on every flight. Upwards of 230,000 votes have been cast and …

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Continuing my conversation with Randy Petersen – probably the world’s best known frequent flyer – we chat about the relevance of social media to airlines, the future of Flyertalk and Randy’s predictions for aviation in 2009.
Frequent Flyers + Web 2.0
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Traditionally, travelers have picked frequent flyer programs for convenience, not always because they are the best program.

But today, they choose a program because of its merits, because the Internet is open and it breaks down boundaries. “Self-selecting… is the biggest testimony of a good program”, Randy claims.

Randy believes that most of the current business travelers are going to retire soon and will be replaced by the next generation that lives and breathes social media. These customers are going to be totally immersed into it, and airlines need to adopt it sooner than later. Exactly the same point I’ve been trying to make in my recent articles on airline branding and social media.
Flyertalk as the next Web 2.0 powerhouse?
Flyertalk, a community for frequent flyers Randy started 11 years ago is one of the most popular of its kind out there. Though Flyertalk wasn’t started as a social media …

“True brand loyalists should ideally fly due to a deep emotional connection, not just miles.”

“Your most valuable customer is like your best friend. He’s there with you even in the tough times.”

These are just a couple of gems Randy Petersen shares in his interview with SimpliFlying, Live from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. For those who’re not aware, Randy is the man behind InsideFlyer and Flyertalk.com. He is the champion of frequent fliers around the world, and the organizer of the Freddies.

Randy and I met on the sidelines of the 21st annual Freddies and the FTMA Conference. At the conference itself, Randy led the panel discussion with me, after my keynote on airline branding and Web 2.0. It was an honor to be on the stage with the aviation industry stalwart and interview him for SimpliFlying afterwards.
Is a frequent flier a loyal customer? Nope.
Randy feels that the current miles as an incentive system only shows you frequency of travel, but doesn’t show you recommendation, it doesn’t show you passion. And hence it doesn’t even prove loyalty.
Lessons from Apple and …

Late last year, I had the opportunity to pick the brains of two Senior Partners at Lippincott, New York, on my favorite topic of airline branding. Both Randall Stone and Rodney Abbot bring tons of experience in design and brand creation and had some very interesting views to share about how airlines can tap on the potential of their own brands.

Lippincott is a leading brand strategy and design consultancy, which has worked with airlines globally, including Virgin Atlantic and most recently TACA Airlines. Lippincot helped TACA deliver a “calming trip†to their customers, the moment they stepped aboard the plane. They have also extensively helped Delta Airlines deliver a 360 degree brand experience, both internally and to the external customer. Randall and Rodney share a number of anecdotes in their interview about both these case studies.

Here are some of the key points they make in the interview:

Identifying, and then optimizing key touch-points relating to brand experience (that means inside and outside the plane)
Sensory branding – how all five senses can be involved in creating a holistic brand experience (and how Singapore Airlines did it!)
How design can be infused in brand strategy to allow the airline to take-off, and how Delta …

Over the past year, I’ve had the opportunity of interviewing a number of senior airline executives. Here’s one with the CEO of SpiceJet, Sanjay Aggarwal, recorded in Dec 2008, which left me mesmerized by the man’s wisdom, simplicity and frankness. These are qualities difficult to find in an airline CEO these days – and he puts them to good use too – running one of India’s most successful airlines.
Making SpiceJet one of India’s best airlines
In his interview, Sanjay reveals a number of gems that have made SpiceJet so successful. His clarity of thought is evident in this sentence:
“We want to focus on what we do well, and we will do it better than anyone else out there – which is to provide a quality, safe, clean and reliable transportation.”
Lessons from Marriott
Having worked at Marriott, Sanjay sums up its philosophy as to take care if its people, and ultimately they’ll keep the customer happy. And with 150,000 employees, they still maintain their culture. And this is the culture Sanjay is trying to re-create at SpiceJet, by “finding the right people and motivating them to deliver an unmatched in-flight experience”.

I’ll let you enjoy the succint interview. Please feel …