Though American Airlines retained its place as most discussed airline on social media, the share of voice of the airline fell to 15 pc in H1 2022 (Photo: American Airlines)
Though increasing demand for travel after the Covid-19 pandemic is a positive for the global airline industry, certain factors such as rising airfares, staff shortages, and travel protocols in the wake of new disease variants pose new challenges to airlines.
GlobalData, a data and analytics company, has listed top 10 most mentioned airlines in the first half of the year after analysing the social media conversations around leading airlines.
American Airlines with a 15 pc share of voice has been ranked as the most mentioned airline on Social media
In this context, American Airlines with a 15 pc share of voice has been ranked as the most mentioned airline company in H1 2022, according to the Social Media Analytics Platform of GlobalData.
The American flag carrier is followed by Delta Airlines and JetBlue with 14 pc share of voice each, then followed by British Airways (11 pc), Lufthansa (9 pc), Air France-KLM and Qantas Airways, 8 pc each, and then finally United Airlines, Qatar Airways and India’s Air India with 7 pc.
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“Social media discussions around the global airline companies have surged by 20 pc in H1 2022, over the previous six months. The net sentiment of social media contributors plunged by more than 30 pc in H1 2022, over H2 2021,” comments Smitarani Tripathy, Social Media Analyst at GlobalData.
Tripathy goes on to say that the increasing rate of flight cancellations due to staff shortages was one of the key reasons that dragged down influencers’ sentiments. Meanwhile, the recessionary fears coupled with rising airfares due to disturbances in supply chain are expected to weigh further on the air travel demand.
According to a press release, though American Airlines retained its place as the most discussed airline on social, the share of voice of the airline fell to 15 pc in H1 2022, from 20 pc in the previous six months. The highest spike in social media conversations on the airline was observed during mid-January, centred around a passenger mask dispute. Twitter influencers also appreciated the steps taken by the company to comply with the federal mask regulations of Covid-19.
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JetBlue recorded a 48 pc growth in social media discussion volume in H1 2022, the highest growth rate among the top-mentioned airlines. The growth led the airline to occupy the third position with a 14 pc share of voice, replacing Southwest Airlines, which was at the third position in GlobalData’s H2 2021 report. A dramatic spike among the social media contributors around JetBlue was noticed when the company made a USD 3.6 billion all-cash offer to acquire Spirit Airlines in April.
