This week, US
Airways stirred up major controversy when one of its employees tweeted out
a very disturbing and pornographic picture. This all came about after an
unsatisfied customer tweeted their disappointment over a flight to the
airlines. What happened next shocked everyone on Twitter and the social media
world and even made headline news.
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| Retrieved from: washingtonpost.com |
According to US
Airways, the picture was sent to them and the employee who tweeted it out for
the world to see was simply trying to flag the tweet as inappropriate. The
airline apologized for the mishap and chalked it up to miscommunication on
Twitter. The employee who sent out the tweet was not even fired because it was
an accident.
We are used to
seeing airlines experience difficulty in the public relations aspect of the
industry. Airlines are known for delayed flights, lost luggage, overbooking,
etc. These types of things happen all the time, but never has an airline had to
deal with lewd photographs sent out on its official Twitter page.
The pornographic tweets
were up for about an hour before US Airways realized what had happened. The
company did the right thing, though, by clearing up the issue right after it
occurred, instead of waiting the standard three days to apologize as most
airlines have done in the past.
But should this
incident have occurred in the first place? Anyone experienced in using social
media should know that things like this could happen in a split second, so you
must always check and recheck before posting anything, especially when your
Twitter following is as large as US Airways’. The employee who sent out the
tweet was not paying attention at all, and probably should be fired for that
simple fact alone.
It’s nice and all
that US Airways apologized for the mishap, but the apology wasn’t on a broad
medium that enough people would even hear about it. I’m sure the situation has
to be pretty embarrassing, but you have to make right with the public after
something this major has taken place.
American
Airlines, which is in the process of merging with US Airways, even issued
a public apology on behalf of US Airways. I think everyone could agree that
US Airways needs to take responsibility for its own mess. American Airlines has
enough problems to deal with on its own.
For now, US
Airways remains the laughing stock of the airline industry. Mistakes can happen
very easily but it’s all about how you pick yourself up after these situations
take place. Hopefully US Airways does more in the upcoming weeks than just a
silly apology on social media.
Maybe the company
could create a video to display the severity of its apology to post on its
website and social media accounts. I hope the airline can pull itself out of
the public relations disaster it created and move on from this incredibly
embarrassing situation.
Sources:
Thomas,
R. (2014, April 14). US Airways apologizes for tweeting pornographic photo. In KPHO.
Retrieved April 18, 2014, from http://www.kpho.com/story/25247158/us-airways-apologizes-for-tweeting-pornographic-photo
Murdock,
S. (2014, April 14). US Airways Tweets Out VERY NSFW Photo Of Woman With Toy
Plane. In Huffington Post. Retrieved April 18, 2014, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/14/us-airways-masturbating-photo_n_5148458.html
Mutzabaugh,
B. (2014, April 14). US Airways apologizes for lewd photo sent via Twitter. In USA
Today. Retrieved April 18, 2014, from http://www.usatoday.com/story/todayinthesky/2014/04/14/us-airways-apologizes-for-lewd-photo-sent-via-twitter/7710713/
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