Home Travel News

"Winter storm Grayson has no chill", American Airlines' humourous approach to US blizzard

Flight delays are *insert inappropriate word* annoying. They cause chaos at the airport, bring out the worst in people and force airport staff to smile through clenched teeth.

Flight delays are *insert inappropriate word* annoying. They cause chaos at the airport, bring out the worst in people and force airport staff to smile through clenched teeth.

But they’re also inevitable, which means as a traveller or airline employee you can either fight them until your blood boils or find a way to lighten the situation.

American Airlines has decided to do the latter.

americanairlines-karryon

The carrier’s social media staff has taken a humourous approach to the thousands of flight cancellations and delays around the US caused by the unpredictable Winter Storm Grayson.

Major airports around the country were forced to temporarily suspend operations yesterday when the ‘bomb cyclone’ arrived with heavy snow fall and strong winds.

Gateways and airlines took to social media to provide their flyers with regular updates, including American Airlines’ which delivered important information with touches of comedy.

First, the carrier announced it had issued a special ‘travel alert’ for the storm by advising guests ‘stay warm, folks!’

And later reminded social media users of further delays and cancellations by telling them that “Winter Storm #Grayson has no chill”.

These amusing touches may not sound like much, but they go a long way in calming what is usually a sh#t storm of complaints on social media.

For example, the airline’s Twitter team manage to convert the “why am I still on hold” and “I don’t like my rescheduled time” comments into a string of positive responses such as:

The friendly touches also helped the airline reach more customers than its competitors, with more likes and retweets.

Meanwhile, flight cancellations and delays are expected to continue through on Friday despite New York’s JFK reopening early this morning.

READ: 1,500 flights cancelled in US snow storm

READ: Qantas & American Airlines try for round 2 in their Trans-Pacific partnership

What do you think of American Airlines’ light approach to delays?