People flying on AirTran, Delta or Virgin America between November 20, 2010 and January 2, 2011 will have free Wi-Fi on any of their domestic flights.

“We are constantly working to help provide a better web experience to users around the world,” said Sundar Pichai, Vice President of Product Management at Google.

“Whether it be building a better browser with Chrome or bringing free Wi-Fi to air travelers this holiday season, we are constantly innovating to ensure users’ access to the web is fast, simple and seamless.”

As the three airlines that have outfitted their entire domestic fleet with in-flight Wi-Fi, this promotion will bring free Internet service to more than 700 planes and approximately 15 million expected passengers this holiday season.

This season marks the second straight year that Google has provided free Wi-Fi to travelers over the holiday season. Last year, Google worked with Virgin America as well as more than 50 airports to provide free Internet both on the ground and in the air.

"Our customers are spending more time online and are looking for new ways to connect with us. We’re now delivering technology where our customers are – from our own website to our Facebook page to Internet news sites and beyond," said Bob Kupbens, Delta’s vice president – eCommerce.

"We already know Facebook is the most used website by inflight WiFi users on more than 2,000 Delta flights every day, giving us the natural launching point for a new online Ticket Window."

Delta’s Ticket Window allows Facebook users to make bookings via a tab on the social networking site without having to visit delta.com. Delta says it plans to expand its Ticket Window to other sites, including online banner ads to allow bookings within the airline’s advertisements.

Delta has also redesigned its homepage to include easier access to flight booking, status updates, online check-in and SkyMiles account information.

In the coming weeks, Delta plans to launch a new iPhone application to offer customers the ability to check in for flights, check flight status, review flight schedules, set a parking reminder, review SkyMiles account balance and use eBoarding passes (in select cities) directly from their mobile devices.

"Unlocking the full power of social media and mobile apps is the next step for Delta, while providing innovative travel tools and greater convenience in our customer’s mobile world," Kupbens said.
 

The airline industry has had a virtual crash course in handling customer issues via social media outlets with Twitter leading the charge. One main reason for this is the fact that frequent travelers are likely to be heavy smart phone users and what else can they do while suffering thorough a delay? Complain of course. Now just going to the desk at the gate and airing your concerns is mere child’s play. Why not tell all of your friends and followers about how terrible the airline is that you are having trouble with? How airlines handle this can determine who that flyer decides to go with in the future.

It looks like the winner thus far is Southwest. I learned about their particular approach to social media at a conference in Dallas and it was impressive. An Ad Age article tells more by showing how the airline used Twitter to diffuse the situation from earlier in the week where a foot wide hole ripped in the fuselage of a Southwest flight but was safely landed enventually.

Shortly after the plane landed, the tweets began pouring in from those who heard the news: “Emergency landing for a Southwest flight … A one ft by one ft hole in the fuselage is to blame … yikes.” The incident was documented by those on board via Twitpic and YouTube. The airline’s lead “Twitterer,” Christi Day, immediately began posting updates that included links to an official company release, a statement that all planes would be inspected overnight and news that all passengers on board would be refunded.

“It was important for us to set the tone as soon as we saw those conversations begin online,” Ms. Day said. “We were able to distribute factual information to our customers before they saw it on the 10 p.m. news, which is extremely powerful.”

Nice job. Now the other side of the same coin; Delta.

On the more serious matter of customer service, the airline took a bit of a bruising yesterday on Twitter, following a letter Andy Azula, the creative director at the Martin Agency and the actor in the UPS Whiteboard commercials, wrote to Delta that he posted on his blog and linked to on his Twitter page (he has since taken it down). Apparently Delta delayed Mr. Azula’s flight, keeping him and his family waiting at the airport for 13 hours and causing him to miss a number of meetings and a family gathering. The airline didn’t offer any type of compensation in the end. Not only did the link get re-tweeted dozens of times, but people started adding their own commentary, such as “Yep. Delta Airlines is screwed if they don’t rectify this.” The airline did not tweet any type of reply.

Delta responded that they are developing their social / emerging media processes. Not exactly the sharp witted response you need when you get hammered by someone in the advertising industry who knows how to work this stuff.

So here are two pretty distinct sets of results. Our question to Pilgrim readers is where are your strategies? Do you even have any? Do you feel the need for them? Are they more industry specific than general? Tell us your stories. One of the best ways to maneuver through this new area is to share successes and failures. Maybe we can even help each other in a friendly, social media, community kind of way?

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Delta has partnered with Aircell to install the company’s Mobile Broadband Network on the carrier’s domestic fleet. The system, Gogo, will allow Delta passengers traveling with Wi-Fi enabled devices, such as laptops, smartphones and PDAs to access the Internet. The service will be available to customers for $9.95 on flights of three hours or less, and $12.95 on flights more than three hours.

Gogo will be initially rolled out on Delta’s MD88/90 planes and will expand to the remaining fleet of Boeing 737, 757 and 767-300 aircraft in the first half of 2009. Delta says Gogo will be available on 330 aircraft by the summer of 2009.

Aircell paid $31.3 million at a Federal Communications Commission auction in 2006 for the radio frequency previously used for air-phone service. The company does not provide voice service over the Internet and Delta said phone conversations are banned in flight.

 "Our customers asked for in-flight connectivity, and we’re responding by rolling out the most extensive Wi-Fi network in the sky," said Richard Anderson, Delta’s chief executive officer. "Beginning this fall, our passengers will have the ability to stay connected when they travel with us throughout the continental U.S."
 

To that end, way back in August, Lisa wrote a post called “Delta starts a blog, I’m still laughing.” At the time, the blog had just a few posts and, well, it was more than a bit lame. So we called them out on it, and that’s when we got our first surprise. Within an hour or two, Jacob Morris, the guy in charge of the blog, left a comment, basically saying, “Give us a chance, we’re finding our way here.”

That alone tells me that Jacob understood that Listening is Social Media Step One, and he was monitoring the reaction to his new effort. That was a good sign.

So today, I wandered back over to the Delta blog to check it out. It’s significantly better than it was. Jacob did a post on his recent vacation, Robin did one on surviving airport security. The best part is that they’ve started a series of little videos called Planeguage that are actually pretty cute. (Amazing that they make fun of some of the hassle of flying commercial, like kids kicking your seat, crazy people with the window shades, etc.)

Jacob and crew don’t have an easy assignment. Like any big corporation, I’m sure there’s conservative undertones. And there are a few things they could do better still (i.e., I was looking for an “email this” link at the end of one post I liked; use more keywords on your Planeguage posts, etc…), but they have done a nice job finding their voice. The posts are more human and authentic and less cheerleading, and they are a good mix of personal, fun and business-oriented.

Good lessons here for corporate social media marketing types:

• Get permission to do something.
• Start safe while everyone is watching.
• Find your voice over time.
• Loosen up as you hit stride.
• Don’t be afraid to make fun of yourself or your industry.

Jacob: You said you would get there. After this quick check-in, it seems like you’re on your way…

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