Everyone has their own pre-flight ritual to make the upcoming torture bearable. I personally wander over to the lounge, check my email and try to make sure that I’m top of all of my active projects. Others have a more, well, active ritual. This guy at LAX was drawing such a crowd that someone pulled out his camera to film the spectacle. Take a look:
Perhaps if we all did this before our flights we’d no longer have angry passengers and cranky flight attendants.
Thanks to the lovely Paula Berg at Southwest Airlines for the link.
Social media means that airlines just have another place where they can be raked over the coals. We complain to ticket agents. We complain to gate agents. We complain to customer service reps. And now, we can complain to the world, thanks to the likes of Twitter. I, for example, follow @DeltaSucks, though there hasn’t been any action on it in several months. I don’t just listen, though. When I’m stuck in an airport, I tweet relentlessly, and I know I’m not alone.
So, what’s an airline to do about this? And Facebook? And YouTube?
The attack is coming on all fronts, and an industry that’s been beaten up so severely and so often has few options. For now, the response is limited to tweeting fare deals, but obviously, that does little to address the continued stream of negative exposure to which the airlines are subjected.
When in doubt, the philosophy on social media complaints appears to be silence. Continental and American Airlines wouldn’t comment on recent tweets from disgruntled fliers, according to a Reuters report. They are monitoring and claim to be responding, but that’s about all. Billy Sanez, who manages social media for American’s parent, AMR, believes that these platforms make it easier to open a dialogue with passengers … but where is that dialogue?
When I got pissed off at JetBlue a year ago, I wrote about it on my personal blog and heard nothing from JetBlue. But, I did hear from other passengers … one of whom was afraid to say too much because he was still in transit and didn’t want to risk angering the airline. This level of paranoia may be extreme, but the implication is clear: passengers could find even a small blog, but airlines are squandering a chance to really engage the people who pay their bills.
Christi Day, who takes care of Twitter and Facebook for Southwest Airlines, told Reuters, “The main thing that our customers need to know is that we hear them.” But, again, there is no discussion of what the airline is doing about it.
Customers finally have a voice, and as we saw with “United Breaks Guitars,” it can get pretty loud. While the airlines may be listening, we’re still waiting for the second half of “dialogue” to happen.
Since the launch of YouTube, its range was usually limited to people farting, and pirated music video clips.
That is all about to change, as YouTube just launched a lineup of full length TV shows from some of the most popular movie studios.
Content is available from Sony, Discovery, Stars and others. The lineup is not as impressive as what you’ll find at Hulu, but fans of old comedy shows like Married With Children and Alf won’t be disappointed.
Of course, none of this is all that important if you usually just sit at home and watch TV, but the addition of full length shows to YouTube means that people with a YouTube capable mobile (smart) phone will now be able to watch something decent while stuck in the airport departure lounge. That said, not all the content is currently available for mobile viewing. To watch this new content, point your (mobile) browser to www.youtube.com/shows.
1. Do not step backward. 2. Do note sit down. 3. Do not, at any point, attempt a triple salchow.
According to MallCop6, who posted this video on YouTube, “The dude didn’t get hurt at all.” Otherwise, this would really be too mean to post. Also, the camera is pulled back far enough that we can’t see who this actually is. If we could identify this man, we would, again, feel it was too mean to post.
However, since he looks like he’s fine and we can’t see who he is, and he totally pulled a 360°, artistically commendable, epic escalator fail? We’re sharing.
This is one example of many ways not to ride an escalator. More rules after the jump.
4. Do not attempt multiple backwards somersaults.
5.Do not ski (keep watching, he rides up the escalator first before the awesomeness kicks in).
Lasty, and perhaps most importantly: 6. Do not wear Crocs. (Ever.)
Now this we have not seen before. The Standard Hotel New York, a new André Balazs hotel, has created the above video to introduce their staff.
This is clearly a well-done appeal to a younger, hipper generation. The mod-style, ironically-named Standard Hotels, with their upside-down logos, really are pretty cool. The one in New York offers gorgeous accommodations (with “insane” views) in the Meatpacking District on Washington Street between West 12th and West 13th Streets. The hotel is in previews right now, and has declared itself “Openish.” Because some parts of the hotel are still under construction, rooms are available for $195 – $495 per night, but those prices are expected to rise when the hotel is officially open.
Does the YouTube video make us want to stay there? Frankly, it makes us want to work there. But we already have a job. So, yeah.