Which are the most talked about airline brands online?

Financial results, flight experiences and airline CEOs are some of the key topics driving discussions in the airlines industry, impacting the brand's reputation. 

This is according to a report by media intelligence firm CARMA which analysed how airlines were represented in the news and on social media between October 2023 to March 2024. 

Ten airlines from Southeast Asia and Hong Kong were selected for the study, based on their volume of coverage in mainstream news and trade publications, as well as on social platforms. 

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In the media 

Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, AirAsia and Malaysia Airlines are the most discussed airlines and narrative drivers in the newsroom. More specifically, financial results attracted the most editorial interest (15%) in mainstream media. 

This is followed by safety (10%), routes and destinations (10%), staff (8%) and flight disruptions (8%). Offers, customer experience and flight MH370 each took up 7% of airlines' media coverage classified by theme, on top of operations (6%), air traffic (5%), fleet expansion (4%), partnerships (3%0) and awards and rankings (3%), said CARMA. 

Prices (1.9%), industry (1.4%), baggage (1.3%), leadership (1.2%) and events (0.6%) round out the remaining themes.

Financial news was consistently among the most discussed themes in mainstream news across all airlines, with Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines earning the most coverage. 

Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific managed to return to profitability for the first time since the pandemic, as it was impacted by the fact that its home country was one of the last to reopen.

Meanwhile, Air China was considering raising its stake in Cathay Pacific this year which saw some mentions. 

Singapore Airlines appeared in many articles as well discussing its stock prices, in addition to coverage around the airline’s record high profits, said CARMA. 

Safety rankings for airlines also took up a large portion of the media discourse.

In Q1 2024, AirlineRatings.com released its list of 25 safest airlines in the world, which included Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines. These rankings earned massive organic coverage for the airlines, according to CARMA. 

Threats to airline passengers also was a common theme in mainstream media coverage. This includes news around bomb threats and minor aircraft collisions.

Workforce stories were also a driver of media coverage for the airlines, with Cathay Pacific frequently at the centre of such discussions, added CARMA. This is especially since the airline pre-emptively cancelled several year-end flights due to a shortage of pilots in December 2023. This was later exacerbated by illness and the lingering effects of COVID-related staff reductions, said CARMA. 

Interestingly, the enduring mystery of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 also continued to evoke discussions, marking the tenth anniversary of its disappearance, it said. 

This single incident reinforced the carrier’s media narrative in the long term, marked by its permanence in the public eye. This suggests that negative stories, particularly those that have a significant and direct influence on consumers, tend to overshadow more positive or neutral coverage. 

On social media 

Online, the conversations were driven by other factors such as flight experiences and customer services at 28% and 22% respectively. 

Similarly, flight MH370 made another appearance, driving 10% of airlines' social media conversation. Flight disruption comes after with 8%, new routes and destinations and baggage each at 6% and technology at 4%. 

Seating, offers and prices each take up 3% of the social conversation, while leadership sits makes 2.5%. Rounding up the bottom are policies (1.5%), cybersecurity (1.2%), sustainability (1%) and awards (0.8%). 

Overall, flight experience was the biggest driver of social media conversation, influencing positive sentiments much more than others. 

According to CARMA, netizens value the overall hospitality and flight experience, where being treated well, effective communication, minimal disruptions, and a pleasant in-flight journey all contributed to a positive reputation of the airline. Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific lead these conversations. 

In addition, AirAsia leads the conversation in ticket offers where users expressed enthusiasm for packages that enhance their travel experience and provide significant savings, making these features a strong positive influence on customer perceptions of airlines. 

Other factors which influenced positive sentiments were attentive and considerate actions of airline crews, new or reinstated flight destinations as well as company executives' forward-thinking initiatives. 

On the other hand, poor customer experience and flight disruptions were major pain points that drove users to recount their experiences on social platforms. 

This includes baggage issues such as lost, delayed or damaged baggage, technology challenges including website crashes and failure of inflight WiFi and seating problems.  

The influence of CEOs 

On average, 10% of airlines' mainstream media coverage had mentions of their executive leadership. Popular names include Irfan Setiaputra of Garuda Indonesia, Michael Szucs of Cebu Pacific and Tony Fernandes of AirAsia. 

According to the study, CEO mentions in mainstream media were most associated with stories of company financials and fleet expansions.

It added that airline executives can create meaningful and influential engagement with the public and their customers by identifying new opportunities to comment on, such as technological innovation, or industry leading sustainability initiatives. 

One such example is AirAsia's Tony Fernandes. The airline typically earns positive social conversation but saw a sharp shift after a post by the CEO went viral. 

The post in particular, was a photo of him shirtless and getting a shoulder massage while conducting a virtual meeting. It was posted on LinkedIn in October 2023. 

Immediately, social conversation with negative sentiments doubled from 13.9% negative to 33.2% negative. Meanwhile, its positive sentiments dropped from 33.4% positive to 14.8% positive. 

In a separate conversation with MARKETING-INTERACTIVE earlier this month, Asiya Bakht, founder of Beets Public Relations, said that CEOs are the public face of any company and how they conduct themselves externally is as important as their performance internally within the company. 

Charu Srivastava, co-founder at TriOn & Co. agreed at the time, adding that "CEOs tend to be the face of memorable brands - think Apple, Microsoft, Virgin Atlantic and AirAsia. A brand with a strong leader helps to humanise it." 

She added that the actions of CEOs directly impact loyalty, trust, recall of the companies that they lead. This is evident with all the brands mentioned for both the better and the worse.

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