As individuals we may be small voices, but connected as we are through social media we have the power of their top corporate clients. When added together we can also produce equivalent revenue, which Southwest seems to have figured out as well.

Aside from the obvious PR failure of not responding appropriately, quickly or effectively, they also failed at seeing the opportunity to turn these lemons into some yummy lemonade. A positive cross-channel response from them could have gotten them all sorts of brownie points at a time when the whole world was looking at them, ears open ready to hear what they had to say. It was like being given 30 minutes of airtime at the Superbowl and not using it because they felt sheepish. And as someone who has had a United Frequent Flyer card for years and generally been happy with the service, I feel like a customer who has been let down. It makes me wonder why something I’ve generally liked seems to have wandered off track. That’s not a way to build loyalty. Granted I’m not jetting about that often, but others are. This once small customer service failure turned into a major brand management fiasco through a simple communications failure that could easily have been avoided.