Who Owns the

Sky on Social?
Analyzing the social media conversation
around America’s five major airlines

Table of Contents
Introduction 4
Top airlines 5
Airlines topics and brand comparisons 15
Frequent flyers program 33
Destinations 47
Conclusion 51
3 4
Introduction
The United States commercial aviation industry has experienced
tremendous growth throughout the past decade, rising from 745
million passengers in 2006 to 823 million passengers in 2016. The
social conversation about airlines also took flight. Increasingly,
consumers are seeking flight experiences that can do more than get
them from point A to point B. Minimizing delays, efficient baggage
handling, and affordable costs are among some of the topics
consumers research before booking a flight. According to the U.S.
Department of Transportation, complaints about airlines rose to
a fifteen year high in 2015. Selecting the top airlines by number
of passengers carried in 2016, we looked at the social discussion
surrounding Southwest, American Airlines, Delta, United Airlines, and
JetBlue and compared topics within those five brands. Looking at the
conversation on social media enables us to understand what fliers care
about and uncover the reasons why some brands are preferred over
others.
Methodology
We looked at the top five United States airlines by number of
passengers in 2016 — Southwest, American Airlines, Delta, United
Airlines, and JetBlue. The time range of our analysis spanned from
2010 to 2016, but to get a more recent and accurate understanding of
consumer sentiment about these major airline brands, a few sections
only analyze 2016 data. We also excluded each airline’s official author
Twitter handle in order to surface more organic consumer conversation.
We analyzed English-language social posts from the United States.
Top airlines
The airlines industry is highly competitive, with major players vying for
long-term customer loyalty. To earn that loyalty, it takes a lot more
than offering enticing prices and relying on name reputation. In the age
of social, the airlines that are discussed in a more positive light than
others are not necessarily the most established. While there are smaller
airlines like Spirit Airlines, we analyzed the major players: American
Airlines, United Airlines, Southwest Airlines, JetBlue Airlines, and Delta
Airlines. Before diving into the specific topics consumers compare for
each airline brand, we first looked at how these airline brands compare
to one another in terms of conversation volume levels, sentiment, and
customer satisfaction. By doing so, we gain an understanding of where
each airline brand stands in the eyes of consumers on a high level.
For this section, we looked at 2010-2016 data for American Airlines,
United Airlines, Southwest Airlines, JetBlue Airlines, and Delta Airlines.
Our analysis is focused on English language posts in the United States.
Top brands taking off Airlines Total Conversation (2010-2016)
Which airlines dominate the social conversation?
American Airlines 4.6

Airlines Conversation Trend

United Airlines 3.2
American Airlines United Airlines Southwest Airlines JetBlue Airlines Delta

1.6M
Southwest Airlines 2.4

JetBlue Airlines 1.9

1.2M
Post Volume

Delta 1.4
800K
0 1M 2M 3M 4M 5M
Post Volume

400K
In the six-year time range, American Airlines amassed the highest level
of consumer discussion, with 4.6 million posts, about four times more
0 posts than Delta, the airline with the lowest level of social conversation.
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

In 2010, the five major airline brands all had similar social conversation Airlines Share of Voice Trend (2010-2016)
volume. But as the years progressed, some leaders emerged.
Conversation on American Airlines rose the fastest, partially due to the 100
Delta
heavily speculated merger with U.S. Airways in October 2015 and a

Share of Voice Comparison (%)

JetBlue
Brussels airport attack that occurred near the American Airlines check- 80

in area in March 2016. From 2015 to 2016, the U.S. Airways discussion Southwest Airlines
comprised 2 percent of the American Airlines discussion, with 41k 60
posts. With conversation reaching 15k from 2015 to 2016, the Brussels United Airlines
airport attack comprised 1 percent of the American Airlines discussion. 40
Southwest and United Airlines had similar conversation growth rates.
While Delta caught up to JetBlue in discussion volume from 2010 to 20
2011, Delta trailed behind JetBlue from 2011 to 2016. American Airlines

0
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

7 8
But volume of conversation doesn't necessarily indicate success for a
business. We need to dive a bit deeper to understand what users are saying,
and if they have any concerns about their flying experiences.

Complaints Filed and Customer Dissatisfaction Posts (2016)

Airlines Net Sentiment (2016)
Number of customer dissatisfaction posts Complaints per 100,000 passengers
Negative Positive 2.5 12K

Customer Dissatisfaction Post Volume

Complaints per 100K Passengers
American Airlines -20 26 10K
2.0

8K
United Airlines -16 22 1.5
6K
1.0
Southwest Airlines -23 16 4K

0.5 2K
JetBlue Airlines -20 13

0.0 0
Delta -25 11 American United Southwest Delta JetBlue
Airlines Airlines Airlines Airlines Airlines

-30% -20% -10% 0 10% 20% 30%

Of all the major airline brands, the ones with the lowest net negative
sentiment are Southwest and JetBlue, both with 6 percent positive net
sentiment. Attentive customer service, great flight attendants, and
people discussing Southwest being their overall favorite airline drove
positive sentiment. Free WiFi, the frequent flyers program, and great
flight crew drove positive sentiment for JetBlue.
Southwest and JetBlue are the more affordable brands -- both brands
were included in the travel company Hopper’s top five budget airlines
in the United States. However, negative sentiment for Southwest
can be attributed to delays and negative sentiment for JetBlue can
be attributed to disappointing customer service. American Airlines
and United Airlines both had 7 percent negative net sentiment. The
negativity for American Airlines can be attributed to dissatisfactory
customer service. For United Airlines, delays and subpar customer
service drove negativity. The airline with the most negative net
sentiment is Delta, with 14 percent negative net sentiment. Concerns
over the booking experience and dissatisfactory customer service
drove negative sentiment for Delta.
9 10
We analyzed the relationship between the number of passenger
complaints compared andthe volume of dissatisfied social posts and
found a positive correlation between the number of posts about
customer dissatisfaction and complaints per 100,000 passengers
(reported by the U.S. Department of Transportation). There is
something to be said for a little less conversation: airlines that have the
fewer complaints per 100,000 passengers are also the airlines that have
the lowest post volume about poor customer service. Brands can use
social media data to gauge customers’ pain points and find out what is
working for them and what is not. Overall, the customer dissatisfaction
conversation makes up 2 percent of total conversation, or 20k posts, of
negative discussion.
So how can brands sift through these frustrations to focus on key problems
that they can address? By looking at these conversations at scale, we can start
to see patterns of topics unfold over time. These are the areas where airlines
can build for success over others in the market.
Negative sentiment Positive sentiment

People negatively discussed airlines for the unpleasant aspects of the
flying experience — the overpriced tickets, cumbersome delays, long
hours, substandard customer service, and issues relating to luggage
and seating. Adjectives like “awful,” “horrible,” and “rude” are used to
describe their negative experience.
Richie Treanor
@richietreanor
@united ruining our trip ensuring that all goes wrong. Lost
bags, time. Cust svs unapologetic like incompetence is to be
expected. My bad?
28 Dec 2016
People speak positively about the trip itself — they often look forward
to reaching their destinations, using words like “amazing,” “excited,”
and “fantastic” to express their anticipation. New experiences also bring
joy, like flying for the first time or traveling to a new place. Regarding
specific airline amenities that bring joy, people appreciate good
customer service, comfortable seating, and free food.
Taking these insights in hand, airlines can capitalize on these positive
reactions to make strategic improvements, and address issues/problems to
optimize passengers’ flight experiences.
Radiah
@staradiah301
I love @JetBlue my favorite way to fly plus they have free WiFi ;)
28 Nov 2015

Mark Moss
@mfm89 dmbrandon!!
Extremely disappointed w/ @JetBlue. Not enforcing @juiceDiem
@TSA rules @ gate despite passengers voicing concern.
#SeeSomethingDoNothing? Okay. @AmericanAir went out of their way to be awesome
to a few people. I’m pretty pumped for the flight now
14 Nov 2016
29 Sep 2016

11 12
 Airline Conversation by Content Source (2016) erinpope43: We have a flight refund credit on UA around $13k. We are buying 2 business/
first class tickets to Ireland with it, and there is a $450 per ticket fee, which is fine. We will
Twitter Forums Instagram Facebook
have approx $3000 left. Will we have to pay this $450 fee per ticket if we want to use the
100 2 2 3 1
remaining credit? We were thinking of booking some smaller flights in the US, but the
15 15 10 8 tickets themselves don’t even cost $450 so it would be ridiculous and I guess we will just let
19 the credit expire if that is the case. Ugh!
80
9 Sept 2014, TripAdvisor forum
Post Volume (%)

60

87 91
40 79 83 83

20

0
Delta American United JetBlue Southwest
Airlines Airlines Airlines Airlines Airlines

While the majority of the conversation for the top five airlines occurs
on Twitter, forums are also popular platforms for people to discuss
airlines. Users can divulge the reasons why a flight experience is
satisfactory or dissatisfactory, and discuss that with others. People are
also able to ask questions like how to get the most out of a frequent
flyers program and crowdsource answers.

Airlines Top Forums

The top five forums for each brand are all specifically travel-related
AMERICAN DELTA JETBLUE SOUTHWEST UNITED except Reddit. FlyerTalk is consistently the top forum of choice for
FlyerTalk (86%) FlyerTalk (57%) FlyerTalk (35%) FlyerTalk (29%) FlyerTalk (70%) those discussing airlines, followed by Reddit. Because FlyerTalk is a
Reddit (8%) Reddit (10%) Reddit (12%) Reddit (14%) Reddit (7%)
community for frequent flyers, the advice on FlyerTalk is very specific
to the vast world of frequent flyers, and people who participate in the
Airliners (4%) TripAdvisor (6%) Airliners (8%) TripAdvisor (5%) Airliners (5%)
popular programs can better crowdsource information that suits their
needs.
ckfred: I had AA change my schedule, after a schedule change left only 45 minutes to Some topics people ask about include membership cards for frequent
connect at DFW. Good thing I did, because MOB-DFW was 45 minutes left, meaning I still flyers, booking hotel rooms with the rewards, lounge access, and
have 45 minutes to make my DFW-ORD flight. Because it was spring break, people who
were missing their connections were having problems getting out on later flights that day. dining options. Airliners is a forum dedicated to all things aviation
Another issue is AA’s problems with Republic. I had booked an AA R/T on ORD-IAH for next — in addition to questions about commercial flights and trip reports,
month. Originally, I was on Embrear 175s with Republic. Now, I’m on SkyWest CRJ700s. Last the forum is organized into categories like aviation photography and
year, because of pilot shortages, I had an ORD-IAH R/T swap from E175s to MD-80s.
military aviation. TripAdvisor is a general travel forum that also includes
5 Oct 2016, Airliners forum
a section for air travel.

13 14
Airlines topics and
brand comparisons
There are many topics within the airlines conversation. What airlines
offer the best airfare? Will I get free in-flight WiFi? These weigh on
customers’ minds when they make their decision about which airline
to choose. Blogger The Points Guy identified broader categories like
conveniences and headaches that influence consumer opinion about
an airline. We expanded on those categories, looking at details like
baggage fees, round trip offers, delays and cancellations, flight/seat
upgrades, and more to better understand what customers care about
most.
For this section, we looked at 2016 data for American Airlines, United
Airlines, Southwest Airlines, JetBlue Airlines, and Delta Airlines. Our
analysis is focused on English language posts in the United States.
Airline topics and brand Brand comparisons

comparisons
When looking at all the topics flyers discuss when it comes to
airlines, we bucketed each topic into four main categories — price,
We surfaced the major topics flyers discuss when it comes to airlines conveniences, perks, and headaches — in order to easily compare and
and how those topics have shifted over the past four years. Frequent rank each airline brand.
flyer discussion has the remained the biggest topic of conversation
consistently. However, in 2016, fewer people cared about perks like Passenger Priorities and Concerns
frequent flyer programs (-4%) while more discussion took place about
lounges (+4%). In 2016, more people were concerned about delays PRICE CONVENIENCE HEADACHES PERKS

(+1%) but fewer about cancellations (-1%). Discussion volume on fees Expensive Round trip offers Delays Frequent flyer
airfare/tickets programs
like baggage fee declined (-1%) while discussion on high airfare costs Free WiFi Cancellations
Airline change fees Lounges
increased (+2%). Free food/drink Customer
Baggage fees dissatisfaction First class
Seat/leg room comfort
Airlines Discussion Topics Share of Voice Lost baggage/poor Flight/seat upgrades
On-time flights baggage handling
2012 2016

30%
Frequent Flyer Programs
26% Price is without a doubt an essential component for any passenger
18%
Delays
19%
who wants to fly. Beyond airfare, other common costs like baggage
Cancellations 14% fees can arise. Because affordability is a significant concern, prices can
13%
8%
drive passengers to favor some airlines over others. When choosing a
First class
7% flight, there are a number of aspects to consider, and conveniences like
4%
Customer dissatisfaction
4% round trips or comfortable seating can make the flight more efficient
Lounges 4% and enjoyable.
8%
Round trip offers
4%
5%
People look at airlines’ on-time flights as a measure of airline quality.
3% Could conveniences justify higher prices? Perks extend beyond
Poor baggage handling
2%
conveniences — they are luxuries that people are willing to spend
Expensive airfare 2%
4% more money on for a top-notch flight experience. The frequent flyers
Baggage fees
1%
2%
program, a feature of every major airline, keeps loyal passengers
Free food & drink 2% happy with incentives and exclusive offers. But it is not all positive —
1%
2%
headaches also persist.
Free WiFi
1%
2%
Most passengers desire for a comfortable and safe flight devoid of
Airline change fees
2% baggage mishandling and poor customer service. Looking at how
1%
On-time flights
1% airlines fall short in keeping passengers happy can help brands
Upgrades 1% understand what deters people from flying a certain airline. The data
2%
1% we used for these airlines topics are from 2016.
Seat/leg room comfort
1%

17 18
Price
High prices are a hindrance for travelers and additional fees for airline
change and baggage are wallet-draining nuisances. For expensive
airfare/tickets, Delta is the most discussed, followed by United Airlines
and American Airlines. Lagging far behind American Airlines is JetBlue,
followed by Southwest. For airline change fee, the discrepancy between
the expensive airlines (Delta, United Airlines, and American Airlines) Airlines Price Topics (2016)
and the cost effective ones (JetBlue, Southwest) is far less extreme. For
baggage fees, the number of posts per million is similar for all airlines. Expensive airfare/tickets

Delta Airlines 7.2K

United Airlines 6.7K
American Airlines 5.8K
Glen Howard
JetBlue Airlines 2.4K
@GlenHowardNews
Southwest Airlines 1.8K
SORRY! I paid over $1500 for my @AmericanAir ticket and
you want to charge me 4 extra legroom? My bag cost $25.
How much for the oxygen? Airline change fee

8 Aug 2014 United Airlines 3.2K

American Airlines 2.8K

Delta Airlines 2.1K

Southwest 1.5K
Meghan Keneally JetBlue Airlines 1.3K
@mkeneally
Baggage fees
The worst thing about being organized and booking flights
in advance: @Delta‘s insane $150 change fee #waytoomuch Delta Airlines 2.3K
#boycott
American Airlines 2.2K
13 Aug 2013
Southwest Airlines 2.1K
JetBlue Airlines 1.9K
United Airlines 1.7K

Courtney Forrest
0 2K 4K 6K 8K
@courtyforrest
Posts per million
.@United has a MANDATORY $200 change fee after 24hrs.
BUT this fee is not indicated ANYWHERE on their site or on
ticket. #FAIL
21 Oct 2013

19 20
Conveniences
The more pleasant part of a flight involves conveniences that make the
flight efficient, enjoyable, and entertaining. The most discussed topic
is round trip offers, saving passengers money and time. JetBlue is the
most discussed airline for round trip offers, followed by United Airlines.
The second most discussed topic is free WiFi. It is hard to pry people Airlines Convenience Topics (2016)
away from their digital devices and on long flights, people need WiFi
Round trip offers
to complete work and communicate with others by texting or social
JetBlue 15.2K
media. JetBlue is the most discussed airline for free WiFi, followed United 7.1K
by Southwest. For free food/drink, Southwest is the most discussed, Delta 6.2K
followed by JetBlue. On long flights, people appreciate refreshments. American 6K
JetBlue is the most discussed for seat/leg room comfort. For on time Free WiFi Southwest 3.1K

flights, Delta and Southwest are the most discussed. JetBlue 6.7K
Southwest 1.2K
Delta 1.0K
American .9K
Ashley Marie Free food/drink United .8K
@AshleyKehew JetBlue 3.2K
round trip boston to nashville for $128? oh jet blue, i really Southwest 2.1K
do love you. Delta 2K
2 Nov 2016 American 1.9K
Seat/leg room comfort United 1.4K

JetBlue 2.2K
United 1.6K
Lane Gallett American 1.5K
@LaneGallett Delta 1.3K
On time flights Southwest .6K
#thankful for @SouthwestAir free drink on Thanksgiving
flights! Cheers, everybody! Delta 2.5K
24 Nov 2016 Southwest 1.4K
American 1.2K
United 1.2K
JetBlue .8K
0 4K 8K 12K 16K
Areva Martin, Esq. Posts per million

@ArevaMartin
Great flight @Delta from LA to NYC! On time and excellent
serivce! Ready to take the #BigApple by storm!
15 Nov 2016

21 22
Headaches
When it comes to the topics that make a trip unpleasant and painful,
delays is the most discussed and perhaps also the most frequently
tracked. Southwest receives the most discussion about delays, though
the gap in the number of posts about delays for each airline is small.
JetBlue receives the least discussion about delays. For cancellations,
Airlines Headache Topics (2016)
Delta ranks first, followed by Southwest. For customer dissatisfaction,
there isn’t a large gap in the number of posts for the airlines, but Delays
American Airlines receives the highest number of posts per million. For Southwest 29K

lost baggage/poor baggage handling, American Airlines ranks first. Delta 27K
United 27K
Ameican 25K
JetBlue 19K
Cancellations
Delta 32K
By Food & By Foot
Southwest 26K
@byfoodandbyfoot
American 15K
Never flying @united again. Horrible, rude service and lost
United 13K
bags ruining our trip.
JetBlue 8K
13 Dec 2015 Customer dissatisfaction
American 7K
United 6K
Southwest 5K
Leila Shahrokhi Delta 3K
@CafeAuLei JetBlue 3K
24 hours of travel, 3 delays, 4 flight cancellations/changes, Lost baggage/poor baggage handling
2 lost bags... but we’re finally home. I will never fly @Delta American 4K
again!
United 4K
22 Jul 2016
Southwest 3K
Delta 2K
JetBlue 1K

Ginger Michele 0 5K 10K 15K 20K 25K 30K 35K

@ginger_michele Posts per million
Patience is wearing thin on the delayed flights to LAX tonight.
Namaste @SouthwestAir
30 Oct 2016

23 24
Perks
Airlines’ frequent flyer programs dominate the perks discussion.
Because frequent flyer programs offer incentives to brand loyalists, the
discussion is more prominent compared to other perks like lounges,
first class, and flight/seat upgrades. United Airlines is discussed most
for lounges — the airline is known for its United Club & Airport Lounge.
Southwest, which does not offer lounges, is discussed the least for Airlines Perks Topics (2016)
lounges. For pricier airlines like American Airlines, Delta, and United Frequent flyer program
Airlines, first class is discussed more. The conversation on flight/seat Delta 76K
upgrades is the lowest. Delta ranks the first for the conversation on American 38.6K
flight/seat upgrades. JetBlue 34.5K
United 29.4K
Southwest 15K
Lounges
United 14.6K
Chris Allen American 14.4K
@ChrisPAllen Delta 10.9K

Thank you #AmericanAirlines I appreciate the first class JetBlue 2.7K

upgrade on flight 5928 Southwest 1K
First class
29 Aug 2016
American 16.1K
Delta 12K
United 9.6K
Melissa B.
JetBlue 3.6K
@MelissaNYCGal
Southwest 1.8K
@AmericanAir Thanks for the surprise first class upgrade Flight/seat upgrades
from MSY-LAX! Awesome service and food on flight 2580. Delta 3.5K
27 Jun 2016 American 3.3K
United 2.7K
JetBlue 1K

Carrie Southwest 300

@ComediaCarrie 0 10K 20K 30K 40K 50K 60K 70K 80K

Scored 1st class upgrade on @Delta flight! Hell yeah sweet Posts per million
leg room, wine, bananas... what I imagine heaven to be. (Cue
fluttering pigeons)
27 Jan 2016

25 26
 Airline Categories Overview Brand Rankings (2016)
Perks
Delta 102.3K
American 72.4K
United 56.3K

Ranking overview JetBlue 41.8K

Southwest 18.1K
Overall, perks yields the highest discussion in terms of post volume, Headaches

which can be explained by the popularity of frequent flyers programs. Delta 64.1K
Southwest 64K
Delta ranks first for perks discussion due to its popular SkyMiles FF
American 53.4K
program and complimentary amenities like free entertainment and
United 49.9K
WiFi. For headaches, defined as inconveniences like delayed flights,
JetBlue 45.1K
Delta and Southwest are tied for first place. Conveniences yields the Conveniences
third most discussion in terms of post volume — people care about JetBlue 27.1K
efficiency and safety throughout the entire flying experience. JetBlue Delta 12.9K
ranks far ahead of the other airlines for a comfortable ride, round United 12.7K
trip offers, and free wifi, resulting in them “winning” the conveniences American 10.9K
category. For prices, United Airlines and Delta are tied for first place. Southwest 9.6K
Prices
JetBlue and Southwest, the affordable airlines, rank fourth and fifth for
United 11.7K
the price discussion.
Delta 11.6K
American 10.8K
JetBlue 5.6K
Southwest 5.3K

0 40K 80K 120K

Posts per million

27 28
Demographics

Age Demographics Gender Demographics

17 and below 18-24 25-34 35 and above Male Female

Delta 6% 16% 14% 64% Southwest 57% 43%

Delta 57% 43%

Southwest Airlines 4 11% 18% 67%

JetBlue 55% 45%

American Airlines 5 10% 17% 68%

American 52% 48%

JetBlue Airlines 5 9% 16% 71%

United 50% 50%

United Airlines 5 8% 14% 74%

The majority of those discussing airline brands are 35 and above. United Airlines has an even male/female split. The rest of the airlines
feature more conversation from males than females.

29 30
 American Airlines vs United Airlines Affinities
American United
Digital media Marriot
2x more vs United 1,000x more vs American
Affinities Church Southwest Airlines
3x more 44x more

JetBlue vs Southwest Affinities Theology Business Travel

3x more 40x more
JetBlue Southwest Texas Forbes
Vacation Wildlife 3x more 32x more
2x more vs Southwest 385x more vs JetBlue
Dallas Software Development
Innovation Conservation 8x more 15x more
2x more 206x more
Miami Boeing
Digital Media Nature 56x more 2x more
2x more 42x more
Filmmaking Aircraft
Miami Dallas 291x more 2x more
3x more 31x more
Dailymile Houston
Boston Deals 1,000x more About the same
5x more 10x more
New England Reporter Those discussing American Airlines are more religious — they are
10x more 10x more
interested in church and theology. They are also more interested in
New York City Las Vegas
11x more 10x more
creative pursuits like filmmaking. Those discussing United Airlines
Brookyln Nashville
have more business-oriented interests, indicated by their discussion of
11x more 7x more business travel and Forbes.

People discussing JetBlue have more urban interests, indicated by Brand profiles
their mentions of Brooklyn, New York City, Boston, and Miami. They
By analyzing the interests of large numbers of consumers discussing
are also more interested in technology, indicated by their discussion of
airlines, we were able to come up with “brand profiles” for the major
digital media and innovation. Those discussing Southwest have greater
airline brands and their audiences.
interests in nature and outdoorsy subjects — the top three topics
for them are wildlife, conservation, and nature. They are also more
Buyer Behavior (By Airline Brand)
interested in trips to the South, discussing Dallas and Nashville.
AMERICAN DELTA JETBLUE SOUTHWEST UNITED
Interested in Popular but Interested in urban Interested in midwest Interested in
southern problematic destinations and southern business travel
destinations frequent flyer destinations
Inexpensive airfare Expensive airfare
program
Popular frequent Inexpensive airfare
Known for free WiFi Known for lounges
flyers program Many complaints Many complaints
about cancellation Frequent flyers Poor customer
Dissatisfactory about delays
program only has service
customer service Expensive airfare one tier of Good customer
membership service

31 32
Frequent flyers program
No major airlines brand is complete without a frequent flyers program.
Designed to retain loyal customers, there is a strong frequent flyers
conversation on social, with a number of forums dedicated to
discussing the pros and cons for different frequent flyers programs.
In the overall airlines conversation, frequent flyers makes up 11
percent share of voice. We looked at conversation volume, sentiment,
discussion topics, then compared the brands on topics like cards,
spending/redeeming miles, upgrades, elite membership, and hotel
deals.
For this section, we looked at 2016 data for American Airlines, United
Airlines, Southwest Airlines, JetBlue Airlines, and Delta Airlines. Our
analysis is focused on English language posts in the United States.
Frequent Flyers Program
The frequent flyers programs, designed to incentivize people to
remain loyal to an airline, does not always strike a positive chord with
customers. While there is plenty of discussion about frequent flyers
programs, much of the discussion is negative especially for Delta and
AA.

Airlines Frequent Flyers Discussion (2016)

Frequent Flyer Discussion (2016)

American Airlines Aadvantage 56K

11%
Delta SkyMiles 34K

Frequent flyer discussion United Airlines Mileageplus 29K

All airlines discussion

JetBlue TrueBlue 17K

89%
Southwest Rapid Rewards 10K

0 20K 40K 60K

Post volume

In 2016, American Airlines had the most discussion about their

frequent flyer program, with 56k posts — followed by Delta, United
Airlines, JetBlue, then Southwest.

35 36
 American Airlines acquiring U.S. Airways in 2015 impacted some of
the frequent flyers conversation in 2016, with 8 percent of discussion
Airlines Frequent Flyers Sentiment (2016) about U.S. Airways out of the overall American Airlines frequent flyers
conversation. People wanted to be optimistic about the merger, but
Negative Positive
many ended up being disappointed about the changes, citing higher
cost for lower quality flights as a major concern.
Delta SkyMiles -25 11
United Airlines has 7 percent net negative sentiment. People express
American Airlines
-23 16 frustration over the sign-in system and lack of online security. On
AAdvtange
United Airlines, rewards can be used for flights, hotels, and train fares.
United Airlines
-20 13
However, the lifespan of the miles is limited -- they expire in 18 months
MileagePlus
of account inactivity.
Southwest Rapid
Rewards -20 26 Southwest has 6 percent net positive sentiment. People have
positive things to say about using miles for business travel with the
JetBlue TrueBlue -16 22 business travel card, noting that Southwest is their preferred airline for
business travel. They praise the flexibility of the Business Select option.
-30% -20% -10% 0 10% 20% 30% Additionally, because those who travel for business may fly more
often, it makes economic sense to select a cheaper preferred airline.
For Southwest, additional perks include being able to earn rewards in
Delta is the most negatively discussed airline when it comes to flights and hotels and no blackout dates. A detriment of Southwest is
frequent flyers programs, with 14 percent net negative sentiment. that the airline only offers two flights outside of the United States —
Problems related to credit cards anger customers. For some, their Mexico and Caribbean.
credit cards are ineligible for benefits unless they use an AMEX charge
JetBlue has 6 percent net positive sentiment. For JetBlue, people are
card and for others, benefits are not honored. On the positive side,
able to earn rewards through social media and there are no blackout
miles do not expire on Delta and elite members receive unlimited
dates. There is only one elite membership tier, which is a concern for
complimentary upgrades.
some who wish for more options. Consumers who have the status
American Airlines has 7 percent net negative sentiment. American enjoy the privileges, while many of those who don’t ask questions
Airlines’ change to its frequent flyers program in June 2016 annoyed about how to reach that status.
some passengers who claimed that it only benefits those who fly for
business travel. Much to customers’ dismay, American Airlines made
another change shortly after. The frequent flyers program switched
to revenue-based in August 2016, meaning miles are awarded based
on dollars rather than the number of miles flown. On American
Airlines, miles can be redeemed for air travel, hotel rooms, car rentals,
vacations, and retail products, which resonates well with flyers.
Passengers like the wide range of options for how to spend their miles.

37 38
Each airline’s frequent flyers program is unique and has its own
strengths and weaknesses. However, there are several topics that
were most prominently discussed on social about all frequent flyers
programs: membership cards, spending/redeeming miles/points,
upgrades, elite membership, and hotel deals.

Airlines Frequent Flyers Topics Share of Voice (2016)

Jesse Vincent @obra - 29 Aug 2016
I really used to enjoy flying @AmericanAir

American Airlines @AmericanAir - 29 Aug 2016

We’re sorry for the possible miscommunication, but we’re not showing row 17 as
a Main Cabin Extra.

33%
Jesse Vincent @obra - 29 Aug 2016 31%

yup. Checkin agent Diane? at BOS swore up and down that it was. Also that 1622
ORD-SFO was sold out in F when I asked.
14%
12%
9%
American Airlines @AmericanAir - 29 Aug 2016
We’ll be sure to pass along our comments to our leaders in BOS for internal Cards Spending/ Upgrades Elite Hotel
review. Our apologies again if any wrong info was given. redeeming membership deals
miles

Jesse Vincent @obra - 29 Aug 2016

thanks. I’ve been an AADvantage member since ‘92. Every trip used to be a joy.
Since the merger, things have been kinda rough.

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 kels
@knpslip
Airlines Frequent Flyers Topics (2016) After hearing about yet ANOTHER act of racist discrimination
Cards from @Delta, I’m officially terminating my SkyMiles account.
#DoneWithDelta
JetBlue 329
United 68 21 Dec 2016
Delta 44
American 41
Southwest 31
Spending/redeeming miles Adriana
JetBlue 193 @adriana_tweets
United 136
Terrible changes to the #AAdvantage program. Rich spend
Delta 81 more get more benefits. Working shmucks who spend our
American 52 lives traveling coach get #@$&
Southwest 20
Upgrades 6 Jun 2016
JetBlue 148
United 35
Delta 22 Airline credit cards all differ, but they are built on the premise that
American 11 users can use the cards to lessen the burden on flight logistics and
Southwest 8
Elite membership
receive rewards.
JetBlue 133 Airlines will offer certain credit cards partnering with credit card
United 16
15
companies. American Airlines has the AAdvantage Credit Card offered
Delta
American 15 through Citi with three tiers (executive, platinum select, and Citi
Southwest 11 Business platinum select), United Airlines has an array of tiers for its
Hotel deals MileagePlus Credit Card, Delta’s program is called Delta SkyMiles Credit
JetBlue 44
34
Cards from American Express with three tiers, JetBlue has the JetBlue
United
Delta 27 Card offered through Master Card, and Southwest offers the Southwest
American 22 Rapid Rewards Visa Credit Card with three tiers.
Southwest 7
American Airlines has the most discussed card program on social
0 100 150 200 250 300 350 media. Consumers have many questions about the benefits of owning
Posts per thousand
an AAdvantage Credit Card, particularly about which tier they should
choose. People also have many complaints about the AAdvantage
Credit Card, lambasting it for failing to deliver promised benefits.
American Airlines is talked about most in every category. Only for hotel
deals is the conversation gap between American Airlines and the rest of People discuss MileagePlus Credit Card for evaluating whether they
the airlines relatively small. should sign up for one. For example, people evaluated on forums the
routes they travel the most, their home airport, and the frequent flyers
perks they care about the most to decide whether they should sign up
for a MileagePlus Credit Card.
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Spending miles/points is a core component of any frequent flyers Elite membership is a special class of flyers within the frequent flyers
program. With the miles accumulated, passengers can spend their program. Elite status opens up perks that the average frequent flyers
miles on an array of items. These can range from everyday purchases, member cannot access, like special hotel deals. American Airlines leads
like charcoal grills, to airline-specific purchases, like cheaper flights. this topic. Flyers post on forums to evaluate whether or not the highest
AA tiers are worth it. Others complain about AA elite status falling short
American Airlines is discussed the most when flyers talk about
of expectations, like being denied a premium seat. Southwest has the
cashing in on miles or points — much of the conversation is centered
second highest discussion on elite membership. People ask questions
around a change they introduced in 2016, switching from awarding
about where to spend their miles as an elite user.
miles based on dollars spent rather than miles flown. Many were
outraged at this change. United Airlines is the second most discussed Oftentimes miles can be used on hotel room bookings. A question
airline for spending miles/points. The conversation topics focused on people frequently ask is which hotels they can spend their miles on. For
crowdsourcing for ideas on where to spend the miles and getting the this topic, the discrepancy between the number of posts for different
best return on investment, listing options like airlines and hotels. airlines is the lowest, since people like to evaluate all major airlines in
forum discussion to see which FF program offers the best deals with
People can use frequent flyers programs to their advantage by
hotels. Even so, American Airlines still ranks first. People ask questions
upgrading, and upgrading to first class is prominently discussed
about the American Express Platinum points transfers and question
on social. While American Airlines dominates the discussion about
whether or not it provides value. For JetBlue, which ranks the second
upgrades, conversation is not entirely positive. People express
highest, the popularity of the JetBlue Mosaic Match/Challenge 2016
frustration about the high prices for upgrades and logistical nightmares.
drove high discussion levels, incentivizing flyers to earn points to reach
However, it is not all negative — some people enjoy cashing in on seat
Mosaic status.
upgrades. United Airlines is the second most discussed for upgrades.
People discuss how United is comparatively better than other airlines
for seat upgrades, warning that competitors American Airlines and
Delta may sell reserved seats.

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Frequent Flyer programs competitor comparisons
When looking at discussion volume comparing frequent flyer programs
to competitors, there are some surprising findings. When flyers talk
about Southwest’s Rapid Rewards program, they most frequently
mention United Airlines’ MileagePlus. But when flyers discuss United
Airlines’ MileagePlus, AAdvantage and Rapid Rewards are equally
compared back to UA. Delta’s SkyMiles program is most frequently Posts Mentioning Competitor Frequent Flyer Program (2016)
mentioned with AAdvantage. JetBlue, on the other hand, is not Perks
frequently discussed when it comes to comparing FF programs to each United Airlines MileagePlus 52K
other. American Airlines AAdvantage 23K
Delta SkyMiles 18K
Kenny King Jr JetBlue TrueBlue 11K
Headaches
@NewKungFuKenny
United Airlines MileagePlus 19K
Nothing better than frequent flyer miles for work travel on
American Airlines AAdvantage 19K
@SouthwestAir
Delta SkyMiles 14K
13 May 2016
JetBlue TrueBlue 6K
Conveniences
United Airlines MileagePlus 21K
American Airlines AAdvantage 13K
Jason Stiwald @Stwald216 - 22 Dec 2016 Delta SkyMiles 5K
Done flying @United what’s the point of mileageplus if you can’t use them for JetBlue TrueBlue 4K
anything Prices
United Airlines MileagePlus 10K
American Airlines AAdvantage 9K
Jason Stiwald @Stwald216 - 22 Dec 2016 Delta SkyMiles 8K
trying to use miles to book flights for our honeymoon. First class? Waitlist even JetBlue TrueBlue 7K
though all seats are available. Prices
United Airlines MileagePlus 14K
American Airlines AAdvantage 10K
United @United - 22 Dec 2016 Delta SkyMiles 4K

Hi Jason, while you may see available seats on the seat map, it may just mean JetBlue TrueBlue 5K
there are passengers wh... ual.response.lithium.comportal/convers... 0 20K 40K 60K
Posts per million

Jason Stiwald @Stwald216 - 22 Dec 2016

no thanks, I’m flying Delta.

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Destinations
While travel has become far more complicated than getting from point
A to point B, an airline’s ability to service certain destinations remains
important to customers. We looked at each major airline brand’s top
destinations.
For this section, we looked at 2010-2016 data for American Airlines,
United Airlines, Southwest Airlines, JetBlue Airlines, and Delta Airlines.
Our analysis is focused on English language posts in the United States.
 Airlines Top Destinations (2016)
American Airlines
Los Angeles 30
Dallas 26
New York City 24
London 19
Delta
Atlanta 41

Destinations New York City

Detroit 19
26

Domestic flights are more discussed than international flights for Tokyo 14
JetBlue
these airlines. With the exception of London, Tokyo, and Havana, the
New York City 44
most discussed flight destinations are to large cities in the United
Boston 35
States. There are regional differences between the airlines for the
top destinations. For Delta, top destinations are cities along the east Miami 14

coast - Atlanta and New York City. The same holds true for JetBlue, Havana 7
Southwest
where people talk about flying to New York City, Boston, and Miami.
Los Angeles 29
Top discussed Southwest destinations are west coast, midwest, and
Las Vegas 27
southern states. United Airlines and American Airlines discussion is
Chicago 24
centered on major west coast and east coast cities.
Dallas 21
United Airlines
San Francisco 28
Los Angeles 26
Newark 24
New York City 21

0 10 20 30 40 50
Share of Voice Comparison (%)

49 50
Conclusion
Flying is more than getting from one place to another. Along the
way, there are multiple facets that can a trip more complicated
and cumbersome or more efficient and enjoyable. Looking at the To learn more about how social media analytics
conversation on social media can help uncover some insights about
can help you better understand evolving
what passengers care about and why. We are also able to see how
different airlines compare in topics ranging from airfare to lost consumer trends across the globe, schedule a
baggage. For airline brands, listening to what their customers are customised demo today.
saying about them on social media can help brands navigate the
intensely competitive aviation industry.
Request a Demo

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