I talk a lot about Air New Zealand. After flying around 200000 kilometers with them last year, and being well on my way to doing more than that this year, I speak from experience. So.. here’s a couple of examples why.
Take a flight within New Zealand on AirNZ and you’re not greeted by a crusty safety message – rather you’re entertained by some authentic Air New Zealand staff, airbrushed for the occasion:
But it goes further than that - just the other day Air New Zealand announced a proposed alliance between themselves and budget Australian carrier, Virgin Blue. A magazine here in New Zealand wrote an editorial criticizing the move and suggesting that service on Air New Zealand would be downgraded if the alliance went ahead. Rather than releasing a boring press release, Air New Zealand decided to have some fun with their response. The following is Air New Zealand CEO Rob Fyfe giving a quintessentially Kiwi response to the magazine’s assertions:
So, yet again, congrats Air New Zealand – you guys really understand engaging directly with customers and harnessing the power of the network.
Oh and just to balance my parochialism somewhat, a bit of credit where credit is due. Southwest do a pretty good video themselves….
Cross posted @ CloudAve
Ben Kepes is an analyst, an entrepreneur, a commentator and a business adviser. His business interests include a diverse range of industries from manufacturing to property to technology. As a technology commentator he has a broad presence both in the traditional media and extensively online. Ben covers the convergance of technology, mobile, ubiquity and agility, all enabled by the Cloud. His areas of interest extend to enterprise software, software integration, financial/accounting software, platforms and infrastructure as well as articulating technology simply for everyday users. 
Hi Ben
I was marooned in the UK for an extra 9 days in April thanks the Iceland volcano. I was flying Qantas in a bid to use up about 15 years worth of airpoints. Notwithstanding that, my best source of information on what was going on was Air NZ. They provided prompt and timely information via Twitter and also online. So I would get the information that Air NZ flights were cancelled and have to assume that Qantas was as well. Qantas didn't seem to be using twitter. And were fairly ad hoc in updating their website – with a tone that got increasingly terse. They tracked several hours behind Air NZ in their online updates and in fact seem to take a couple of days before they even had a link to the flight disruption page posted from their home page.
Well done to Air NZ I say.
Caroline
Great thougts, couldn't agree more. Many thanks….