Table 4.

Airline social media responses and SCCT strategies.

Response category	Airline (s)	Social Media	Corresponding findings/examples
Instructing and Adjusting (base response)	Air France TAP Portugal Turkish Airlines Finnair KLM Swiss	Facebook (May 15, 2020) Facebook (March 11, 2020) Twitter (March 26, 2020) Twitter (March 9, 2020) Twitter (March 25, 2020) Twitter (Feb. 4, 2020)	“To ensure you travel in complete safety, body temperature checks by infrared thermometer are being gradually deployed on departure of all of our flights. Passengers whose temperature exceeds 38C (100F) will not be able to board and will be able to postpone their trip free of charge.” “The health and safety of our customers and crew are TAP's priority. Through daily preventive disinfection, our specialized flight cleaning teams continue to ensure, with reinforcement due to the pandemic, that passengers who are soon to board one of our flights will have all the necessary conditions to make a safe flight.” “With HEPA filters, we renew the air in our aircraft every 3 min and keep the air quality always at a high level for you.” “We are cancelling our flights to/from Milan March 7- April and to/from Rome 12 March 7- April.” “CHECK YOUR FLIGHT STATUS- Due to travel restrictions and cancellations, our operation has changed. Always check your ‘flight status’ page, as flights ae subject to change and push messages may come with a delay.” “SWISS decided to extend flight suspensions to and from Beijing and Shanghai until 29 February. Flight operations to and from Hong Kong will continue as planned.”
Ingratiation	Air France Eurowings Swiss	Facebook (April 7, 2020) Twitter (April 4, 2020) Twitter (May 7, 2020)	“Every day, our teams receive many messages of support. We sincerely thank you for all these wonderfully heartwarming words. Air Franc and all its teams are fully mobilized to provide you optimum support and assistance and answer all your questions.” “It's time to say THANK YOU! All Eurowings colleagues on the ground and in the air understand only too well that the situation is not always easy for our passengers at the moment.” “SWISS and Edelweiss are thankful that both chambers of the Swiss Federal Assembly have approved by clear majorities the guarantee credit to help Swiss air transport cope with the consequences of the current coronavirus crisis.”
Victimage	British Airways KLM TAP Portugal	Facebook (April 9, 2020) Facebook (April 29, 2020) Twitter (April 1, 2020)	“We'll never stop dreaming of creating wonderful memories for our customers, but we know that now is not the time to travel. When our aircraft are cleared for take-off once again, we will be ready to fly and serve. From our family to yours, thank you. We love you Britain, and will see you very soon.” “For over a hundred years it's been our passion to fly you to the most beautiful places in the world. However, under the current circumstances, we're not able to fly you everywhere. That's why we've decided to bring a piece of our homeland to you.” “Today we say ‘See You Soon’ on behalf of the entire TAP family … We were born to fly and we are sure that soon we will have the pleasure of welcoming you on board again. Let us take care of each other. Together, we ill fly over borders and obstacles again.”
Reminder	EasyJet Iberia	Facebook (March 17, 2020) Facebook (May 6, 2020)	“We would like to reassure you that the safety, health, and wellbeing of our passengers and crew always has been, and always will be, our number one priority. Thanks for your support during this time.” “Security has always been part of our DNA. However, today we have to adapt our protocol and protect ourselves.”
Compensation	EasyJet Eurowings	Facebook (April 30, 2020) Twitter (April 23, 2020)	“Has your flight been cancelled? Get a little ‘easyJet extra’ towards your next trip when you choose a voucher.” “You have booked a flight for May or June and no longer wish to travel on that date? You can easily rebook or request a flight voucher.”
Apology	Alitalia Iberia	Facebook (March 17, 2020) Instagram (April 20, 2020)	“We apologise for the difficulties reaching our call centre.” “We are sorry to make you wait while we resolve your travel incidents.”
Justification	Air France British Airways	Facebook (April 23, 2020) Twitter (March 13, 2020)	“Our teams have been reinforced and remain mobilized on a daily basis to answer your queries as soon as possible. However, the number of requests remains extremely high.” “We understand that many of our customers have questions about this fast-moving situation. We've brought in extra teams to help, but please bear with us, it's taking longer than usual.”
Scapegoat	Finnair Iberia	Twitter (March 20, 2020) Press room (Feb. 6, 2020)	“We are adjusting our European traffic in April due to the impacts of the coronavirus. We are decreasing the seat capacity of our European traffic in April by over 20 per cent.” “Because of the coronavirus epidemic alert, the situation caused by the coronavirus outbreak in China has led Iberia to expand the interruption of its Madrid-Shanghai service until the end of April.”