Ever since Elon Musk completed his acquisition of Twitter in October 2022, the platform that he then renamed to X has gone through some pretty drastic changes.
On top of losing approximately 25% of its active daily users in the U.S. in the two years that followed, X has experienced a diminished reputation with some companies as a primary place where they communicate with their customers.
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Austrian Airlines says it ‘took a moment to locate the nearest X-it’
At the end of October, Lufthansa (DLAKF) -owned Austrian Airlines made a final X post saying that it “took a moment to locate the nearest X-it.”
A spokesperson further explained that “Austrian Airlines is leaving the platform X, as an increasing spread of hate, agitation, and disinformation is perceptible and this is not compatible with our values.”
The airline added that it would continue to communicate with travelers on platforms such as TikTok, Meta’s (META) Instagram and Facebook, and LinkedIn.
Austrian Airlines was acquired by Lufthansa in 2009 but, along with Swiss Air, has been maintained as a flagship carrier and separate brand for tourists who want to fly into the country with an airline that has “Austrian” in its name.
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While not all airlines have been as active in announcing it, many have become significantly less active on the social media platform over the last two years.
Other Lufthansa brands such as SWISS, Brussels Airlines, EuroWings and Lufthansa itself are still maintaining their accounts on X but have generally scaled down their presence on it.
Dear guests, you can stay connected with us on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook & LinkedIn. Feel free to reach out anytime via our Austrian App or at https://t.co/YLEBDoRZ3z. pic.twitter.com/nzurTdxHOb
— Austrian Airlines (@_austrian) October 31, 2024
These are the other airlines that significantly scaled down their social media presence recently
While it still posts regular updates, United Airlines (UAL) suspended its advertising on X at the end of 2022. Air France and KLM, both part of the Air France-KLM (AFRAF) group, announced that they stopped communicating with customers directly on X in 2023 after Musk implemented changes charging for such features.
“Since Twitter has changed their conditions, our customer service by direct message on this network is unavailable,” Air France said at the time.
Threads, the Meta social media platform that launched in the summer of 2023 and has been quickly growing in popularity amid the Twitter exodus, is yet to catch on as a significant platform for airlines.
United and Delta Air Lines (DAL) have accounts on which they do not post regularly. United’s last post was in July 2024, while Delta has made a few posts after joining in 2023 but has not been active since.
Ryanair (RYAOF) , the Dublin-based airline known for its innovative social media strategy and use of self-deprecating humor, is one of the most active airlines on the platform.
“Imagine hating me and I'm just travelling around Europe for €14.99,” Ryanair writes in its most recent Threads post.
“It’s never okay to take your shoes off onboard btw,” reads another post upvoted by more than 7,300 people.
Another report by social media analytics company Emplifi calculated that Instagram was the social media platform through which travelers with questions were most likely to get a response from the airline — 27% of those who contacted a main U.S. airline through Instagram’s direct message got a response.
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