Airlines embrace Whatsapp...but not so fast

Airlines exploring new ways to reach out to their customers.

With Twitter becoming already standard procedure, it is now the turn of Whatsapp.

KLM (who else?) started to trial the instant messaging app for customer service pruposes, however the results seem to be mixed so far.

A source at the Dutch flag carrier confirmed they regard Whatsapp as promising for airline service, yet, came across some obstacles, such as the app's api features being far from ideal for KLM's huge request volumes. 

KLM keeps its Whatsapp channel, but has limited it to some corporate clients so far. 

This has not deterred its subsidiary Transavia from launching recently its own Whatsapp customer service line. Will see how it goes...

Interestingly, Ryanair's CMO, Kenny Jacobs, also mentioned Whatsapp as one of theost promising platforms his company has identified in this very interesting interview on Skift. Curiosly enough, the Irish budget carrier is also monitoring with interest, with a view to using it for commercial purposes, Snapchat and...Tinder!