Singapore Airlines has issued an apology for their social media posts, made in the wake of Malaysian jetliner MH17 being shot down, which received intense scrutiny for being insensitive.
After the Malaysia Airlines plane went down over Ukraine with 298 people on board on Thursday, postings on Facebook and Twitter from Singapore Airlines claimed that its flights do not fly across Ukrainian airspace.
The remarks received hundreds of scathing comments across the social media platforms, from people both offended by the airliners lack of ‘ethics’ and others who claimed their post’s claims were false.
‘I don’t think their comment was to advertise or boast their flight routes as much as it was to ease the tension of the hundreds of passengers that are scheduled to fly out to other countries over the next few days,’ Karishma Sharma wrote on Facebook.
On Saturday, Singapore Airlines apologized and tried to clarify its remarks.
‘We are aware of that our Facebook and Twitter update on Friday morning may have come across as insensitive to some. The post was in response to many requests from our customers who had asked for information about our flight routes for their upcoming flights with us,’ Singapore Airlines said in an email to The Associated Press.
‘We recognize that the information could have been better communicated and we sincerely apologize if it had offended our customers and anyone else in the online community,’ it said.
But SIA’s first posting continued to attract comments. Even as many netizens condemned the airline, others came out in support of SIA for keeping customers informed.
Singapore Airlines (SIA) has apologised for its Facebook and Twitter postings following the crash of a Malaysia
Airlines flight on Thursday, July 17, 2014, and admitted that it could have been more sensitive in dealing with the matter. -- ST PHOTO: MUGILAN RAJASEGERAN
SINGAPORE - Singapore Airlines (SIA) has apologised for its Facebook and Twitter postings following the crash of a Malaysia Airlines flight on Thursday and admitted that it could have been more sensitive in dealing with the matter.
In response to queries from The Straits Times, a spokesman said on Saturday that the airline was aware the postings "may have come across as insensitive to some".
She added: "We recognise that the information could have been better communicated and we sincerely apologise if it had offended our customers and anyone else in the online community."
Following the crash of MH17 which was apparently shot down while flying over eastern Ukraine, SIA posted a Facebook message to say: "Customers may wish to note that Singapore Airlines flights are not using Ukraine airspace."
It sparked an avalance of comments from netizens who blasted the carrier for being insensitive. An hour and a half later, SIA put up another posting, this time to say: "Our thoughts are with the passengers and crew of MH17 and their families."
But SIA's first posting continued to attract comments. Even as many netizens condemned the airline, others came out in support of SIA for keeping customers informed.
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