For Some Travelers Stranded in Airports, Relief Is in 140 Characters

By KIM SEVERSON December 29, 2010

ATLANTA - Some travelers stranded by the great snowstorm of 2010 discovered a new lifeline for help. When all else fails, Twitter might be the best way to book a seat home.

While the airlines' reservation lines required hours of waiting - if people could get through at all - savvy travelers were able to book new reservations, get flight information and track lost luggage. And they could complain, too.

Since Monday, nine Delta Air Lines agents with special Twitter training have been rotating shifts to help travelers wired enough to know how to "dm," or send a direct message. Many other airlines are doing the same as a way to help travelers cut through the confusion of a storm that has grounded thousands of flights this week.

But not all travelers, of course. People who could not send a Twitter message if their life depended on it found themselves with that familiar feeling that often comes with air travel - being left out of yet another inside track to get the best information.

For those in the digital fast lane, however, the online help was a godsend.

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(soap box mode on) In my senior citizen/consumer advocate opinion, this amounts to an unfair advantage for those who choose to pay for text messaging. Although I am a senior, I have always been an early adapter. HP-35 calculator in 1972. Kaypro II CPM computer with 1200 baud modem, circa 1980. Vonage customer since their inception. I effectively fought the California PUC on their early regressive position on Caller ID in 1996-97 by becoming an intervenor in their first Caller ID case (after they lost their fight with the FCC to not offer Caller ID in California.)

I bought an Apple G3 Iphone 2 years ago and my wife has a plain vanilla Motorola wireless phone on AT&T's family plan. But, we blocked text messaging because it is useless to us and would only expose us to unsolicited commercial messages on our dime. So, we would be left out in the cold with this latest airline scheme. Of course, I can do email with my Iphone. It would seem that if Delta Airlines, and other carriers, are going to open Twitter as a portal(end run) around long lines or clogged reservation telephone lines, then in fairness they should place email communications right up there with Twitter. (soap box mode off)