Due to the cloud of volcanic ashes caused by the eruption of volcano Eyjafjalla in Iceland, flights all over Europe were delayed or cancelled and all information systems of the airlines came to a standstill, leaving most of the passengers and relatives lacking information.But there was a place where people could indeed find the information: SOCIAL NETWORKS. Some passengers, airports authorities and some meteorological centers and volcano experts were posting all the information they had in real time on Twitter and Facebook.So, what did we do?1. Follow all the references about flights and the cloud of volcanic ash we found on social networks.2. Validate the information checking the different channels3. Organize the information and share it turning social networks into information channels about Spanair flights.

We replied to 100% of the clients’ claims on the social networks during the air crisis, achieving the greatest increase of followers (+200%) due to a specific action. Our reach was 19,000% greater than before the crisis.

We tracked, identified, checked, reorganized and published the information we found on the internet to support our users in real time. How?• We followed both international and national Twitter users posting information about the situation and their flight experiences in order to obtain information and reorganize it.• We increased our activity levels on social network sites by providing the information in real time. We created posts not only about cancelled flights, but about the ash crisis too, and replied to questions and claims.• We transferred the customer support service to the social networks to reply to all those users unable to contact us through the call center.• We kept in touch with the clients to solve their issues.

• We replied to 100% of the questions. There was no claim or issue from the clients to whom we didn’t reply.• Our number of followers on Facebook increased by 133%. Followers after the ash crisis: 7890 fans. Before the crisis: 5934.• Thanks to these posts and related comments on social networks our reach increased 3.91% reaching 260,957 users.• Our number of followers on Twitter increased by 262%• Followers after the ash crisis: 1.669 followers. Before the crisis: 637• Lists after the crisis: 148 lists. Before the crisis: 74.