It's been six months since Kingfisher Airlines (KFA) started making headlines for its financial woes and in this period its social brand value on social networking sites has also suffered a blow. While it made an ostentatious entry in Twitter in 2009, the messy state of affairs of the airlines has triggered a surge of negative comments for KFA that had built a brand for itself in service and quality over the years.

Twitter is abuzz with tweets on KFA from angry passengers to the loyalists of KFA who wish to see the good old days of the airlines back again. In the past few weeks, the cash-strapped KFA's flight schedules were seriously affected on account of its mounting debts and pending problems with various Government departments.

The cancellations of the flights led to a barrage of tweets in the social networking site. Many disgruntled passengers tweeted about being delayed because their flights have been cancelled while others have turned caustic. One tweeted: “There was a bird sitting in my balcony. I went close, very close to it. But it refused to fly. Then I realised it's a Kingfisher!” Some of the other tweets doing the rounds were: If Kingfisher can't shut down, then at least it should be given a chance at surviving in someone else's hands.

Celebrities too joined the bandwagon and started voicing their views on KFA and its conditions. In the recent past, actress Ayesha Takia had expressed her strong-worded displeasure over alleged misdemeanour on part of the ground staff of KFA with her sister at Delhi airport.

The issue became a hot topic on Twitter taking the war of words to a high pitch. Close on heels of this, filmmaker Anurag Kashyap tweeted that he had a “terrible experience” while flying on Kingfisher Airlines.

> niveditag@thehindu.co.in

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