Finnair claimed not flying over Ukraine - proved wrong
Jul 22, 2014, 8:21 am
#1
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Finnair claimed not flying over Ukraine - proved wrong
Finnair denies flying over Ukraine - disputes info on flightradar - claims safety is top priority - is proven wrong - blames internal communication error.
Well Finnair, with claims like this, should we believe you are running a reliable airline?
Source: http://yle.fi/uutiset/finnair_admits...lunder/7363384
Finland’s national air carrier was forced to issue an apology and correction after wrongly claiming not to fly through Ukrainian airspace in the wake of Thursday’s alleged shooting down of a passenger plane. Despite posting the incorrect claim in English, the airline only admitted to its mistake in Finnish
In a tweet issued hours after the crash was reported, Finnair had originally said: "For those of you wondering, Finnair does not fly over Ukraine. Your safety is our top priority."
Twitter users, however, quickly pointed out that the Flightradar aircraft tracking website appears to show Finnair flights continuing to use Ukrainain airspace.
Further denial
Finnair then issued a further denial on the social networking site, posting: “Flightradar is inaccurate and does not take into account the fact that the world is round.
.”
Further denial
Finnair then issued a further denial on the social networking site, posting: “Flightradar is inaccurate and does not take into account the fact that the world is round.
.”
Source: http://yle.fi/uutiset/finnair_admits...lunder/7363384
Jul 22, 2014, 9:35 am
#2
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My guess would be that this was a case of an overly enthusiastic and quite possibly misinformed social media representative acting without clearance, rather than an intentional attempt at making claims/covering up etc.
The claim and consequent accusations were definitely uncalled for and I'm sure did not have the desired outcome…
Quite a humiliating incident frankly, especially the blunt accusations of FR24's inaccuracy and the apology only being published in Finnish... 
However, personally I wouldn't go as far as question the reliability of the airline's operations…
The claim and consequent accusations were definitely uncalled for and I'm sure did not have the desired outcome…
Quite a humiliating incident frankly, especially the blunt accusations of FR24's inaccuracy and the apology only being published in Finnish... However, personally I wouldn't go as far as question the reliability of the airline's operations…
Jul 22, 2014, 1:00 pm
#3
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I could not find any Finnair flight that would take the plane over eastern Ukrain, except to/from Dubai. But the last such flight was in April and I could not find the actual route on any website.
Jul 24, 2014, 10:48 am
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I believe the main problem here is that airlines, not only AY but the industry in general, are used to lying to passengers – whenever there is a mechanical, everyone gives different reasons. Whenever there is a problem (your preselected seat changes, the flight is delayed, whatever) they are used to just making up a reason, knowing very well that the passengers never find out the truth. However, in this internet age of ours, it becomes increasingly difficult to lie since there's always someone out there with the correct information, giving it out. So what happened here is basically that AY did what they've always done, but in this case it didn't work anymore. Perhaps they're wiser the next time.
Jul 24, 2014, 11:32 am
#6
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I was actually following the FB thread as it was developing. My impression was that the AY person writing really believed that their planes just go over Western Ukraine very briefly, and that's it. I don't see any benefit in trying to lie about something so easily checked.
Jul 24, 2014, 1:38 pm
#7
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I fully agree with SPBanker. The information department just is not well informed enough. Their statement was not intentionally misleading in this case, they just did not have a clue of what really happens. That is bad, but not unique.
What is really appalling, is that the information department tries to make every enhancement an improvement while everyone else knows the truth. Sometimes it is greenwashing, sometimes it can be something else.
What is really appalling, is that the information department tries to make every enhancement an improvement while everyone else knows the truth. Sometimes it is greenwashing, sometimes it can be something else.
Last edited by nordic; Jul 24, 2014 at 10:17 pm Reason: Removed some if the off-topic parts.
Jul 24, 2014, 1:52 pm
#8
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I was actually following the FB thread as it was developing. My impression was that the AY person writing really believed that their planes just go over Western Ukraine very briefly, and that's it. I don't see any benefit in trying to lie about something so easily checked.
An honest, yet still boneheaded, mistake.
Cheers,
T.
Jul 26, 2014, 4:03 am
#9
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I also read this as done by overly enthusiastic and poorly informed marketing staff.
Issiung the correcting statement in Finnish only is deliberate action however, and extremely poor judgement. Shame on Finnair.
I do agree with ffay005 though, that there is a tendency to lie or paint the truth in brighter colours in the industry and that plays a part here too. Airline staff truly belives they are ''in the know" and that the flying public is ignorant. Brushing off flightradar data (which comes from their own transponders) just goes to show the attitude "I know better" when in fact you are the one with the least knowledge. How does that saying go? "The more you know, the more you realize how much you don't know". Only those with very little knowledge thinks they know it all....
Issiung the correcting statement in Finnish only is deliberate action however, and extremely poor judgement. Shame on Finnair.
I do agree with ffay005 though, that there is a tendency to lie or paint the truth in brighter colours in the industry and that plays a part here too. Airline staff truly belives they are ''in the know" and that the flying public is ignorant. Brushing off flightradar data (which comes from their own transponders) just goes to show the attitude "I know better" when in fact you are the one with the least knowledge. How does that saying go? "The more you know, the more you realize how much you don't know". Only those with very little knowledge thinks they know it all....