Airlines Follow Passengers Onto Social Media Sites

NEW YORK TIMES — When United Airlines baggage handlers in Chicago damaged Dave Carroll’s $3,500 guitar last year, he tried to get his restitution from the airline the old-fashioned way. But after months and months of phone calls and faxes with various customer-service representatives, the airline refused to accept his claim. So Mr. Carroll, a professional country music singer from Canada, channeled his frustration into a song and a video, which he posted on YouTube. Since it first appeared July 6, “United Breaks Guitars” has been viewed more than 4.4 million times. United has scrambled to respond, also in nontraditional ways. Its first comments came not in a press release, but via Twitter...