United pilots launch Web site to oust CEO

Under a social media firestorm, United Airlines is experiencing some not-so-friendly skies

There was a time, not many eons ago, when a group of dissatisfied airline pilots wishing to send their management team a potent, headline-grabbing message, might have rounded up their union colleagues and organized a good old-fashioned strike.

These days, they might just as soon follow the lead of the United Airlines chapter of the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), which last week opted not for pickets and handbills, but a full-on, social media offensive through a Web site, www.GlennTilton.com. Named after the CEO it holds accountable for the company’s problems, the “Glenn Tilton Must Go” site lays bare grievances ranging from operational shortcomings (runway delays) to perceived financial mistakes to failures in employee relations.

Having already garnered coverage in newspapers including Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times and The New York Times, the site is emblematic of an employee communications and labor relations landscape that has changed with the advent of social media, say some industry observers.