Lufthansa apologises after blunt social media reply to customer goes viral

Lufthansa has apologised after a terse reply from its social media team to a complaining passenger spread widely on X. According to the airline's own post, which drew more than 1.5 million views within 24 hours, the exchange began on 22 September when a passenger aired his frustration on the platform.

The customer wrote that Lufthansa had ignored his messages and emails for months and that a payment the airline had promised never reached his account. He accused the carrier of unlawful conduct and demanded that someone finally take up his case.

A member of the airline's social media team then replied that Lufthansa had already answered him several times by direct message on various platforms, adding that the answer would not change "by magic" simply because he had raised the same question on X.

The passenger pushed back, saying he did not need a magical answer but the money the airline had promised. He said the direct messages had not changed because the airline refused to resolve the problem, and told it to stop arguing on social media and instruct its customer service to process his payment.

The blunt response rebounded on Lufthansa. The airline is present on Facebook, X, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube and TikTok, and the article notes that the case illustrates how quickly a written reply on social media can reach a wide audience. Lufthansa subsequently issued an apology, and the airline is also preparing job cuts at its Aviation Center in Frankfurt, where positions will be shed at an above-average rate.