The woman who ordered the European air chaos via Twitter
Aurelie Valtat is editor of the Eurocontrol website and her help was key in the middle of the air crisis that hit Europe by the ash cloud from the volcano in Iceland.
Valtat was the main source of information for pilots, passengers and journalists. Through instant messaging, she worked more than 12 hours per day, surrounded by speakers and experts from Eurocontrol (the European agency for air navigation safety), who advised her to transmit the opening and closing of air space, and translate for the public the complicated navigation maps. She even gave information on alternative transport and accommodation.
Eurocontrol established in December its Twitter account, as well as the YouTube and Facebook ones, which proved to be a fundamental tool for the information dissemination in that moment of crisis.
Valtat, 30 in three days rose from 300 to more than 7,000 followers. She received inquiries from at least 12,000 users a day.
“In the beginning, the network was for professionals, but in the crisis outbreak, we realize that we had to do something for the public, we could not let the passengers lost,” the lady says.
She is a daughter of French diplomats and has lived in Ethiopia, Kenya, Thailand, Switzerland, United Kingdom or the United States, she studied International Relations and has also worked for UNESCO and the French Alliance.
In the last hours, she would not send so many messages, which is a clear indication of air situation improvement in Europe. “The only thing missing is the time to see that traces of ash can lead to Finland and Sweden this weekend,” Valtat said.
After the experience of the crisis, Eurocontrol plans to use more social networks, also to report on the “Single European Sky” and the new role with more responsibilities, which could have the agency as traffic manager.
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