Foreword by Nicholas Key
CEO, 15below
The challenges the industry has faced over the last few years have taken everyone by surprise
Demand is up with global traffic now at 90.5% of pre-crisis levels, but the issues holding travel brands back have been non-stop. And while it’s been an incredibly difficult time, your actions when plans change have been proven to be crucial to your brand’s reputation.
Disruption has always been an inevitable part of travel... but this is now the case more so than ever.
No one could have anticipated how challenging 2022 would have been after travel resumed post-pandemic, but this only goes to show that there will always be something that will cause chaos to your schedule at a moment’s notice, and you need to be prepared.
It’s how you respond to these events that matters.
In every industry, customers expect to be updated at each touchpoint of their journey; it has become the norm as people want brands to personalise their experience. In fact, 62% of customers expect brands to adapt to their needs and behaviours.
For them to understand what’s happening next – via the best channel for them – is no longer a nice-to-have, but rather something that passengers are demanding.
Airlines that don’t provide regular communication are suffering reputational damage and the impact can be seen all the way down to the bottom line, as brands that invested in digital customer engagement between 2020 and 2022 had a top-line revenue increase of 70%.
of people use messaging across all stages of the customer journey
Source: Sentient Decision Science
Why is technology important?
Many of the world’s top airlines, including Ryanair, JetBlue and Qantas have found that the key to effective communications during periods of disruption is automation.
Today’s customers shouldn’t need to wait on-hold for a call centre to tell them their flight status or have to get to the airport just to find out that things have changed.
Instead, forward-thinking airlines rely on technology to proactively reach affected passengers at the perfect time with all the information they need.
And automation is not just for the world’s biggest carriers – many smaller airlines with innovation at their core, such as Air Greenland, Air Senegal, and French bee have discovered the power of automation to smooth their operations and transform their customer experience.
What’s more, with constantly improving functionality – including advanced self-serve options, evolving mobile communications, and tools to effectively monitor irregular operations – the future of disruption communications and the possibilities it will bring is more powerful than ever.
Helping you take action
I hope you find this white paper both interesting and insightful. We’ve created it to help you learn how a strong passenger communications strategy combined with the right technology can help our industry learn from the extreme challenges that have been faced since 2020 - and deliver a best-in-class experience that both empowers and delights your passengers.
Nicholas Key
CEO, 15below
