A Practical Guide to Airline Customer Service. Colin C. Law

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      After-sales

      Customers may sometimes contact airlines to feedback on their positive and/or negative experiences during their journey. For some airlines, agents stationed at the reservation departments are in charge of taking in these comments and resolve complaints.

      Figure 1-10: Travel process for travelers.

      Cargo

      Customer care

      While the process of cargo movement is similar to that of passengers, there is very limited interaction between the airline service agent and the cargo companies. Most of the communication and coordinating works are carried out over the telephone.

      Reservations

      Freight forwarders usually contact airlines for reservation. The sales team will then calculate the delivery cost and make the necessary arrangements.

      Cargo reservation includes the following functions:

       Cargo space reservation

       Inquiry hotline

      At the airport

      Departure

      Cargo is accepted at the airport’s cargo terminal. After the documents are checked, the cargo will be stored in the terminal. They will then be loaded onto the respective aircrafts.

      Cargo departure service includes the following functions:

       Cargo acceptance

       Inquiry

      Arrival

      Upon arrival at the destination, the cargo will be offloaded from the aircraft and stored in the cargo terminal. Freight forwarders will then need to submit their documents for verification before the freight is released.

      Cargo arrival service includes the following functions:

       Cargo release

       Inquiry

      After-sales

      Freight forwarders may sometimes contact an airline to inquire about the status of their goods. These enquiries are taken care of by the after-sales department.

      Figure 1-11: Travel process for cargo.

The importance of customer service in the airline business

According to statistics released by travel fare aggregator website, Flight Scanner,9 a total of 228 flights carry passengers from Bangkok to Hong Kong every week and 12 airlines offer direct service between the two cities. The majority of these airlines offer similar facilities on their flight and are competing against each other on the basis on the cost of flight tickets and the quality of the services provided.

      This shows that service is a critical factor that allows customers to distinguish the differences between airlines operating on the same route. If customers are satisfied with the service provided by a particular airline and its service agents, they are very likely to share their experiences with their friends and on social media. This creates a positive ripple effect on an airline’s brand and reputation. Great customer service also plays a part in influencing customers’ repurchase intentions and can be the deciding factor for customers who do not have a preference for any particular airline when planning their flights. Offering exceptional customer services allows airlines to:

       Turn complaints into opportunities

       Generate a positive impression

       Establish long-term relationship with customers

       Attract competitors’ customers

      On the other hand, if a customer is served badly, there will be negative repercussions.

Ambassadors vs. complainers

      An airline can turn customers into brand ambassador. Happy customers will recommend the airline to their relatives and friends, they will also write positive comments in forums and travel sites, and repurchase the airline’s services.

      On the other hand, unhappy customers can easily destroy an airline’s reputation when they spread negative messages. In fact, the majority of customers do not make a formal complaint with an airline and instead, they will share their bad experiences with their friends, post them in forum, social media platform and blogs.

      Both positive and negative posts can be spread rapidly online; customers can share their message online anytime at the check-in counter, boarding gate and even during a flight. People seem to be more interested in sharing negative posts as compared to positive ones and re-posting these messages allows the formation of public opinion on an airline. Those who have experience of a similar problem will then further elaborate the problem. In addition, when a customer posts a comment, reaction from the public is almost immediate. It is difficult for the customer to amend their post even though the airline service agent could resolve the problem later. Therefore, it is important for airline service agents to attend to customers’ needs immediately.

Research has shown that positive posts spread faster than ones. An airline that provides excellent service can easily turn online feedback into a large marketing campaign as every sad post generates an extra 1.29 negative posts as compared to a normal post. On the other hand, every happy post has an even stronger impact: if a user posts an upbeat statement, an extra 1.75 positive posts are generated.10

      An incident at Chicago O’Hare airport took place on 10 April 2017 erupted in twitter, when a passenger was dragged out from an aircraft due to an overbooked flight.

      Another customer on a flight filmed and posted the incident on social media and within 2 days the video was shared over 100 thousand times. The news has also spread to other media including the traditional media all over the world.

Satisfied customers vs. loyal customers

      Satisfaction is a measurement used to evaluate whether an airline’s performance exceeds the customers’ expectations. Satisfied customers are created when customers are happy with the products and services provided by the airline.

      Figure 1-12: Satisfied customers vs. loyal customers.

      Loyal customers, on the other hand, are those who exhibit a devoted attitude towards airlines. Such behavior results in these customers making repeat purchases, rather than choosing the competing airlines. Loyalty is created when customers are continually satisfied with an airline’s quality of service and products.

      All airlines endeavor to meet their customers’ basic expectations and to persuade satisfied customers to become loyal customers by offering additional services to increase and retain customer loyalty.

      Figure 1-13: Shift from unsatisfied to loyal customer.

      Statistics

      Below are some facts and figures on customer satisfaction and loyalty, based on a study conducted by various US companies:

       It is 6 to 7 times costlier to attract a new customer than it is to retain an existing customer.11

       54% of consumers shared bad experiences with more than 5 people, and 33% shared good experiences with more than 5 people.12

       89%