1. Give every hundredth passenger at the check-in desk a surprise bonus. So much in air travel is predictable these days: queues, frustration and unfunny in-flight romantic comedies. So, if a passenger thinks he or she has a one in a hundred chance of an upgrade, or extra frequent flyer miles, or a month’s free pass to the club lounge, they’re going to get all excited. They’re going to begin to enjoy the experience of flying again. They’re going to come back to that airline next time they fly.
2. Learn from other moribund enterprises that have improved the customer experience. People don’t walk into bookshops because they expect to find a bargain. They could buy books cheaper online. In a bookshop though, they get the personal touch and the simple pleasure of serendipity. I love those handwritten recommendations that you sometimes find on the bookshelves… If you like Scott Turow, you should give this a try… That handwritten note probably took the bookshop employee two minutes to write, but it could be just the trigger a customer needs to buy the book, take it home, and come back next week for the sequel. So, what’s to stop flight attendants putting a Post-It note in the in-flight magazine. You might not be a fan of Jennifer Aniston’s movie career, but at least give this a try… Or, I bought this duty-free scent for my partner and he loves it…
3. This one’s pretty basic: walk the floor. Is Richard Branson the only airline boss who routinely chats to passengers? Probably. Most airline executives have worked long and hard to get to the front of the plane. It’s a perk of the job: sitting back in that great barge of a seat, not having to worry about those people back there, behind the curtain. What are they called again? Oh yes, customers. I’ve been flying regularly for 20 years, on dozens of airlines and in every class. But I’ve never yet seen an airline executive walk the floor. How else do they get into the customer’s head and heart, to find out what’s working and what’s not? How else do they find out why that customer would choose to fly with that airline again? Which brings us to…
4. Scrap customer surveys. In my personal opinion, in-flight surveys are meaningless and, worse, an irritant. The questionnaires always seem to be given to the passengers who are clearly having a good day and are happy with the flight. Would it be too cynical to suggest that the flight attendants are merely trying to prove to someone back at Head Office that theirs was a smooth flight, that everything is rosy in the garden at 30,000 feet. Do airlines really need a four-page interrogation to find out if they’re giving good service?
5. Treat every passenger like a premium passenger (Or at least try). By this I don’t mean offer them six varieties of wine and a welcome pack. As Ryanair’s CEO Michael O’Leary is fond of pointing out, you get what you pay for. But is it just me, or is there a much lower goodwill threshold when you’re sitting in an economy seat? Compare and contrast two separate experiences I had, flying the same airline on the same route, but in different classes. On one occasion I had a business class ticket. I was allowed to switch to an earlier flight with literally minutes to spare before the flight closed, avoiding an overnight flight and enjoying a full weekend at home. This was all done with the civilised approach that encourages you to choose this airline again: encourages repeat business. I did choose that airline again, on the same route, but made the cardinal error of flying economy. Half an hour into the flight, the TV monitor fell out of the seat back, straight into my lap. The flight attendant took the default economy class approach: I’m busy, put up with it and I’ll try to get around to it later. Four hours into the flight, it occurred to me that dinner should have arrived. The passenger call button was ignored, so I made my way back to the galley. I was told that they’d served all the hot meals, and that there was nothing they could do. I returned to my seat with two bags of nuts and this thought in my head: today’s economy passenger could be next week’s premium customer. Why make the in-flight experience so different? So, in conclusion, my request to airline staff would be…
6. Smile more. It costs nothing. And it could be the start of a beautiful (and profitable) relationship.
