Airlines are in a wonderful position - they have a captive audience from anything between one and 12 hours (maybe even more).
Even if a traveller stays in a hotel for two weeks, airlines are obviously very different from hotels in that the customer "experiences" the product in a completely unique way and has very few options with how to spend their time with the brand.
In short: as passengers are flung across the sky in a tube at a very high speed, airlines have lots of opportunities to connect the dots between the experience a customer has when they book a ticket, how they experience the airport, what they do on-board, and then at the destination.
At a roundtable hosted by travel technology and retailing specialist OpenJaw Technologies at the Aviation Festival in London earlier this month, attendees discussed in particular how airlines can maximise on the interaction between the online and onboard experience.
The following are some of the key points and some further analysis from those discussions:
- In-flight entertainment systems (IFEs) or platform where a user can connect usingtheir own device to an on-board connection should provide the similar user experience as those available from the same brand in other channels.
- Arming crew with customer data can only enhance the overall user experience, especially if the passengers thinks they are being cared for in a personal way (remembering what a frequent flyer likes to drink when they board the aircraft, etc).
- Airlines must be careful not to take this personalisation too far, obviously. Well known case of a male passenger being greeted by a crew member who assumes the woman sitting next to him is (and greets her as such) a familiar flying companion when in fact she is, on this occasion, his wife.
- Follow the clicks - IFEs can record the browsing behaviour of passengers and then tailor both advertising and types of content in other channels based on what they MAY like.
- "Welcome back" messages to returning customers from both the crew and IFEs, giving the passenger the personal touch. Enhanced further by reminding them of connections and other RELEVANT services at the flight's destination.
- Pre-load movie selection to a passenger IFE or BYOD platform, based on customer preferences set ahead of a trip on the airline's website.
- "Burn-on-board" gives customers to spend loyalty points with affiliated partners of the carrier, using connected services on the aircraft or from the traditional cabin goods trolley.
NB:On-board image via Shutterstock.
NB2: Tnooz is running a Hackathon on this very issue in Hamburg on October 18-19. Check it out here.