SimpliFlying

Key Flight Facts

Airline: Jet Airways
Travel purpose: Moving to Singapore to begin college studies
Departure from: Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi, India
Arrival at: Changi International Airport, Singapore
Date of travel: 27 July 2008
Contributor: Shitij Nigam
Flight rating: 8/10

Image courtesy Flickr user Guido Haesevoets

Check-in

The check-in was process was swift and painless, and partially so because the airport was slightly empty (morning flights not exactly being the craze). The airport staff were also familiar with my Students Pass, something I’d been worried about previously, as to whether or not it would end-up causing unnecessary delays. The Jet Airways staff at the baggage check-in counter was nice enough to ask me about my college and course (and I was nice enough to explain. In detail.)

Read the rest of this entry »

Cathay Pacific Aiways has come up with a brilliant initiative to allow prospective customers to experience their new cabins online. Dubbed “try before you fly”, web surfers can choose between having a male or a female guide, and then choose between the First, Business or Economy class. The best part is that they can either choose to be “shown around” by the guide, or explore the photo-realistic interiors themselves.

Try before you fly

Once a surfer is in a particular cabin, he or she can test out the different conveniences in the cabin with the click of a mouse - and these include common activities like working on a laptop and going to sleep. When doing the latter, the seats recline fully and cabin lights are dimmed. One can also walk around the plane and explore different cabins. When that’s done, one can step into the flight simulator and choose to experience landing at one of the many international airports Cathay Pacific flies to - including New York JFK and Hong Kong. As if that’s not enough, surfers can even enter a competition to win business class tickets to Hong Kong to try out their real flight simulator. How sweet is that?
Read the rest of this entry »

Image via Wikipedia

When airlines across the world are cringing due to rising costs and reacting in a knee-jerk manner, hurting both employees and customers, Air New Zealand (ANZ) has taken a bold step in customer service practices and introduced an in-flight concierge on board. The concierges will commence their new roles flying the airline’s London to Los Angeles route, and later operate on flights out of New Zealand. The concierges will be providing a range of services, from travel advice to assistance with onward bookings, to all Air New Zealand’s passengers in the plane, regardless of the class they are in. They will be dedicated to assisting customers with questions and will have no additional roles.

Great for customer retention

This initiative by ANZ is worth a standing ovation. It reflects tough adherence to company standards, even in times of crises. It is such distinguishing services that will make the customer feel the center of the universe – a key to success in service industries. Hotels like Ritz-Carlton to a great job at doing this, and now ANZ might possibly achieve that too. This initiative would be great not only for retaining customers but also win over new ones from competition.

Clear brand leadership

Providing a level of personal service that regular in-flight attendants at other airlines may find it difficult to match, ANZ is taking service to a new level. They are perfectly applying lessons from Blue Ocean Strategy, which talks about fighting the competition on a new plane, on your own terms. If ANZ executes well on what’s touted as their “walking wikipedia”, they would have led the way in building a strong brand, by providing unmatched levels of customer service, on board their flights. Such leadership is what paves the way for a Brand X-Factor – something that puts an airline in a class of its own.

Read the rest of this entry »

Image by Steve Crane via Flickr

Simple and sincere expectation setting can go a long way in inspiring new customers to try a new airline. Kulula.com was the first low cost carrier in South Africa, starting operations in 2001. Since the beginning, it has captured the hearts and minds of South African travelers by bringing out the authenticity of the brand and then living up to their word. Kulula means “easily” in the Zulu language and its advertisements are known for their quirky, almost slapstick-type humor, which never show an aircraft or air hostess. They focus on local flavor and humor, showcasing real people, with whom their customers can relate to.

Advertisements featuring You

TV viewers and billboard gazers have been treated to images of South Africans from all walks of life dressed up like kulula.com “fans,” complete with capes and propeller beanies, ready to take to the skies. Most of these ads feature the kinds of people who are the absolute antithesis of the jet set: the mishmash of sorts one might see waiting for a bus or shopping at Walmart. Through these, most South Africans saw an honest representation of themselves, and logged on to book tickets that were substantially cheaper than those offered by the incumbent South African Airways.  Within a year, kulula.com had become the country’s biggest online retailer and still holds the position.

Read the rest of this entry »

Knowledge@Wharton recently featured an interview of Colleen Barrett, the outgoing President of Southwest Airlines. Among the many gems of wisdom she shared about running the most profitable airline in the US, something that stood out was the emphasis that the company was created to serve employees first, and then customers. It may seem normal, but is really the backbone of Southwest’s success. If the employees had not gone the distance with the company, it surely wouldn’t have achieved the kind of success it has today. Once again, it re-emphasizes the fact that happy employees make for a great brand.

Enjoy the interview.

If you enjoyed this article, feel free to share it with your friends. You can also get free updates by email or RSS. To learn more about airline branding, please download the free white paper, or join the airline branding Facebook group

Related articles

• Southwest’s 7 secrets for success
• Why the Southwest and WestJet alliance is good for both the brands

Most airlines are squarely putting the blame for their woes today on fuel costs. Many are doing everything they can to cut costs by removing any little amenities they offered to passengers - from pretzels to in-flight video - and starting to nickel and dime them for any remaining amenities. But it is in times like these that airlines that take care of the customer - even relatively better care - will stand to gain not just a profitability edge over their competitors but also brand loyalty.

Given the circumstances, why not learn from the best in the hospitality business – The Ritz-Carlton hotel group. Not only is Ritz-Carlton known for service excellence, looking closely at their service credo and mission, you’ll realize that most of what makes them admirable doesn’t cost a bomb.

The best customer service in the world is free!

All Ritz-Carlton staff carry a laminated card in their pockets, which has on it the company motto, “Three steps of Service” and “The Employee Promise”. Contrary to the usually hard-to-decipher corporate speak, these are actually very easy to follow and implement. Even if airlines adopt the Ritz-Carlton credo, “We’re ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen”, their service would improve by leaps and bounds. Simply put, treating customers and peers with utmost respect (like ladies and gentlemen) will create an uplifting experience for everyone.

After treating everyone with respect, if airline staff can incorporate Ritz-Carlton’s “Three steps of service” into their daily routines, they would be winning many more hearts. The first is using a personal, warm and sincere greeting. This really does wonders. Anticipating and addressing guest needs leaves an indelible impression on the customers’ minds for a long time. Lastly, giving them a personalized, warm farewell will ensure that they remember their last moments on the flight with a smile.

Read the rest of this entry »

Few airlines are known to have embraced the latest technologies to connect with their customers - specifically blogs. Southwest’s “Nuts about Southwest” is probably the only prominent blog by an airline that comes to mind.

Now, Malaysia Airlines has opened up and started a blog named “Living Malaysian Hospitality“, or Living MH for short - MH being the airline’s IATA code (nice play on words). Given that Malaysia Airlines is a government-linked company, this is a remarkable effort, and may do wonders for the brand. For a start, the airline has shown some guts in showcasing actual customer letters on the website. They also claim to accept and share both positive and negative feedback. Such transparency is sure to build trust among the customer base.

Moreover, there are about thirty bloggers from across the airline’s divisions who’ve been regularly blogging since April 2008. Reading blog posts with personal perspectives from specific people will allow the customers to connect a face to the brand - which again creates a warm feeling and fosters trust, ultimately leading to brand loyalty.

So kudos to Malaysia Airlines for daring to be different. It is such efforts that ultimately help companies leapfrog the competition, especially when the CEO of AirAsia is known to often comment on blogs.

If you enjoyed this article, feel free to share it with your friends. You can also get free updates by email or RSS. To learn more about airline branding, please download the free whitepaper, or join the airline branding Facebook group.

Another ranking, another familiar (and not so familiar) story. This time, Travel+Leisure ranking of World’s Best international airlines ranks Singapore Airlines at the top, followed by Emirates - which climbed a notch, and Thai Airways as the third, which climbed two notches. The surprise entries in the top few airlines here are SilkAir - Singapore Airline’s regional wing - and Air Tahiti Nui. It’s surely a proud moment for those at Singapore Airlines and SilkAir to have both the airlines among the world’s best. Air Tahiti Nui is in the Top 10 for the first time, so quite an achievement for them as well.

All rankings like these tend to bring out certain unique nuances about the airline industry. Here are some interesting observations.

1. These rankings are attained by surveying readers of the Travel+Leisure magazine, who’re serious holiday-makers. Hence, the inclusion of “holiday-destination-heavy” airlines like SilkAir and Air Tahiti Nui should be taken with a pinch of salt. Moreover, the fact that other established holiday airlines like Thomas Cook and Condor are not included in this ranking should send some signals back to their headquarters.
   
2. The fact that there is hardly any overlap between these rankings and airlines that won the Freddies - ranking of the best frequent flier programs - reflects that most of the fliers who’ve participated in this survey are not frequent fliers. So does that mean that this ranking should carry less importance than others? Probably not. It just reflects the preferences of a different segment of travelers. Read the rest of this entry »

   

   Tags: Air Tahiti Nui, Emirates, Rankings, SilkAir, Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways, Thomas Cook
   

US based Southwest Airlines and Canada’s WestJet Airlines paved the way for a strong relationship by announcing codeshares starting 2009. Not only will the relationship give customers access to a much larger number of destinations across North America and the Carribean, but the customers of both the airlines would appreciate the seamless brand experience across borders.

Image Credit: gtarded

Both Southwest and WestJet are the leading budget carriers in their respective markets and the alliance has the potential to enhance the brand value of both the airlines due to some key factors. Here are some of these factors.

1. Greater choice - Just like global alliances of full-service airlines allow passengers access to routes not flown by a specific airline, but a partner carrier, this partnership will give customers of budget airlines in North America the same conveniences for the first time. Furthermore, like Tiger Airways in Asia and Air Berlin in Europe, this alliance will allow passengers to take multi-leg budget flights too.
2. One size fits all - Both Southwest and WestJet fly only Boeing 737s, which will ensure a consistent experience for passengers in either airline. Moreover, sometime in the future, as both these airlines operate from each others’ hubs, maintainability would be much easier too.
   Read the rest of this entry »

   

   Tags: budget airlines, Southwest Airlines, WestJet Airlines
   

The InsideFlyer magazine published an article entitled “The FFPs of the Middle East” last September. Though on the face of it, the article compares the various FFPs among the leading airlines there, upon closer look, you also discover the nuances that enhance brand value for the customers of these airlines. As proven by the large number of airlines from the Middle East winning the Freddies earlier this year, there are surely lessons for grabs here.

Catering services specifically to customers’ needs ensures loyalty

The region is flush with oil revenues, and more rich Arabs are taking to the skies - flying business class and first class. Airlines in the region pamper this key segment of their customers. Etihad Airways just opened a plush business class lounge at Abu Dhabi airport and offers limousine pick-ups, like Emirates. Emirates is also the first airline to introduce showers on-board its new A380 first class cabin. Qatar Airways has gourmet meals catered to suit their frequent flyers. It is no wonder that programs like Emirates Skywards reports that the program’s current rate of growth is just over a member a minute.

More importantly, all of these airlines give a variety of options to their customers to en-cash their frequent flyer points - up to 600 options at Etihad! These include not just flight tickets and partner merchandise, but also specially catered experiences like weekend breaks and shopping to one-of-a-kind experiences such as a night with the paparazzi or tandem skydiving among many others.

In addition to pampering the super rich, the budget airlines in the region offer the millions of low-wage workers from South Asia, China and The Philippines to fly home without burning a hole in their pocket. Again, a number of these airlines are owned by the legacy carriers, and new ones are propping up very often. The latest is FlyDubai, being launched by Emirates.

Airline services and frequent flyer programs that actively cater to customers’ needs can have a huge leverage on airline’s brand loyalty, especially over time, as new competitors take to the skies. And this is demonstrated very well by the Middle East carriers.

Feel free so share this article with your friends. If you enjoyed this article, you can to get free updates by email or RSS.