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 league of its own.

You can read a detailed interview with Ed Sims, the Group General Manager International Airline for Air New Zealand at The Cranky Flier for more info.

This article is an excerpt case study from the airline branding white paper.
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