Can air travel become the best rather than the worst part of a journey? A new white paper indicates it's possible.
Air travel is already one of the most difficult components of a trip to book, and there's very little incentive for travel agents to book air unless it's for an extra fee. If you book on your own, you may reel with sticker shock if you aren't familiar with today's a la carte pricing models.
It puts a damper on a trip right from the start.
Looking to learned helplessness and combatting it could bring about a new age of happy fliers, according to a Guestlogix white paper.
Being on a plane is an anxiety-provoking experience. A lot of that emotion stems from the fact that "passengers tend to get anxious in response to unpredictability and uncertainty."
Learned helplessness develops when there is a persistent lack of control in unavoidable situations and the Guestlogix paper suggests that airlines can win with passengers if they can avoid the feeling of anxiety. In a simple suggestion, the author of the paper, Dr. Gary Edwards, Ph.D., suggests that airlines could prevent the effects of learned helplessness by creating a better journey.
You wouldn't know it from social media outcry, but the air travel experience is improving, led by more on-time arrivals, better baggage handling and a decline in consumer complaints.
The U.S. Airline Quality Rating (AQR) found that on-time arrival percentage increased from 79.9 percent to 81.4 percent; mishandled baggage declined from .324 percent to .27 percent; involuntary denied boardings declined from 0.0076 percent to 0.0062 percent; consumer complaints declined from .0019 percent to .00152 percent.
While these are measurable improvements, perception is not.
"Aside from these objective measures of quality, academic studies have demonstrated that it is the intangible aspects of service, such as empathy and attentiveness of the crew, that are the key drivers of passenger customer satisfaction which in turn, bolster positive word of mouth," said Edwards in the paper.
Passengers are looking for a seamless experience, and the opportunities to create that from booking to baggage claim are endless but require walking in a travelers' shoes.
Edwards points out that there is a substantial upside to airlines pursuing high customer satisfaction for the overall journey, not just particular touchpoint along the way.
Research by McKinsey found that overall journey satisfaction was 30-40 percent more predictive of customer satisfaction and churn than individual touchpoints, noted the paper.
"Targeting learned helplessness allows airlines to rework the negative narrative surrounding airline customer experiences," writes Edwards, who notes there are at least four ways in which this can be accomplished.
"Having choices increases a sense of control. While many decisions are made at booking time, having a choice during travel is critically important to overcoming learned helplessness."
Empathetic responses are another way to create a better experience.
"Rather than a sense of shared helplessness between front-line employees and customers (i.e. 'I'd love to help you but I can't'), empathic responsiveness provides an opportunity to bolster mutual resilience and a sense of shared control over difficult circumstances," Edwards writes.
If you've ever had a flight attendant or gate attendant try to help you with your problem rather than shove it off onto the next attendant down the line, you know that this is true.
Another way to combat learned helplessness is through distraction. If you are so consumed with the cool features onboard the aircraft or in the waiting area, you may not mind that 30-minute flight delay-or at least that is the idea.
"Distraction remains one of the greatest opportunities to entertain and "trick" the mind away from the difficulties of air travel," Edwards notes in the paper.
Keeping track of the baggage in a well-handled matter can also go a long way toward increasing satisfaction, as well as keeping track of flight times, delays and providing timely updates to passenger to create a more stress-free experience for the traveler.
"Tracking and information sharing shifts the perceived locus of control, creates a sense of togetherness
between the brand and the consumer, and even absent any actual change in delivery times, is highly effective in reducing learned helplessness and winning over customers," Edwards says.
Creating solutions to the problems of air travel and its perception are not easy, but Edwards suggests airlines can move the needle by offering substantial digital connectivity, personalized amenities, consumer choices and digital assistants.
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