What is CCAirways.com? Right now, it’s an aviation industry blog with a focus on best practices of customer service innovation. In the future, it will be something more. I’ll be putting some of my ideas, and your ideas, into a concept that that will eventually be represented by a virtual airline website.  In the future, you will be able to go to the website and see how best practices in customer service, distribution, brand and product would be implemented to build the ideal customer centric airline.   The vision is to develop the world’s first  virtual airline – a brand only – it won’t fly anywhere but will you wish we did!  Imagine the culmination of best-in-class and new innovative customer service in a virtual airline brand.
What was the inspiration for this concept? I have been following the airline industry for 17 years – as in industry insider, supplier and advisor. I have seen the good times and the bad times, and I have also been constantly looking for “the next big thing†in the industry. Yet, few relatively small initiatives, the airline industry has been really lacking in consumer innovation compared to other industry sectors such as consumer goods, banking, telecommunications, computers and even retail.  What we do see in innovation tends to be technical  - mainly focused on operations – that while beneficial to safety, cost and efficiency, are mostly invisible to the customer.  Since air travel is a service industry, for a service that is expensive relative other services we purchase on a regular basis, why can’t the airline business be more centered around the customer then it currently is?
What do I mean by a Customer  Centric Airline? A customer centric airline is simply an airline with the customer at the center of everything that the airline does.  On the surface, the concept may sound obvious but in reality very few airlines have come close to achieving it. In the past, we have seen most airline innovation based around around the “hardware†or product, for example larger seats, plush executive lounges, fine wines, and high-tech in-flight entertainment. While these product innovations are certainly desirable, the ultimate satisfaction that the hardware provides to the customer, and consequently the return on the investment the airline must make is not always there. The hardware is expensive, easy to replicate and match by competitors, and ultimately increases cost and complexity. The other fact being that most of us don’t travel first class – the majority of us – even road warriors, just don’t have that kind of budget.   What is interesting to note is that some of the highest customer satisfaction ratings among do not necessarily come from the airlines with the most lavish services – it tends to come to those with the best “software†– those elements of product and service that seemingly magically come together to meet the needs and expectations of the customer.
How can airlines get there? One of the core problems out there is that many people have some great ideas, but the airline industry is a mature one, with painfully low profit margins even in the best of times.  The big challenge is bring ideas that are evaluated by sound business merit. However, the eternal problem that most airline managers face is chronic short-termism. While many new business concepts will be intuitive, selling long-term investments to a finance department that requires an LOI case is often the greatest obstacle.  This is understandable since the industry is constantly under pressures to reduce costs.   Yet, this should not be an excuse. The biggest challenge is to convince senior management that the culmination of customer centric initiatives will eventually drive preference your airline brand – to do this requires getting their “faith†in the concept. Once we have this, a culture of customer centricity can be developed where we can re-align resources and efforts around distinct customer needs.   In my effort with CCAirways Virtual Airline, I hope to show what this vision might look like, with your help.
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