In the fast-paced world of air travel, customer experience can make all the difference between a stressful journey and a seamless adventure.
“We take away the stress… we look after them from curb to wing,” Suzanne Tormey, operations manager at Dublin Airport’s Platinum Services, told Customer Experience Magazine.
The sentiment captures the essence of what modern airports strive to achieve—a blend of efficiency, empathy, and personal connection.
The importance of feedback: shaping the passenger experience
Passenger and employee feedback plays a pivotal role in improving the overall experience.
The customer’s voices provide “a vital role in our approach, driving insights and highlighting both long term and short term concerns that need to be addressed,” explained Clare Armstrong, head of guest experience at London Luton Airport.
By actively listening to passengers, airports can identify areas for improvement and ensure that services meet travellers’ dynamic needs.
Feedback collection through various channels and surveys helps airports gather unbiased insights.
For instance, LLA leverages the Airport Service Quality (ASQ) survey as a key benchmarking tool to measure and enhance passenger experience. This globally recognised program provides invaluable insights into customer satisfaction by capturing real-time feedback from travellers passing through the airport.
Şirin Ayça Sayılır, head of CX at TAV Airports Holdings, also shares the importance of passenger feedback.
“We have surveys that we do with big companies like ASQ or Skytrax… so the surveys have to be both internal and external. That way it could be more solid, otherwise it’s going to be biased,” explains Şirin Ayça Sayılır.
This approach ensures comprehensive data, guiding immediate fixes and long term service upgrades.
Employee experience as the cornerstone of customer satisfaction
While technology enhances efficiency, an exceptional customer experience hinges on engaged and empowered employees. A positive employee experience characterised by fair treatment and growth opportunities fosters the quality of service that resonates with passengers.
“Employee experience is equally as important as customer experience,” commented Tormey.
Airports that prioritise employee wellbeing, provide comprehensive training, and empower staff to make decisions that benefit passengers are more likely to create a positive and welcoming atmosphere.
London Luton Airport’s “LLA Way” initiative has trained over 2,000 frontline staff, reinforcing the importance of employee development. The initiative reinforces a framework of behaviours to ensure a collaborative and caring end-to-end passenger experience. It highlights the crucial role of human interaction in creating a positive atmosphere.
The importance of training, particularly in areas like gender equality [and other areas of diversity—e.g., treatment of other minorities and even disabilities], guarantees that all employees are equipped to provide a respectful and inclusive environment, explained Sayılı.
The digital frontier: a balancing act
The digital revolution has transformed the airport experience, introducing self-service kiosks and digital boarding passes. However, an Airports Council International (ACI) revealed that while passengers appreciate the convenience of digital tools, they also express concerns about data privacy and potential technological glitches that can disrupt their travel plans.
The reliance on technology can sometimes lead to a disconnect with the customer, reducing opportunities for meaningful human interactions.
Şirin Ayça Sayılır of TAV Airports observes, “It’s a rapidly changing environment, and technology is here — AI is here — but creating a seamless journey within the airport across all operational areas is tough.”
LLA’s digital team focuses on customer-centric advancements, using passenger feedback insights to identify opportunities for improvement. For instance, a machine learning model was developed to minimise wait times at boarding gates.
The balance of technology and human interaction is crucial. LLA’s approach emphasises the importance of face-to-face interactions.
AI: a transformative force with ethical considerations
AI is revolutionising aviation, offering the potential to streamline operations and personalise services. AI-powered chatbots and predictive analytics are becoming commonplace, yet ethical concerns surrounding data privacy and algorithmic bias must be addressed.
“AI is essential for processing big data and integrating systems efficiently, but our biggest concerns are security and GDPR compliance,” said Sayılır.
The CX team at Luton Airport embraces “digital advancements” but balances them with “feedback loops” to ensure that technology serves passenger needs.
The LLA team remains mindful of AI’s potential impact on special assistance, recognising that while it holds great promise, complex challenges must be navigated for this crucial passenger demographic with varying needs.
Technology vs human connection
Despite the growing role of technology, the enduring importance of human interaction is clear.
“We don’t use bots or anything like that to respond to our customers. That human factor is really important,” explains Tormey.
Armstrong’s focus on “human interaction and the ‘human touch'” at LLA, along with Sayılır’s “quiet rooms” at TAV Airports for passengers with hidden disabilities, underscores the balance between tech and people-powered customer experience.
Additional ways in which LLA prioritises human connection and makes travel accessible for all passengers are by offering initiatives like Accessibility Familiarisation Days and the LLA Accessibility Forum to gather feedback and improve services for those with additional assistance needs.
The Accessibility Familiarisation Days give passengers with visual or hidden disabilities a chance to experience the full airport journey, including check-in, security, and other facilities. Attendees also have the opportunity to board an easyJet aircraft and interact with cabin crew volunteers. These events aim to improve accessibility and ensure a more inclusive experience for passengers.
Striking the right balance between human expertise and AI is essential for creating meaningful, efficient, and trustworthy interactions. While AI enhances speed, accuracy, and automation, human intuition, empathy, and critical thinking ensure deeper connections and ethical decision-making.
When technology and human insight work together, they create a more personalised, ethical experience that maximises efficiency without losing the empathy that only people can provide.
The continuous evolution of airport CX
The pursuit of exceptional airport CX is an ongoing journey. Airports must adapt to evolving expectations, embrace technology responsibly, and prioritise the human element.
Tormey points out, “Everything in aviation is changing at the moment,” acknowledging that “Clients have more demands on their time.”
Passengers demand faster, more personalised, and seamless experiences, expecting smoother transitions through security, boarding, and baggage handling. With an emphasis on convenience and efficiency, airports must adapt by integrating more automation, offering real-time updates, and improving communication channels.
Additionally, passengers increasingly prioritise sustainability, pushing airports to adopt greener practices like electric vehicles and eco-friendly facilities. To meet these growing demands, airports must innovate continuously while ensuring safety and data privacy.
By focusing on customer and employee experiences and ethical use of technology, the aviation industry can create a future where travel is both efficient and memorable.