Reputation of airline sector drops in eyes of consumers
Airlines have done more to damage their reputation in the last year than any other sector, according to a study on customer service.
The annual survey by service design consultancy, Engine, found the British Airways IT meltdown, United’s overbooking fiasco and other high profile incidents have taken their toll.
The air travel sector saw a 4.3 percentage point rise to 17.1% in customers citing them among the worst sectors for service.
This was the biggest increase of the 14 sectors covered in the latest Consumer Experience survey of 1,025 adults.
"British Airways’ IT melt-down and the United Airlines’ passenger incident were the most high-profile examples in an industry that seems to be struggling to look after its customers," said Engine’s co-founder Joe Heapy.
"However, it wasn’t just that the incidents were bad, arguably it was their response that caused as much anger, particularly in BA’s case. In an era of rampant cost cutting, their actions and reactions can give the impression that people are more akin to cargo than passengers.
"The aviation industry is fundamentally challenged by the disjointed passenger experience, from booking a ticket to arriving at the destination, caused by the plethora of stakeholders and companies involved. However, most customers don’t know where the responsibility of one begins and ends, and when something goes wrong they don’t want to waste time tracking down the responsible party, they just need the problem solved.
"As such, aviation companies need to establish solid partnerships and not just see themselves as delivering a particular piece of the jigsaw but as hospitality providers instead. If the focus shifts to welcoming, supporting and entertaining passengers as guests, people’s perception will be transformed."
Although air travel suffered the biggest slide in customer opinion, the sector wasn’t deemed the worst overall.
Public transport (cited by 38%) and utilities (37%) are regarded as the worst sectors overall for customer service.
Meanwhile, restaurants (cited by 47%) and hotels (46%) increased their lead in being seen as the best sectors for service.
When it came to individual companies for service, Amazon lead the way followed by John Lewis, M&S, Tesco and Sainsbury’s.
"The leading sectors and companies in customer service don’t think of it as an add-on at the front line, they put as much effort into designing the customer experience as they do their actual products," added Heapy.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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