As the airline industry reaches its maturity, so do the passengers who are looking for more sophistication in terms of the products and services they buy or expect. Offering a large array of services to customers with different expectations who await customization along their journey has become more challenging for airlines all over the world. Coping with changes in a volatile environment means that airlines need to redefine their customer segmentation, evolving from a social-demographic to a more complicated behavioral approach which encompasses the whole traveling experience and the way airlines deliver at every touching point.
Author - Bogdan AVRAM
Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu
In 2016, the global airline industry reached almost 70 billion dollars in ancillaries (up from 60 billion dollars in 2015), while the ancillary revenues on a global scale reached a 10% share of overall airline revenue, according to Ideaworks, a consulting firm that measures airline ancillary revenues. This research aims to investigate how airline companies use ancillaries in their favour to add value and revenue sources to the booking engine, offer flexibility to their passengers, increase revenues and customer satisfaction, interact with passengers at all touch points to create commercial opportunities and differentiate their brand.
This research aims to investigate the different social media strategies adopted by the airline companies from two European regions. In the attempt to land more customers on their social media runway, drive more sales from social media content, increase customer satisfaction through a high response rate or increase their brand awareness, the airlines combine creativity and high-quality ideas to better promote their products and services to customers all around the globe. The paper analyses the content (number of fans, posts, number of likes, the dynamics of comments, response rate) on the Facebook pages of Tarom, Blue Air, Wizz Air, Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, KLM International and Air Europa on a one week period (10th February – 18th February 2014) and successful practices on social media. The paper also aims to provide solutions for airlines to better connect with their passengers and effectively use the social media environment to increase sales and customer satisfaction.
More and more airlines are trying to show their customers their ability to understand their needs, the market trends and the importance of technology in their lives. In response to the rapid development of the consumer electronics, the airline companies focus their attention on offering their customers the possibility to book a flight or check-in using a smartphone, spend time watching movies or be connected to the internet during the flight. Customers search for airlines who are more ”tech-geek” and opened to new technologies, which allows them to rate the airline companies through apps or connect more often with the airline through social-media. Technology has become an important part in developing and marketing the airline services for a better quality, more customer-focused and for better flight experience which ultimately makes the difference when choosing to fly an airline company.
