Opinion: Dr Stathis Kefallonitis

Dr Stathis Kefallonitis, founder & president at branding. aero, turns the spotlight on intelligent service as the route to true differentiation

All sectors of the industry agree we need to act collectively to unify and strengthen our voice. This will create a common level of understanding to help tackle the new outlook and opportunities.

Issues like sustainability, catering and menu design, minimum-contact options and biometrics throughout the passenger journey are already shaping the future.

Tangible care

Beyond the pandemic era some topics will endure, including a new care for others and ourselves. Discussions around health, personal space and distancing, onboard offers and revenue growth opportunities will stay with us too. Demonstrating sincere customer care will become key. Passengers remember levels of care beyond the call of duty well: the cabin crew who helps us catch a connecting flight; an airline which shuttles us to a gate saving us a 20 minute walk from security; or a crew member who brings our favourite drink before we even ask. It is time to champion customer service as the way to create true differentiation. 2021 will be about the small things that really matter. Using existing and new technologies it is possible to measure the impact of these small things. Care needs to be demonstrated in every step of the passenger journey. Generating positive emotions in all passenger contact points makes them memorable. Integrating new data such as emotional and behavioural biometrics into the product development process is crucial. These can help us read passenger emotions and decision-making processes to better assess functionality, pleasure and satisfaction.

Service expression needs to evolve. 2021 will be about the small (often intangible) things that really matter

Emotional intelligence

Emotional biometrics also allow us to monitor facial expressions, eye tracking and brain activity to understand the emotional state of a passenger. We can identify links between behaviour and product that relate to visual stimuli (crew, cabin, look of menu/food/ beverages), taste and touch.

Technological advances are giving passengers increasing flexibility and improving airline business performance but there is still room for innovation. Re-thinking and evolving is key and with most fleets grounded, this is time to act before those aircraft head back up to the skies. •