More and more people are flying. The industry increases at a rate of 5% per year and is predicted to keep on doing so for the next 10 years (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, n.d.). In order to offer their customers more destinations to travel to, an increasing number of airlines are cooperating with each other within alliances. SkyTeam, the company for which this project was executed, currently is the second biggest airline alliance worldwide. In 2012 SkyTeam introduced SkyPriority: a set of eight privileges for customers with a first or business class ticket and for customers within the highest tiers of the airlines’ frequent flyer programs (FFPs). These SkyPriority privileges, such as priority check-in and priority boarding, make alliance-wide travelling faster and more convenient. However, after the introduction of this service in 2012, no new services were added for this group of Highly Valued Customers (HVCs).
PROBLEM STATEMENT
The resulting challenge for SkyTeam is to develop a proposition for SkyPriority customers that fits the desires of the wide variety of customers and is differentiating among other highly innovative airlines and alliances.
In this graduation project, possible directions for such a proposition are explored.
APPROACH
To gain insights in SkyTeam, extensive research was done on the company, SkyPriority and the industry in which SkyTeam operates. In addition, a case study was performed on one of the member airlines in order to map out the implications of the different types of partnerships and regulations on the customer. To gain insight in the journey of SkyPriority customers, 26 SkyPriority customers were qualitatively interviewed. In addition, 50 SkyPriority customers participated in a quantitative study, based on the ‘Elements of Value’ theory of Almquist et al. (2016). Hereafter, all insights from the customer research analyses were combined and led to the concept of a digital personal assistant. After an iterative process with feedback from the member airlines, multiple evaluation sessions and user testing with a mock-up, the concept was developed into a final proposition: Cura.
SOLUTION
Cura is a digital personal assistant that can be integrated as functionality into the mobile application of the 20 member airlines. It aims to create consistency between journeys with multiple airlines and reduce the experienced stress and hassle when travelling. By automatically collecting upcoming flight-details from the e-mail inbox of the customer, the assistant is able to provide him with the right information at the right time throughout the whole journey. In addition, it shows the customer the privileges he can make use of, taking into account his cabin service, FFP status and the airport he is visiting. By doing so, Cura aligns the customer’s expectations of the trip with the actual experience. Moreover, the assistant can be used regardless of the airline the customer is flying with, as long as it is a SkyTeam airline. As a consequence, the customer doesn’t have to download an extra app, but can keep using the app of his most frequently used airline. This not only increases the relevance of the apps of the 20 airlines when travelling with multiple airlines, but also creates consistency between the different journeys of the customer.
IMPLEMENTATION
In order to deliver the most accurate information possible, several requirements that are important for the well-functioning of Cura were listed. To realize the assistant, it is recommended to initially break the proposition down into a minimum viable product (MVP). Although this version of the assistant wouldn’t yet be able to give intelligent suggestions (based on e.g. personal preferences, time, location and past behavior), it would already fulfill the most urgent needs of the customer: taking away stress and confusion and creating consistency between the different journeys. After this, the recommended improvements will result in a more personalized and complete version of the assistant.
VALUE FOR SKYTEAM AND THE MEMBER AIRLINES
The service increases the customers’ benefit when travelling with the SkyTeam airlines, fosters the loyalty of existing SkyPriority customers and could attract new customers. Moreover, the concept responds to the wish of the member airlines to become more digital, but also allows them to customize and deliver the service as being their own. Worth mentioning is that there currently is no other alliance that offers such a product to its HVCs. Therefore introducing Cura would, as desired, differentiate SkyTeam among highly innovative airlines and alliances.