Rising Passenger Demand and Personalization in the Airline Industry

The airline industry might have had a couple of tough years, but we all know passenger demand will rise again. The world is more globalized than ever, and nobody is crazy enough to consider sailing the transatlantic to travel. Air travel has always been the safest and easiest way, and it’s going to stay that way. Well, until Elon Musk reveals his future plans, maybe?

The airline industry managed to keep passenger demand rising even after the Boeing 737 MAX crisis, but of course, the COVID-19 pandemic is something else. The good news is governments, airline companies, and passengers have all adapted quickly to the new normal, and when we look at projections for next year, we see a bright future for the airline industry.

As you can see from the chart, there’s not even a single year when passenger demand dropped into a falling trend since 2006. Even today, when the pandemic is nowhere near being over, the airline companies somehow managed to earn their passengers’ trust. Well, roughly. It’s no secret that a new era is right around the corner, and whoever adopts and uses the changes to their advantage by taking the right steps will be the real winner. Yes, passengers are coming back.

According to Forbes, the first passengers to come back and take their seats on the planes will be the business travelers. And we all know that what works best for the business passenger is the effortless travel experience. The industry is at a crossroads once again, and now is a great time to adopt new approaches, and the keywords seem to be personalization and loyalty.

The Future of Meeting Demands: Personalization

The internet made buying a plane ticket remarkably easier for the passenger, but that was the story of the previous decades. The consumer of today has it a lot easier in many areas. Now, as the generations are changing, passengers want a more effortless experience while feeling more exclusive. Yes, being able to buy a ticket with a couple of clicks and taps are great, but the process can be better. The largest players of the industry have already taken measures to make the process a better experience, and thanks to today’s technology, it’s easier than ever—you don’t even have to spend tons of money in order to build new personalization systems.

You can choose one of the numerous ways to give your passengers a more personalized and individual experience, but many of them require too much extra workforce. Thankfully, technology and innovations in the data processing field are here to help. First of all, let’s talk about what we mean by personalization in the airline industry.

How Can the Airline Industry Adopt Personalization?

The passenger of today values time more than ever; on top of that, they want to feel cared for. When we look from the perspective of a passenger, the in-flight process is the smallest part of the journey. What leaves a trace in the minds of the passengers are their before and after-flight experiences. According to Gartner’s report from 2019, the majority of the passengers value personalization, and companies that focus on personalized relations can expect a 16% improvement in commercial outcomes. The process begins with searching for a flight. As we mentioned above, it used to be a dull process, but with today’s technology, the journey can find its passenger. With enough data, you can know the flying habits of each of your customers and send them reminders about your point-on offers. The better thing is, the automation systems can do it for you.

Another example of personalization while buying a ticket is auto-filling the forms for the passenger. Your website or app can know who your passenger is, and pre-fill the order forms for them. Easy. It’s all about having enough data and processing, and here at Ubimecs, we’ve got the tools.

How Can You Use Ubimecs Airline Module for Personalization

The top and most-loved feature of the Ubimecs Airline Module is undoubtedly its omnichannel approach. And when you think about personalization, using a unified platform takes you to the higher levels. Everybody is talking about how essential it is to go omni channel, but in reality, very few have changed their approach. According to a 2016 report by Frost and Sullivan, an omni channel customer experience after 2020 is a must. Another report from 2019 from Frost and Sullivan also states that being omni channel isn’t enough; it also needs to be automated.

First, let’s talk about personalized offers for passengers. With Ubimecs Airline Module, you can have control over the offers you make for each of your customers. The automated system gets to know the passengers one by one, and creates the perfect and personalized deals for them. By offers, we don’t only mean ticket and flight offers; our platform also includes ancillary products and meal options, personalized for each passenger.

Another must-have for personalization in the Airline industry is undoubtedly integration with loyalty programs. Once you win a passenger’s heart and trust, you are good to go. Probably every airline company has a loyalty program, but as we’ve mentioned before, the passenger of today wants to feel unique. Accordingly, in the end, the more personalized your loyalty program is, the better. With Ubimecs Airline Module, you don’t even have to run a separate operation for your loyalty programs; it’s all automated.

There are many other factors you can customize for your own needs in the Ubimecs Airline Module, and the best thing is, whatever you need, remember that they will work seamlessly in every platform your customers need. From a booking engine to baggage tracking, we provide a unified customer experience with all digital channels; web, app, smartwatches, kiosk and more. To explore how you can use our Airline Module, book a meeting to speak to an Ubimecs expert by filling out the form here.