Navigating turbulent times, airlines look to apps to keep travellers happy

Decades into a digital revolution in which Uber and Lyft wrote the rules of how people get around cities on the ground, airlines are now grasping the full potential of technology to change how customers fly.

As conflict in the Middle East disrupts global air travel, AI-enabled booking apps from some of the world’s most technology-focused airlines are blunting customers’ frustrations by offering passengers easy rebookings, maps through complex airports and chatbots for advice.

The growing importance of apps puts pressure on the likes of Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin to recruit tech talent that would not normally consider airlines a home for their skills. Adding to the challenge, the apps developed for airlines must integrate existing scheduling, ticketing and luggage systems that power airlines.

American airline United is one of the carriers that has invested the most in its app. “We’ve created product teams that are focused on the experience, not the individual technology,” said Grant Milstead, vice president of digital at United. That includes buying the ticket, arriving at the airport and boarding the plane.

Only three years ago, global airlines were navigating a rocky recovery from COVID-19. Border closures and differing vaccine mandates created an urgent need to improve the apps that customers relied on for flight updates.

‘Taking care of a customer during a flight delay or cancellation does not make up for the underlying problem, but it goes a long way towards helping passengers feel like they’re being cared for by the airline.’

In response, United created a Travel Ready Centre within its app, guiding customers step-by-step through the “requirements around visas, vaccines, capabilities for nationalities and passports”.

Seth Miller, founder of PaxExAero, a consultancy specialising in passenger experience, said that “taking care of a customer during a flight delay or cancellation scenario does not make up for the underlying problem, but it goes a long way towards helping passengers feel like they’re being cared for by the airline”.

Qantas launched its app in 2010 and upgraded it in 2023 to provide real-time updates and self-service rebooking options for customers. The Qantas app provides travel notices to alert customers of events impacting their flights, such as weather or operational issues.

In 2019, United launched its ConnectionSaver technology to identify departing flights that could be held for connecting customers. Last year, the airline upgraded its app to include a countdown to connecting flights and turn-by-turn directions on a floor map of an airport, with an estimated walking time to connecting gates.

Its customers are also automatically offered personalised rebooking options when they miss a flight. “Even though we move masses of 500,000 to 600,000 customers a day, we really think about treating them as an audience of one,” said Milstead, the United vice president.

Rico Merkert, University of Sydney chair of transport and supply chain, said that for airlines today, apps were second only to loyalty programs and the actual flying in their importance for customer service.

When apps are well integrated with airline operations and customer relationship management systems, “they can generate a lot of value”, he said.

“Apps give airlines persistent access to passengers,” Merkert said, which means more potential add-on sales of upgrades and perks, as well as self-service that increases efficiency for the carrier.

For airlines, apps are increasingly a way to simplify the complex customer tasks that make travel tiresome. Qantas, for example, has partnered with the government to allow international inbound passengers to fill out an Australia Travel Declaration form within the Qantas app up to 72 hours before flying, removing the need for the paper incoming passenger cards that are handed out on inbound flights.

So far, it is only available for Qantas flights into Brisbane, and 19 services into Sydney, but the airline hopes to roll it out further soon.

Virgin Australia chief executive Dave Emerson said his airline was in the process of investing in improving its app. ”We really worked hard on our website for the first couple of years coming out of administration,” he said. “Now, we started about a year ago to really [begin] working to uplift the app.”

United, whose app is considered a leader among airlines, began the modernisation process a decade ago with a push from chief executive Scott Kirby.

In a March 21 note to employees discussing the impact of the Iran-triggered oil shock, Kirby wrote that he “told the technology team to use this time to invest MORE and further expand our lead”.

United’s results last year showed that by the fourth quarter, 85 per cent of its customers used its app on their day of travel, and more than half of customers who had a cancellation effectively resolved the issue on the app with automated tools.

Passenger experience expert Miller said that “the key to success for an airline app is presenting information to passengers that is both relevant and accurate, and doing so in a way that removes a need to otherwise contact customer service”.

As apps grow more sophisticated, they change passenger expectations. Customers “expect to be able to do everything themselves [and] for it to be easy”, said Jennifer Schwierzke, United’s vice president of customer strategy and innovation.

Aligning physical space with digital space is an example.

United offers a “bag-drop shortcut”, allowing a customer to check in bags on the app and drop them off at a “shortcut” area at the airport. The area at the kerb is marked green, which matches the green tab on the app.

Encouraging loyalty and sales

Airline apps are also about engaging passengers with the brand. Since 2023, Qantas has upgraded the loyalty function on its app to show status, points balances and activity, as well as bookings, flights and frequent flyer details.

Flying will never be as seamless as ordering a car on an app, simply because 300-seat planes don’t operate like an Uber ride. Yet, by focusing on “moments” rather than just “flights”, airline apps are making a mass-scale experience feel remarkably personal.

United’s Milstead says customers should feel “inspired” when shopping for a flight, “excited” when the app builds up the flight, “at ease” when they get to the lobby and gate, and then “entertained and relaxed” when they get on board.