How do you measure airline customer satisfaction?

1 Surveys and feedback

One of the most common and direct ways to measure customer satisfaction is to ask the customers themselves. Surveys and feedback forms can be conducted online, on board, at the airport, or after the flight. They can cover various aspects of the customer experience, such as booking, check-in, boarding, in-flight service, baggage handling, and overall satisfaction. Surveys and feedback can provide valuable insights into the strengths and weaknesses of an airline, as well as the preferences and needs of different customer segments.

2 Net Promoter Score

Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a simple and widely used metric that measures how likely a customer is to recommend an airline to others. It is calculated by asking customers to rate their likelihood of recommending an airline on a scale of 0 to 10, and then subtracting the percentage of detractors (those who rate 0 to 6) from the percentage of promoters (those who rate 9 or 10). The result is a score that ranges from -100 to 100, with higher scores indicating higher customer loyalty and advocacy.

3 Customer Satisfaction Index

Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) is a composite metric that measures how satisfied a customer is with an airline based on multiple dimensions of the customer experience. It is calculated by asking customers to rate their satisfaction with each dimension on a scale of 1 to 5, and then weighting and aggregating the ratings to produce a single score that ranges from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating higher customer satisfaction. Some of the dimensions that can be included in the CSI are reliability, comfort, service quality, value for money, and safety.

4 Customer Effort Score

Customer Effort Score (CES) is a metric that measures how easy or difficult a customer finds it to interact with an airline. It is calculated by asking customers to rate how much effort they had to put in to achieve their desired outcome on a scale of 1 to 5, with lower scores indicating less effort and higher scores indicating more effort. The rationale behind this metric is that customers prefer effortless experiences that save them time and hassle, and that reducing customer effort can increase customer loyalty and retention.

5 Social media monitoring

Social media monitoring is a method that measures customer satisfaction by analyzing the online conversations and sentiments of customers on various social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TripAdvisor. It can help airlines understand what customers are saying about their brand, products, services, and competitors, as well as how they feel about their experiences. Social media monitoring can also help airlines identify and respond to customer complaints, compliments, questions, and suggestions in real time.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?