Restoring Confidence in Air Travel

Six months on from the start of the pandemic and the aviation landscape is very gloomy: the catastrophic loss of business caused by the closure of borders and airports around the world has wreaked major damage on airlines. The financial burden on some has been too much for their already weak cash positions and they’ll fly no more. Others have managed to re-finance and re-structure to shore up their bank balances to see them through more months of uncertainty. The numbers for 2020 are staggering: $84bn projected industry revenue loss (IATA), 400,000 jobs (Bloomberg), 55% drop in passenger traffic (IATA). All this sadly against a global death toll that will cross the million mark in the coming months, and keep rising for many more. 

In spite of a mixed global picture concerning infection rates and the number of cases, international borders are gradually being opened up, but with a variety of travel restrictions in place. The imposition of expensive PCR tests before flying and average quarantine periods of 14 days have put the brakes on any surge in passenger numbers. There has been no global health regulation standard agreed. I doubt IATA, EASA et al could ever have had the muscle to get their recommendations accepted. The pandemic has reduced the influence of these international organisations whilst local health authorities determine each government’s strategy. Against this backdrop the travel industry recovery phase has begun, but it’s stuttered and hasn’t got out of first gear.

According to Brand Finance the top 50 most valuable airline brands could lose up to 20 percent of their brand value (US$22bn). In the short-term brand value won’t worry airline CFOs when they’re seeing red across their year-on-year revenue column; but whilst they are busy with the numbers it is the marketing, customer experience, airport and on-board service teams, who need to help restore that lost value.

Consumer confidence in international travel is rock bottom.  Restoring confidence can go a long way to regaining lost value. We’ve seen a raft of videos showing airline cabin sanitisation and airport Covid protection programs to reassure passengers it’s going to be a safe experience but passenger concerns go further.

These concerns can be summarised as (1) Avoiding the virus (2) Avoiding quarantines (3) Avoiding flight cancellations. Airlines have to take positive action to overcome these concerns and deal with them to restore confidence in flying and importantly, in their brand. 

Avoiding the Virus

People are getting used to taking responsibility for their own health regarding Covid. For most, the mask-wearing habit is ingrained, as is the need to maintain social distancing and good hygiene. However, it appears that younger age groups in many countries have abandoned these precautionary measures – which creates concern for potential passengers. On a recent long-haul flight, I witnessed two contrasting behaviours – one person really didn’t like to be sat behind any other passenger and wanted the freedom to seek out a suitably isolated part of the (quite empty) aircraft, whilst another kept his mask off for all of the flight. Airlines and aviation authorities have set down clear in-flight rules and everyone must follow them. Wear your mask and don’t move seat unless given permission. Simple, but not (as on my fight) if cabin crew fail to enforce the rules and are not seen to be enforcing them. Authoritative cabin crew have always been a good thing to see, but now more than ever it is imperative they show who is in control to engender confidence for all passengers. Word of mouth soon travels even before a flight takes off about what it is like on-board in this new eerie world. Passengers seeing and reporting on proper Covid protection etiquette is good for the airline’s reputation. Make sure your cabin services team understand that and give them extra training for managing the message on-board and dealing politely but firmly with anti-maskers. Using travel influencers to fly with you and document their journey on social channels is a good way to demonstrate how your airline manages the inflight experience. Delta Airlines have shown decisive and reassuring action by recently placing 240 people on a ‘no-fly’ list for not complying with their face mask policy. 

It’s worth reiterating, though, that the risk of contracting Covid on a flight is actually very low. A study out last week from the USA for narrow-bodied aircraft revealed that on a full aircraft the risk was 1 in 4,300 of catching the virus (and that’s without any PCR testing before flying). Compare that with another study for train passengers which revealed a risk of 1 in 300.

Avoiding Quarantine

We’ve seen many countries introduce quarantine periods for arriving passengers. This in itself is acting as barrier to travel for the leisure traveller (less so for those who are returning to their home country or country of employment). No-one wants go on vacation to a country they then have to spend 14 days stuck in a hotel. Equally they don’t want to go away and come back home to 14 days’ quarantine. There’s nothing much airlines can do about quarantine regimes apart from alerting their customers to the entry regulations of all the countries on their network. Information should be provided on websites and social media and updated regularly. More importantly, when regulations do change suddenly (e.g. the UK announcing a 14-day quarantine on arrivals from Spain and France) and holidays plans are thrown into chaos, the way in which the airline responds to such situations will affect its satisfaction ratings. EasyJet and Ryanair maintained their flight schedules to Spain which helped holidaymakers return early should they wish and booking changes were allowed free of charge. The UK Tui holiday company quickly decided to cancel all holidays to Spain which aggravated many Britons who had booked. They offered full refunds or alternative dates but nothing compensates for a ruined holiday. In general airlines and travel companies have managed the ‘quarantine quicksand’ relatively well. It is governments who shoulder the wrath of travellers for imposing the regulations with little warning. I think there is a general appreciation for airlines who take a firm position and push back on these late decisions and stand up for travellers, no matter the defence governments make about public safety. Michael O’Leary, CEO Ryanair, lambasted the UK Government decision as being “rubbish’’. Mild coming from him.

Technically the most favoured alternative to quarantine is Covid PCR testing, but that still needs some standardisation in the way it is mandated. Many countries are now requiring a negative test result in the country of departure (with potential additional testing on arrival). Dubai is currently requiring a test to leave the country as well for EU/UK destinations, although it’s not a requirement from these countries. Testing is the best way forward for the time being and should remove the need for lengthy quarantines, and get demand for flights flowing more strongly. New generation 90-minute (and less) PCR tests are coming online – including a simpler saliva test – and these could radically improve the travel experience. They could be taken at airports on departure and on arrival. If airlines took the initiative and set up their own pre-flight testing facilities in cooperation with airports and health authorities, they could significantly improve demand for flights, even to go as far as including the cost of tests as a ticket package price. Making the travel process easier like this will aid better brand appreciation and encourage more people to fly.

Avoiding Flight Cancellations

Within the industry it has been a common practice in flight and revenue management to overbook flights or to cancel and combine flights, to ensure profitable loads. From a consumer point of view this often results in disrupted travel plans, anger and emotional distress. Recently low demand on newly opened routes has forced cancellations.  Cancellations are unavoidable in the current climate, but airlines can be quite brutal in their response – a cursory apology and what they think is a gracious refund or free re-booking. No consideration is actually shown as to the impact it has on the traveller. Airlines actively promote their free ticket change policies but sometimes this is not enough. Greater transparency and honesty about what is going on behind the scenes could do a lot to improve consumer understanding and acceptance. I’ve never seen any airline attempt to explain why flights get overbooked and why they get cancelled. For a brand to go out of its way and communicate what is an imperfect system may seem counter-intuitive but refreshing honesty is more likely to earn higher satisfaction scores. The travelling consumer knows that the airline industry is in great difficulty from the regular news stories about redundancies and bail outs, but airlines are still expected to maintain their service standards and look after their customers. Treating the consumer with more respect and intelligence would go a long way: communicating clearly the reasons for cancellations and providing refunds promptly, and even discount incentives for re-booking, would at least help alleviate the frustration caused and maintain confidence to book future flights. 

Confidence levels about flying will continue to waiver as uncertainty about second and third waves of the virus continues.  The opening of air bridges or travel corridors in Europe and Asia is helping to restore confidence by making travel easier but they can be closed at short notice. Testing, testing, testing is the mantra airlines should champion for the foreseeable future and lobby against quarantines. In my LinkedIn article in April, The New Safety at Airports, I concluded by saying a vaccine would be nice. It’s now an imperative. Without a vaccine, the recovery will be susceptible to volatility and disruption. When a vaccine comes, and I’m confident it will, we can all return to the ‘old normal’. In the meantime, airlines must do all they can to promote confidence. Their survival depends on it.

Andrew Ward

?Vice President Marketing & Customer Experience, Jazeera Airways

? Andrew Ward August 2020