Delta Airlines - Equips Flight Attendants with Guest Service Tool ‘bring humanity back to flying’

All of Delta’s flight attendants will be equipped with the new Guest Service Tool, which will help them deliver a more personalised level of service to passengers.

Personalising the passenger experience is a goal shared by airlines around the world, and Delta Air Lines has now taken a step towards achieving this by equipping its flight attendants with the new Guest Service Tool.

Last year, Delta rolled out Nokia Lumia 1520 tablets, which were initially used to process in-flight ancillary sales and replaced the 500-page On Board Manual with a digital version. The launch of the Guest Service Tool will now enable the carrier’s 22,000 flight attendants to interact with passengers on a more personal level. For example, they will be able to use the tool to recognise high-value customers and better serve those who may be in need of extra assistance. As the tool evolves, they will also be able to provide passengers with the status of their connecting flight and gate information in real time.

Allison Ausband, Delta’s Senior Vice President of In-Flight Service, explained that the tool will allow flight attendants to “pay attention to detail for the customer”. She added: “The Guest Service Tool is a great opportunity for us to bring humanity back to flying and we know our customers want that too, and all 80,000 Delta employees want that customer to feel it on board the airplane.

The tool allows us to make sure that the customer knows they matter, and value their business and in case we disrupted a customer yesterday due to weather, our flight attendants will know that on their next flight, and be able to offer that service recovery immediately in the aisles and provide that great service.”

Ms. Ausband also explained that the technology will enable staff to greet customers by name and view their frequent flyer status to get a more detailed understanding of the customer they are dealing with. “We’ll continue to enhance the device and Guest Service Tool to take advantage of customer-provided data to further personalise the on board experience,” she added.

Finding a balance between personalisation and intrusion

The launch of the Guest Service Tool comes more than a year after Delta Air Lines announced that it was going to equip all flight attendants with Nokia Lumia 1520 tablets.

Delta Air Lines’ attempts to personalise the in-flight experience follow similar initiatives by other carriers in recent times. Among them is JetBlue Airways, which has rolled out iPad Minis and the In-Flight Service Assistance application.

The thinking behind JetBlue’s app is to give flight attendants easy access to an electronic manifest that shows them which passengers have made special requests and which are TrueBlue or Mosaic members. The iPad Minis can also be used as point-of-sale devices.

British Airways also has experience in this space. It was among the first to exploit Big Data opportunities to personalise the travel experience for premium customers with its “Know Me” programme, which launched in 2012. While many saw the benefits of such an initiative at the time, questions were also raised about where the line should be drawn between personalisation and intrusion.

As airlines seek to establish just how far travellers would like personalisation to go, they will no doubt be paying close attention to what impact these initiatives have on the passenger experience and operational efficiency, plus, most importantly, just how comfortable passengers are when it becomes apparent that flight attendants know more about them than they might expect.

Spource - FTE Global

Step-by-Step First Time Traveler Guide - Why and What really happens at Airport Check-In ?

• Airport Check-in - Why do we need a Check-in service and what happens during the process.

Check-in Counters at an Airport Terminal

• The very word Airport and Aeroplane rings a bell in the minds of a first time traveller. He is apprehensive of all the facts including all he has to do at an airport before he gets on to the Aircraft and finally to his destination. There is a saying that goes as " The First impression is the Last impression". As rightly said it is indeed True. The very process starts when a Flight Ticket is bought of Airline, preferably that of airline whose name is taken in high esteem for its overall customer service. It is important for a first time traveller to read through the rules and regulation on the Ticket, besides it is also important that he looks up the airlines website and go through the many need to know information that is mentioned therein.

• At the airport on the check-in you will get to see a smartly dressed check-in staff, he /she will greet you with a smile. He/She then takes you ticket but before the check-in process is initiated there will be a few questions asked. It is important to Listen and understand the questions. As a passenger you need to know your entitlements. You need to be very observant of the activities that the check-in agent. The ticket is checked for details such as Name of passenger, Flt No, Sector of travel, Class of travel and the Fare calculated. Once this formality is done you are check-in and your baggage is added to your name. The bags are then tagged, during the tagging of the bags you need to ensure that the right baggage is being tagged. At the end of this the check-in agent hands over the boarding pass with your baggage tags pasted to it. The bags are then released to the BMA (Baggage Make-up Area). The bags are then reconciled and transported to be loaded into the aircraft. He/she then circles the certain elements on the boarding pass, they are the Boarding time, Seat no and the Gate No. You are briefed about the carriage of permissible and non permissible articles in your hand baggage. In the event of a First time traveller you are guided to the passenger boarding area by a CSA (Customer Service Agent). While you are being escorted there are many instructions given and that needs to be understood well. It is at this place you observe many a behavioral activity of the airline staff while you wait for the boarding of the flight.