The clock reads 10:07 AM.
Mia, a customer service representative at SkyHorizon Airways' call centre in Atlanta, takes a sip of coffee after resolving a routine case with a customer. That’s when the alert comes in on her desktop.
ALERT: SOLAR STORM
Status: All flights grounded until further notice.
Mia’s heart skips a beat. She hasn’t heard anything about a solar storm. The call centre starts to get louder, and the energy intensifies.
Mia’s phone immediately rings.
“Good morning, this is SkyHorizon Airways. How can I assist you?” she greets the caller.
“Hey, what’s going on? I just received a notification that my flight is cancelled.” The man’s voice was laced with anxiety.
“I’m so sorry for the inconvenience. Can I ask you to hold for one moment, please?” she said, putting the caller on hold. She turns to her colleague, Jonathan, who is typing furiously on his terminal.
“Jonathan, have you heard anything about a solar storm?”
Jonathan looks up. “Yeah, I just got an alert. It’s a big one. They’re grounding flights all over the world because of interference with navigation systems.”
Mia feels a knot form in her stomach. She unmutes the call. “Sir, we’re still gathering information, but it seems there’s a significant solar storm affecting flights globally. Please hold while I transfer you to our emergency support team.”
The next few hours were a blur. Calls came in one after another, each one more frantic than the last. Passengers stranded at airports, families worried about loved ones, business travellers desperate to make their meetings—all looking for answers that Mia and her colleagues didn’t have.
This scenario, though fictional, mirrors the real crises that airlines face. From volcanic eruptions and pandemics to technological failures, such events can cause massive surges in customer service requests, overwhelming traditional call centres and leaving customers frustrated.
The impact of crises on customer service
Types of crises impacting transportation
Transportation interacts directly with the natural world. As a result, airlines and other forms of transportation face various disruptions, including natural disasters like volcanic eruptions, technological failures like global IT outages, and health emergencies like pandemics. Each crisis leads to a sharp increase in customer inquiries, straining resources and challenging service teams.
- The 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption in Iceland resulted in the cancellation of roughly 107,000 flights within 8 days, impacting approximately 10 million passengers.
- The COVID-19 pandemic led to the suspension of nearly every major railway and airline in 2020, resulting in a mass cancellation of approximately 10.2 million flights globally, representing 43% of total flights scheduled for that year.
- The 2024 Dubai storms and flooding led to roughly 1,478 flight cancellations.
- The 2024 CrowdStrike outage caused massive airport disruptions with over 5,000 cancellations and over 46,000 delayed flights.
The role of scalable communication in crisis management
Scalable communication refers to the ability to efficiently handle a large volume of customer interactions without compromising service quality. During crises, scalable communication ensures that transportation companies can manage surges in inquiries, keeping customers informed and satisfied.
Automation exists as a bit of an unsung hero. It’s always working, and when it’s working well, you don’t think much of it. Yet it’s during these moments of crisis that it throws on its cape and shows you what it’s capable of doing. While competitors are floundering, the automation-based systems allow you to weather the storm with peace of mind.
Real-world examples
Scalable communication strategies have increased in prominence across travel, but often after crisis strikes. For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, one of Europe’s leading low-cost airlines came out stronger than they went into the pandemic, despite experiencing the losses felt across the industry.
The airline was experiencing an overwhelming volume of calls, reaching over 1 million calls in 2021 due to pandemic-related travel disruptions and regulatory changes. They quickly realised that they needed to automate complex tasks like flight refunds, adding baggage, changing flights, or selecting seats.
Within just 5 months, the airline fully implemented its automated system and entered into 2022 with a higher customer satisfaction score than the 2019 pre-pandemic numbers. Other results included:
- 30% → 68% of cases solved by automation
- 5% → 52% of cases handled by messaging & chat
- 95% → 48% of cases handled in the call centre
- 96% customer satisfaction
"These initiatives have significantly improved our ability to provide exceptional customer service while reducing costs. Hubtype has enabled us to automate complex processes, allowing us to focus on delivering personalised support where it matters most." — Customer Service Director
The role of messaging and chat in crisis management
Messaging and chat platforms offer immediate response capabilities and can handle high volumes of inquiries efficiently. They enable airlines to provide timely updates and support to passengers, reducing the strain on call centres.
Customers prefer communicating through popular messaging channels like WhatsApp, where 140 billion messages are exchanged daily. The last thing that a stressed-out customer wants it endure 15 minutes of holding music or be forced to download another app—91% of consumers find this frustrating.
Not only is this the ideal method of showing up where your customers like to chat, but it also enables customers to communicate in a way that is organic and familiar. Messaging and chat allows for autonomous communication, letting customers pick up a conversation where it last left off. During a crisis, there are many moving parts to manage, and customer service is just one of those. Making it easier on the customer makes solutioning easier and improves customer satisfaction.
Key principles for managing customer satisfaction in a crisis
Proactive communication
Proactive communication involves keeping customers informed with timely updates through automated systems. This approach helps manage expectations and reduce anxiety during disruptions.
Proactive communication has been shown to significantly reduce the burden on call centres and make customers feel satisfied and respected. 83% of customers want companies to proactively provide customer service, and 92% of consumers said that being contacted proactively by a company changed their perception of the company positively.
Yes, travel disruptions can lead to an improved reputation by simply being transparent and proactive with customers.
Personalised support
71% of customers expect personalisation, which makes balancing automation with personalised support crucial. Automation can significantly improve the personalisation of customer support by leveraging advanced machine learning and natural language processing to better analyse customer data and offer tailored responses.
On the other hand, while automated systems handle routine inquiries, human agents can focus on addressing complex issues. By streamlining the handover from automation to human support, this approach ensures that customers feel valued and understood.
Implementing customer service automation
Automated customer service systems operate through predefined workflows. These workflows manage tasks such as booking management, issue resolution, and real-time flight updates. For instance, a customer seeking to change their flight can interact with a chatbot that guides them through the process seamlessly, providing instant confirmation and updates.
Key use cases:
- Booking management: Automated systems handle flight bookings, seat selections, and baggage requests.
- Processing refunds: Automation speeds up the refund process, ensuring customers receive timely reimbursements.
- Real-time updates: Automated messaging systems provide customers with real-time updates on flight statuses, delays, and gate changes.
Benefits of customer service automation
Customer service automation offers numerous benefits:
- Cost savings: Reduces the need for large customer service teams by handling routine tasks.
- Scalability: Easily scales to manage high volumes of inquiries during peak times or crises.
- Improved customer satisfaction: Provides quick and accurate responses, improving the customer experience.
A scalable future for transportation
As transportation companies navigate the complexities of crisis management, scalable and automated customer communication becomes essential. By investing in advanced customer service automation tools, airlines can prepare for future disruptions, ensuring they can handle high volumes of inquiries without compromising service quality. The future of customer service lies in resilience and preparation, empowering airlines to maintain customer trust and satisfaction even in the face of unexpected challenges.
Want to see how WizzAir and easyJet prepared for crises? Speak with the experts who prepared them!
