Global demand for air travel reached an all-time high in 2024. In the coming decades, passenger numbers will double from current levels of 9.5 billion, to reach 22.3 billion in 2042.

This presents both an opportunity and a challenge for the aviation industry. Of course, more potential customers is a good thing, but the market is highly competitive. And it’s not all about price, either; instead, passengers are much more likely to choose a provider based on their customer experience and the unique services you can offer, even when it’s more expensive.

In this blog, we look at the crucial importance of achieving a full view of the customer in achieving outstanding customer experiences in aviation.

With a ‘customer 360’ strategy, airlines and airports can focus their efforts on providing the services and offers that add value to the customer experience

A passenger-centric air travel experience – driven by data

Passengers want to enjoy their air travel, and they’re happy to pay more for services that give them better experiences. Compared to loyalty programs, research from McKinsey shows that good customer experiences are more than twice as likely to influence their choices of airport or airline. Furthermore, catering to the demand for personalized experiences leads to a 10% to 15% increase in revenue.

Aviation can gain a lot by collecting data from a range of sources and leveraging this to offer enhanced services.

However, a ‘customer 360 strategy’ is needed – one that brings together data collection, storage, and numerous automated processes into a holistic system that generates better experiences with real added value.

How to gain a 360-degree view of the customer

Building a comprehensive and personal understanding of each customer hinges on a well-executed strategy that spans data collection, to how it’s processed to deliver automated actions, tailored offers, or optional add-on services.

On the aggregate scale, passenger information can help to manage operations more effectively, reducing your costs. But, when you start to leverage data on the level of each individual customer, you can supercharge your marketing and sales, and improve margins. 

This goes beyond simple personas or demographics, using granular insights about each customer’s preferences and habits to meet their needs. When done correctly, this generates significant value. 

Benefits of a customer 360 program include:

Advanced segmentation – Segmentation generates considerable revenue increases. The more data you collect and analyze, the more detailed and accurate your services can become.

Personalized experiences – Extending segmentation with large datasets and AI capabilities creates ‘hyper-segmentation’ that drives more specific and highly targeted experiences that match each customer.

Cross-selling & Upselling – Enhanced customer knowledge allows you to put relevant offers in front of customers, from extra help with bags to offering child seats, hotel bookings or ‘special’ deals.

Data-driven decisions – With a 360-degree view of the customer, each decision becomes data-driven, and requires less human involvement. You can automatically determine provisions for each flight, reducing waste and making customers happier with the items they want.

Event-driven decisions – Integrating real-time data about flights and airport environments into the customer view allows you to optimize staffing levels and give timely updates to customers.

Reduce customer service burden – Automating services based on customer data enables preemptive problem-solving that predicts customer needs and prevents issues before they start. This significantly reduces reliance on customer services and increases satisfaction.

How business rules drive enhance customer satisfaction

Converting massive amounts of customer data into automated decisions, offers, and other outputs requires software that is highly reliable. It must give you control while also managing the dynamic contexts of aviation.

The answer is elegantly simple, yet powerful: business rules.

Business rules allow you to state the specific criteria for each business process, meaning that customer data is always used in a predictable way. 

For example, if a passenger has an allergy, then this data can be used to trigger a specific process such as a notification or an order for stocking their aircraft.

These are simple statements, yet they can automate incredibly complex processes. A good example of this is Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, which uses a 360-degree view of their entire facility and uses this data to drive seamless process management for better customer and stakeholder experiences, and improved operational efficiency. 

Customer data at work in Aviation: Amsterdam Schiphol Airport

Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport is a leader in digitization. It uses the USoft platform to harmonize data streams, automate processes and drive intelligent decision-making. The result is an autonomous event-driven airport that offers superior customer experiences and optimized processes.

For example, by using USoft technology Schiphol typically realizes process efficiency gains of between 10% to 25%. 

In the logistics and supply chain sector, such increases are very significant. And in some cases Schiphol even realizes 100% improved efficiency by completely automating the human factor.  

Of course, achieving a 360-degree view across an entire airport is incredibly complex. All passengers (from all carriers) must be given superior experiences, and each part of the airport ecosystem is dependent on several others. 

The complexity of this is too much for the human mind to handle, and human decision making becomes a constraint. The only way to deliver the services and experiences customers demand is with intelligent process orchestration driven by business rules and data.

Schiphol’s Passenger Collaborative Decision Making (PAXCDM) enables:

Passenger flow optimization – Passengers enjoy a pleasant and frictionless journey through the airport. They’re directed through routes that minimize wait times, streamline boarding, and reduce the hassle of transfers and check-ins.

Operational efficiency – Customers notice when service is substandard, and are delighted when they receive a smooth service. By managing processes with real-time automated decision-making, resources are managed effectively.

Stakeholder collaboration – Data flows between different service providers can be the key to enhancing customer experiences. The USoft platform is crucial for Schiphol’s automated airport, seamless communication between airlines, airport authorities, and security teams.

This is an inspirational example for any business in the Aviation industry because the same technical capabilities that run an entire airport can also support individual airlines and other aviation service providers. It means they can effortlessly deliver superior, tailored experiences driven by customer data. You can read more about this case here.

Technological requirements of a customer 360 strategy

There are several technological capabilities that must be seamlessly integrated to gain valuable insights and actions from your customer data. These include:

Real-time data processing – You must be able to process the terabytes of data generated per hour. USoft’s event-driven architecture allows instant processing of relevant data and instant decision-making.

Seamless system integration – A variety of data sources must be perfectly integrated so that each service, microservice, or department has access to the data it needs. This can span multiple touchpoints from check-in, through security and others.

Business rule automation – Creating tailored customer experiences relies on converting your knowledge into meaningful corresponding actions. USoft’s Business Rules Engine automates these powerful rules within your system, so the right offer or decision is surfaced based on known criteria.

Advanced analytics integration – Customer data can provide behavioral insights using advanced analytics and AI capabilities. In the case of Schiphol Airport, passenger movement and other behaviors are tracked and analyzed to drive powerful automated actions that improve passenger experiences.

How to set up your customer 360 program

Many organizations need some support when they get started with a customer 360 strategy. Creating a 360-degree view is a challenge, and you need to navigate a complex web of legal compliance, data security, privacy protection, and technical obstacles to data collection and processing.

Selecting the right platforms for each part of your solution is one side to this, as you need a system that can process massive amounts of data and use business rules to create reliable and transparent outputs. The other part is strategic, and relies on having the experience and vision of a trusted partner like Endava to execute this strategy.

Schiphol Airport’s example shows that large volumes of data can be used to deliver granular, passenger-specific actions that improve experiences. Airlines and other aviation service providers can use the same technology to drive their own automated processes and offers.

A data driven and event-driven approach can transform the future of air travel. Powered by business rules, customer data can instantly become meaningful and relevant actions that help give customers the smooth travelling experience they want.

Want to discuss your situation further and see what’s possible? Take the next step: get in touch.