How to measure the passenger experience during a disruption

An on-time flight is rarely remembered. A delayed flight, on the other hand, defines how the passenger talks about the airline. That is why measuring the experience during the disruption, and not just overall, is key to improving it.

Six indicators that actually tell you something

• Time to first notice: how long until the passenger knows what is happening and what they are entitled to.
• Time to compensation: how long between the disruption and the moment they receive it.
• Redemption rate: what share of compensations is actually used.
• Post-disruption satisfaction: one short question at the end of the trip.
• Post-trip complaints: cases reaching the call center, email or social media after the flight.
• Cases escalated to people: how many needed human intervention and why.

How to collect the data without endless surveys

Most of these indicators come from operations itself: the time of the notice, the time of the compensation and the redemption are all logged. For satisfaction, one question is enough, on the same channel where the passenger received the compensation, right after using it.

What to do with the information

• Compare by route, disruption cause and station to find where the process fails.
• Adjust rules and compensation methods based on what gets redeemed most.
• Plan resources for the stations and times with the most disruptions.
• Share results with operations, customer service and finance.

Measuring well doesn’t require a months-long data project: it requires the notice, the compensation and the conversation with the passenger to run through the same system.