Despite Positive Customer Feedback, Delta’s New CEO Still Looking to Improve
Jackie Reddy May 09, 2016
The carrier’s got the basics covered, but boss Ed Bastian is now looking to up the customer service experience with a host of new initiatives.
Delta Air Lines is good. Almost, it seems, too good.
If the recent passenger feedback is anything to go by, the carrier has satisfaction and quality licked. Indeed, in 2015, Delta came third in the nation’s Airline Quality Rating report and second in JD Power’s North America Airline Satisfaction Survey. In addition to this, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation, with a rate of 84.5 percent, the carrier is ranked fourth in the nation in terms of punctuality.
However, Delta’s problem, explains Brett Snyder of CrankyFlier.com, is that it actually doesn’t have many problems. That being said, he believes that Ed Bastian, the carrier’s new CEO, has a unique challenge on his hands.
Snyder told CNN that, “the biggest issue that Ed faces in this job is preventing Delta from getting too cocky and getting over confident.”
But Bastian has taken up this challenge willingly. At a press conference in late April, he announced three new initiatives that he believes will help to make the carrier’s passenger experience even better.
With snaking security lines becoming a real problem at the nation’s airports, Bastian has announced that Delta is purchasing a five percent stake in Clear, a biometric and identification service. This summer, Delta will be offering SkyMiles customers a chance to purchase a Clear membership that will allow them to pass through the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) Pre-Check lines a bit faster.
From August, Delta is also planning to employ radio frequency identification (RFID) to track passengers’ bags. Each piece of luggage will feature a paper tag that broadcasts radio waves. These carry an array of data, including a bag’s final destination. The idea is that if a bag is misrouted, it can be more efficiently re-directed to the right plane.
Finally, the carrier has also announced that it will be replacing some of its aging fleet with a mix of new Airbus, Bombardier and Boeing liners.
Despite these planned improvements, Bastian believes that the airline’s on-going as well as its future success is down to both its employees as well as its strong brand presence.
[Photo: Shizuo Kambayashi | AP]
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RE: TSA lines -- this is something only the AIRLINES can fix. They need to push their lobbyists to make this a huge issue. Just show how many flights have been delayed/rescheduled and how many passengers this has affected. How many passengers have avoided travel to the US because of onerous CBP/TSA behavior? How many domestic trips have been avoided? I used to fly domestically all the time. Now, I only do so when absolutely necessary because of the hassle and waste of time it has become. Probably a good 4-6 avoided flights for me so far this year. If all of the airlines got together on this, our TSA problems would go away quickly AND it'd benefit the airlines as well -- if pax left the screening areas in better moods, they'd view the rest of their experience more positively as well.
Snyder told CNN that, “the biggest issue that Ed faces in this job is preventing Delta from getting too cocky and getting over confident.” Too late, that's why I left Delta. Lack of integrity around their frequent flyer program. Promising one thing (best in class, etc.), delivering another (continued significant devaluations with little or no advance warning).