How Simplicity and Lifestyle Branding Drive Loyalty for Airlines

JetBlue is using technology to bring humanity back to travel.

Simplifying air travel requires more than customer-facing initiatives, like JetBlue’s recent experiment with facial recognition boarding, but goes deeper into day-to-day operations, JetBlue CIO Eash Sundaram suggests.

Innovation hinges on introducing technologies and processes which eliminate points of friction for customers, and stumbling blocks for staff—all of whom JetBlue refers to as members of “crew”.

The Qantas Frequent Flyer program is tailored around the traveller lifestyle and identity, including a host of personal services, like health and life insurance, the sale of exclusive luxury items, and a wine connoisseur’s club epiQure.

Like JetBlue, the Scandinavian airline has also found that simplifying the travel process is an integral part of building loyalty.

The SAS Lab, tasked with making travel more convenient and seamless, has not been shy about pushing the limits on innovation in its experiments, even getting under passengers’ skin.

Finnair has also adopted a blend of simplicity in air travel and lifestyle branding as part of its loyalty-building strategy. The airline is putting customers at the heart of its digital innovation and looking closely at their daily habits, likes and dislikes, when developing new systems.