10 things we learned from Nelamar Piñeiro’s CX panel at the World Aviation Festival

Our Aviation team’s Head of Americas chaired an insightful session at the Talent Summit.

Working in aviation runs in Nelamar Piñeiro’s family. Her mother began her career at Air Panama and retired at American Airlines, while her brother also caught the bug as a pilot first at Copa and currently at United. It’s safe to say, then, that she too is passionate about the sector, and had the chance to share her enthusiasm with attendees and panellists alike when she chaired a discussion at the recent World Aviation Festival in Lisbon, her first since joining Venari Partners in April this year.

Nelamar’s session was titled ‘Future-Proofing Passenger Experience: Leadership, Talent and Tech’. The guest speakers were:

• Tom Stevens – VP, Canadian Airports and Customer Experience Strategy, Air Canada

• Jason Ward – Chief People & Marketing Officer, Azul Airlines

• Heather Garboden – SVP & Chief Customer Officer, American Airlines

• Massimo Morin – Global Head, Travel and Hospitality, Amazon Web Services 

It was wonderful to have such knowledgeable customer experience professionals for this talk – but now that the dust has settled from the festival, we have had time to reflect on what we learned from the panel. Here are our top 10 insights:

There is no one-size-fits-all approach for chief experience officer positions

For Tom, CX is an interesting topic for aviation, ‘because each airline has a different organisational structure’. At Air Canada, this means blending customer experience strategy, cooperation, and delivery: an approach that sees him wear many different hats, with NPS and on-time performance frequent (and sometimes conflicting) subjects of interest alongside efficiency. Tech is also particularly important for Tom, as is the intersection of people and leadership. ‘The role of leading CX is now so multifaceted,’ he notes. ‘I think that’s what makes it so interesting.’

Tech can play an exciting role

Tom oversees 12,000 employees at Air Canada, and a central focus for him is how best to equip them with technology that can help them serve customers efficiently. He is excited about using tech to move ‘away from pure efficiency’ towards making his staff into ‘elevated customer service professionals’. It is not about replacing people with machines, but rather taking passionate, empowered talent and giving them the tools that can help them reach the next level.

Customers can help with innovation too

Technology is certainly a key tool for CX – but in Massimo’s view, considered analysis of this subject leads to discussions about processes, ‘and then you start talking about people.’ What that means in practice is that for all the talk about digital solutions being the future for a given organisation, the systems involved in bringing in new technology can be constraining. ‘So, the best way that we approach our customers is really to go and talk about how you innovate,’ Massimo says. Vision and process come first – then you apply the tech.

Being thoughtful about the human side is key

Most American Airlines passengers use the app, which is an ‘incredibly important’ way of communicating about disruptions and updates to journeys, in Heather’s opinion. Nonetheless, as important as user-friendly applications are for CX, she is resolute in being ‘thoughtful about the human side of things’ – not least as it forms a central part of the airline’s approach to customer experience. ‘There are interactions with our team members every day and on every flight,’ she explains. ‘And so that's also where we're really focused on making sure that we have the type of experience that our customers want to have.’

Hiring CX professionals from outside the industry remains an obstacle

The pros and cons of trying to attract talent from other sectors is an ongoing topic in aviation; the challenge of adapting to aviation’s customs for those joining from outside, including from CX backgrounds, persists. For instance, Jason thinks that CX professionals with outside experience tend to have difficulty understanding timelines that might seem normal in aviation but unusually long elsewhere. He feels strongly enough about this to admit that ‘I’d almost rather hire somebody within the company that doesn’t come from CX – maybe a finance person.’

Back to basics is sometimes best

Jason calls on CX leaders to focus on key deliverables. After all, if you’re not closing the plane doors on time, then ‘people don’t really care about your customer experience’. Getting the basics right is fundamental for CX pros, in Jason’s view. That means understanding just what is behind the business and what motivates everyone from airport agents to crew members, as well as getting the ‘buy-in from all these people over the world to make a change and convince others.’

Bandwagons change, but some things never do – and they’re worth paying attention to

Jason was not the only one advocating for doing the simple things well. There is always some new trend that gets everyone talking. Massimo, however, prefers for customers and his sales teams alike to ‘focus on what never changed’. Complaints, travel updates, luggage problems, arriving on time – these are central issues for aviation CX that simply never go out of fashion. Massimo believes firmly in the need to ‘identify the problem, work backwards, and identify the solution. That is how you become successful.’

Future innovation will always have the passenger in mind

Massimo thinks the future of CX lies in contextualised services – for instance, information about events on at a given destination, as well as something he calls a ‘digital concierge’ to help travellers with topics like what to pack and the best route to the airport. He cites examples like the Ryanair app, as well as digital twins to monitor ground movements in real time. For Massimo, this is an area where less really means more: ‘the best innovation and technology are the ones you don’t see.’

It pays to ask for feedback

After seeking advice from other CX professionals, Heather went on to create an advisory board at American, which contains people with backgrounds from both in and outside aviation (e.g. Delta and Disney respectively). What she found is that ‘broad feedback related to culture’ from customers, as well as employee engagement on issues around surveys and customer communications, have provided a great opportunity to learn from others and do things differently.

There is more emphasis on CX in aviation than ever before

Heather believes that the last 20 or so years have brought unprecedented focus on the role of CX in aviation. ‘What was, for the majority of my career, a financial and operational update is now also a customer experience one,’ she says. These days, airlines frequently point to NPS and the enhancements they are offering to travellers – things that are certainly priorities for American, and more and more common across the industry as a whole. ‘I think we’re making great progress,’ she adds.

Thank you to all the speakers for sharing such fascinating insights!

At Venari Partners, we are passionate about letting airlines maximise their customer service and experience offerings. Reach out to find out how we can help.