Score One For Customer Service: Why Delta Airlines’ Extension Of Status Is Impressive

In recent years, air travel has not always been known to make customers happy. Delta’s recent … [+] announcement of status extension shows loyalty to its customers.

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I have written previously about “new age” customer service practices that frustrate consumers. Indeed, as a marketing educator, it is disappointing to hear stories from friends frustrated by experinces with hidden fees, long wait times, or failure of a company remedy a blatant llapse in service. In the face of this environment, Delta Airlines’ recent extension of frequent flyer benefits, announced in a press releases this past Tuesday, was refreshing. 

In conjunction with the press release, Delta CEO Ed Bastian sent a letter to Delta frequent flyers, acknowledging customer service issues that have arisen during the Covid pandemic (e.g., long phone wait times, flight cancellations) and making a promise to improve on these dimensions. Impressively, the policies speak of the company’s loyalty to its regular customers. This is refresing, as too often, when we see customer loyalty discussed, it is from the point of view of the customer consuming the service and not the company providing the service.

Delta Airlines CEO Ed Bastian (Photo by Dustin Downing/Getty Images for Delta Air Lines)

Getty Images for Delta Air Lines

In his letter, Bastian makes several important commitments. Notably, he (and the company) take responsibility for the bumps consumers have experienced while returning to flying stating, “After a year of lockdowns, it’s been heartening to see so many of you returning to the skies this summer and reclaiming your lives. While we are pleased to welcome you back, the unexpected pace of the return of our customers has results in some unforeseen challenges as we ramp up to meet the demand and handle a record-breaking level of calls. He goes on to state, “We know that you expect more from Delta and assure that these challenges are temporary,” and point to four specific steps the company is taking. 

The steps for improving customer service Bastian outlines are: 1) increasing staffing and resources to reduce phone and airport wait times; 2) expanding capabilities of digital tools, including its website and app to allow consumers to do more (e.g., cancel or change a flight, find baggage information) online without calling; 3) minimizing schedule changes; and 4) extending frequent flyer status earned in 2020 (which had already been extended to 2021) to 2022, and also extending the time frame to use previously earned upgrade certificates.

I recently published an article titled, “Addressing the Janus Face of Customer Service: A Typology of New Age Service Failures,” in the European Journal of Marketing with colleagues Philip Kitchen, Matthew Sarkees, and Christian Lolk in which we argued that in spite of much talk about being in a “marketing era” where firms are committed to high customer service levels, actual practices have often not lived up to the hype. Among the issues we cited are how current technology and practice has made it more possible for firms to commit the following types of customer service lapses: 1) exploiting consumers limited time by making policies less than transparent; 2) employing new technologies that may actually reduce service levels (e.g., poorly implemented self-check out; use of chatbots) and 3) to focus excessively on cost savings (e.g., cutting real benefits and promoting meaningless ones; creating tiers so only the best customers receive good service).

It is notable that Delta’s actions point directly to avoiding  the above three “modern day” customer service lapses in the following ways:

1)     Not taking advantage of the busy consumer and making policies transparent

As many air travelers are busy, they may have difficulty following tall of the rules associated with frequent flyer programs and may get frustrated when losing out due to complexity. Delta’s extension of upgrade benefits helps consumers who have not been able to fly during Covid be able to use a benefit they earned without going through contortions to meet an unrealistic deadline, or losing out altogether. The central policy of extension of frequent flyer status is also clear and transparent. Moreover, the company’s commitment to better customer service and faster service over phone lines show that they are sensitive to time pressure on customer— and not counting on customers essentially giving up on having their questions answered in a timely fashion.

2)     Not relying on technologies that reduce service

Delta’s statement that it is accelerating both its staffing and resource commitment, including hiring 5,000 staff,  to better serve customers both inside and outside of the airport show that it is avoiding the trap of using technology that does not ultimately improve customer service. Delta’s description of its effort to improve its website and app capability so that consumers can more easily cancel or change flights themselves is a nice compliment to higher staffing. Fr those comfortable using the digital tools, they can save themselves time while simultaneously opening up phone line space for those who are not, or have involved questions

3)     Avoiding excessive focus on short-term cost-cutting to the exclusion of long-term loyalty

Perhaps the most important aspect of Delta’s announcements is that they show a clear concern for long-term customer satisfaction. In addition to extending the status of any of its Medallion members to apply to 2022, miles and dollars spent this year also apply to 2023 status.  This must come as a relief to loyal Delta customers who have had Medallion status for years but are either struggling, or simply not able to, meet miles flown and expenditure cut-offs due to the lockdowns and reduced travel associated with Covid-19. 

While the term “cares” seems to be used loosely in today’s customer service world, Delta is showing a commitment that demonstrates that it does really care about its frequent flyer customers. This is impressive.

Conclusion

Providing excellent customer service in the airline industry in all aspects of the service will likely be a challenge for all carriers, including Delta, going forwar. However, Delta really deserves kudos for showing loyalty to its customer via extending status and the other measures it has taken. It is my sincere hope that other carriers, particularly American and United, who employ similar business models, follow suit.