For all the Sturm und Drang about the failings of research, it’s always heartening to read an article that shows that research actually works!
In his ‘Dear airline, here’s the problem…’ article, which was the April 4 installment of The Wall Street Journal‘s great “The Middle Seat” column, writer Scott McCartney profiled how several of the major airlines are actually acting on the results of the surveys they conduct.
From simply analyzing the results of their conventional customer surveys to using text-recognition software to look for equipment problems mentioned in surveys, the tools being used are many and varied.
And, refuting another common harbinger of doom for the research industry, the airlines are reporting huge response rates for their surveys, McCartney said. United gets 10 percent of its blast surveys back; JetBlue says between 15 percent to 20 percent of its customers respond; American says its selective surveying gets an 18 percent response rate; and Virgin America claims a 20 percent rate.
Of course, as McCartney noted, and the cynics will no doubt seize on, beyond the obvious benefit of creating satisfied (or potentially less-dissatisfied) customers, showing a responsiveness to passenger complaints also makes the airlines look good to government watchdogs like the Department of Transportation. That may well be, but if it ends up with a better travel experience for everyone involved while showing the public that responding to surveys isn’t a waste of time, I don’t see the downside.