Frontier Airlines Removing Call-Based Customer Service Is Much Ado About Nothing

Frontier Airlines announced that they will no longer offer call-based customer service. All requests will be digitally based, including their app and through chat. Many travel media pundits are critical of this and use this decision as another reason to shame airlines, especially low-cost airlines. Coming off a difficult summer operationally for the industry, this might look as an odd time to make this kind of move.

Frontier knows their customers better than anyone else, however, and a decision like this, while unusual for airlines, is hardly unusual in many other businesses. Many people today, including a huge majority of those under 30 years old, live by their smartphones and find using technology is easier, faster, and more effective than waiting for a human to answer the phone.

Airline Call Centers Are Ripe For Automation

Airline call centers do a surprisingly little amount of selling. Most of their work is service related, and airlines have invested heavily in technology to take care of many of these issues. That’s because many of the service issues can be predicted, even though on the fringes there are issues that couldn’t be. A cancelled flight brings the obvious issues of rebooking and refunds, for example. On clear weather days customers may still want to change a reservation or just ask a question. The point is that a large volume of the issues that come into the call centers can be identified, and the way that the company chooses to respond can be coded into the automated response. This has the advantage of good consistency as well.

Running a call center requires trained workers, who in turn need multiple shifts to offer 24-hour service. Agents working from home can make this easier, but still there is training and ongoing policy and product updates On the weekly Airlines Confidential podcast that I co-host, a shocking number of listener questions refer to getting different answers from different call center agents. Being able to ensure consistency is just one reason that automation of this area makes sense. It also reduces the need for employees as there is increasing pressure on wages and work rules.

Many Customers Prefer Smartphone-based Service

The Gen Z and millennial generations show a preference for customer service through chat or text. Frontier, like all airlines, carries people of all ages but low-cost airlines tend to skew toward a younger passenger demographic. Frontier’s move away from call-based service is consistent with how people are increasingly choosing to communicate with businesses.

Digital customer service options don’t mean no humans are involved. Chat can be with real person, not only a bot, as can text. The move away from call-based service does not necessarily imply a move away from empathy, or discretion in response. No doubt that Frontier was using many of these techniques before making this switch, and was able to look at data and customer feedback in addition to costs and effectiveness.

People Love Low Fares, And This Move Helps Keep Those

Overwhelmingly, people want a low price over any other single feature when choosing an airline. For customers of low-cost airlines, this is even more true. The lowest-price airlines ask customers to make many compromises on their trip – from legroom, to no food or drink, to use of alternate airports, and more. Yet flights on the lowest-price airlines are full, because for the right price people will accept these compromises.

Like all airlines, Frontier is facing cost pressure in the largest airline cost areas – people, fuel, and airplanes. As airlines age, they become more expensive because people get paid more and airplanes burn more fuel and need more maintenance. The only ways to keep fares low is to grow fast enough to mitigate these increases or find other ways to save. Technology is a major enabler for this latter effort, by allowing more customer self-service and automating repeated tasks. So, while surprising to some initially, this digital-based migration is just one more comprise to accept to get the low fare most people want.

Other Airlines Likely To Follow, Eventually

Outside the airline business, digital-based customer service is normal and expected in many cases. It’s hard to speak to a person at Amazon, for example, or at Apple. Many businesses know the major customer service issues they have to accommodate, and using chat, text, apps, and other digital mediums is common and accepted in many things we do. Many years ago, Microsoft offered online support for free but charged $35 to speak to a person. Yet for some reason people think that airlines aren’t businesses in the same way. Some people complain about paying for a bottle of water on the airplane even after they willingly bought a bottle in the airport before boarding.

Airlines are often late adopters of business trends, and the first movers among airlines when a switch is made usually takes the brunt of the abuse. When Frontier’s move is fully digested, including changes they may make adjusting to this reality, other airlines will watch and evaluate if and when this makes for them. Back in 2010, Spirit Airlines was vilified by the media when it announced the industry’s first fee for bringing a large piece of luggage onboard the airplane. Today, multiple airlines charge this fee and it affects all customers. Moving to digital-based customer service is not nearly as aggressive a move, and other airlines are likely to see this as a path that works for them too. Breeze Airways, one of the newest airlines in the U.S., doesn’t even have a number to call.

The Headline Should Have Been ‘It’s About Time’

This move by Frontier has been called “short sighted” by some, and “aloof” by others. This feigned outrage at a common-sense move that aligns with the airline’s customer needs comes from people who don’t understand the airline business, or maybe any business. The world changes, and businesses need to change with it.

Frontier could mess this up. They could lose all human touch and become cold, non-responsive, and frustrating. But this could all happen with a call center, too, and so the move to digital service is not to blame for that. More likely, they will see where the cracks in this strategy appear and make accommodations for them. The media, and consumers, should applaud this approach and if talking to an agent on the phone about your flight change is important, no doubt there will be airlines to earn your business.

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