Airlines need to find new ways to engender customer loyalty, and biometric technology may be part of the solution, according to a new report from Boxever.
Analyzing the results of a recent survey, the predictive marketing company points out that only 28 percent of respondents thought airline loyalty membership led to better service, and that only 22 percent of respondents cared whether their preferred carrier was available for specific travel arrangements. Boxever CEO Dave O’Flanagan argues that the data indicate that airlines need to make greater efforts to “put the customer first.”
One way to do that is through biometric technology. For example, 55 percent of survey respondents said biometric check-in and security would improve the travel experience—a result that backs up arguments in a recent white paper from Tascent. Somewhat paradoxically, less than 50 percent of the survey respondents said they felt comfortable trusting airlines with their fingerprint biometric data. (Related numbers regarding comfort with fingerprint-based screening and check-in increased when respondents were assured that such measures would speed up the boarding process, but those do not reflect the default attitudes.)
It’s a mixed bag, in other words, with clear potential benefits on offer via biometric technology, but skeptical attitudes that need to be overcome. As carriers like Alaska Airlines continue to leverage biometric identification to foster a better customer experience—while authorities seek to test out biometric screening for security purposes—increasing familiarity with such technology may help to change such attitudes.
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December 8, 2015 – by Alex Perala
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