Airline Post-Flight Surveys: Why It’s Useful to Complete Them

As consumers, we are bombarded with emails and push notifications from companies asking for our feedback. Whether it’s a pizza order, an Uber ride, a flight, a hotel stay, or a phone call with a customer service representative, the feedback requests are endless.

I don’t typically answer these surveys, simply because it could be a full-time job. However, I do make an effort to answer the surveys I receive from airlines when I think it might be helpful, so I thought I’d talk a little bit about that in this post. I’m also curious to hear how OMAAT readers approach this question.

Airlines place great importance on survey results

Overall, the airline industry isn’t exactly known for its exceptional customer service, nor for its massive investments in customer experience (there are exceptions of course, but I’m painting a general picture here).

That being said, you’d be shocked at how much airline executives care about survey results and net promoter scores, and how much it influences the direction things go. I really can’t stress enough how important this is to airlines, and how much individual department heads are held accountable based on it.

Over the years, I’ve had many conversations with airline executives, particularly about loyalty products and programs. Sometimes they’ll ask for their opinions, and after sharing my thoughts, they’ll look surprised and say, “Our survey results in this area are really good.”

At this point, I’m usually speechless and not sure what to say. Out of respect for the conversations I’ve had, I don’t want to get into too much detail, but I’ll just say that you’d be shocked to know some areas where airline executives see no flaws in their offerings (yes, this is probably exactly the airlines you’d expect).

It reminds me a bit of the old Gordon Ramsay show “Kitchen Nightmares,” which I find funny. He goes into a restaurant that’s struggling and people don’t understand why they’re not getting any customers. Gordon says the food is complete garbage and, almost without exception, the chef or owner responds, “Everyone loves our food.”

Of course, the difference is that airlines can get away with offering less, because they are fundamentally in the transportation business, and price and schedule are what matter most to airlines.

Airlines place great importance on survey results

Surveys are not a good measure of performance

Before I discuss my approach to responding to airline surveys, I want to clarify that I don’t think surveys are a good indicator of performance and that companies often over-evaluate them. There are many reasons why they may not necessarily represent the majority opinion on a topic:

• Typically you have to be really satisfied or really dissatisfied to complete a survey, because it takes time and you don’t get paid for it.
• Often, questions are phrased in a way that favors the company and does not get to the heart of certain issues.
• Companies frequently issue the most “extreme” responses, both positive and negative, which eliminates a large portion of the feedback.
• Regular customers of a business are often used to the status quo, so don’t bother giving feedback; I guess if they continue to patronize a business that’s great, but over time people will switch businesses to competitors.

I’m not saying that surveys are a worthless metric, but personally I think companies often come to the wrong conclusions based on the survey data they receive.

I think polls are often a questionable measure.

My Approach to Responding to Airline Surveys

I’ll be honest, I don’t fill out a questionnaire after every flight because it can be time-consuming. If I take a flight and it’s completely uninteresting and meets my expectations, I usually don’t bother with it.

Instead, I like to give feedback when I have a fantastic experience or when I have a negative experience. Typically, if I have a great experience, I prefer to send an email to the airline to personally thank the employee who went the extra mile, as I believe this is more likely to be beneficial to the employee.

However, when the experience is overall negative, or when I think an airline has significant room for improvement in an area, I systematically complete our surveys, in the hope that this feedback will eventually have an impact.

I realize that my individual comments won’t change anything in and of themselves, but on a large scale, they can make a difference. Filling out a survey is a bit like voting in an election. You’re making your voice heard, and while it may not change the world, it’s the best thing you can do to get your message across.

Airlines like to make changes based on “customer feedback,” so if there are negative changes but you haven’t provided such feedback, then it’s harder to be annoyed.

Now, let me be clear: I try to be constructive on the topics I give my opinion on. For example, intra-European business class is quite disappointing, but airlines are not going to change that, because it is simply the industry standard, so I do not personally consider it to be something that deserves criticism.

However, whether it’s poor in-flight service, inedible food, a lack of power outlets, or a subpar loyalty program, I think these are all things worth giving feedback on.

It’s worth taking the time to complete airline surveys

In conclusion

If you don’t complete airline satisfaction surveys after a flight, consider doing so, especially if you’re unhappy. Too often I hear airlines justify their decisions based on customer feedback and say that their “survey results” in a particular area are good, even if I don’t understand that. Let the airlines know that you’re unhappy with the product they’re offering. The reality is that those survey results matter and can lead to change.

To balance this out, I also recommend recognizing good employees. Personally, I prefer to send a dedicated email for this purpose, but you can also fill out a survey.

Do you complete post-flight surveys with airlines? Under what circumstances?