Delta Is Now BTN's Winningest Airline

Delta Air Lines claimed a record-setting seventh year atop BTN's annual airline survey of corporate travel managers and agents, once again steamrolling its competition and earning the top score in every category by a healthy margin. Across the 20 years that BTN has conducted its survey, Delta now stands alone as the winningest carrier. Both American Airlines and pre-United-merger Continental Airlines had six wins over the years.

Scores in last year's survey rose nearly across the board, but they were a bit more mixed this year. Overall rankings of the four largest U.S. carriers remained the same as in 2016.

Delta improved its score in every category, boosting the premium over its nearest competitor for total score to 0.85 points, on a five-point scale, compared with its 0.77 lead in the 2016 survey. American Airlines held onto its second-place spot, improving its score both overall and in about half the categories, but third-place United Airlines tightened the gap between the two to a hundredth of a point, improving in seven of the 10 categories. Southwest Airlines, meanwhile, lost a bit of ground compared with last year, improving in only one category.

What hasn't changed in the past year is that all four carriers remain comfortably profitable, which affords them the capability to invest in new services, new aircraft and their sales teams. American Airlines CEO Doug Parker made a media stir this fall by telling reporters and analysts that the carrier would never lose money again, even profiting in the down cycles. At The Beat Live conference this year, Parker clarified that those remarks were not meant to be braggadocio but to reflect a new era for airlines in which reinvestment remains at the forefront. "As long as we keep pretending the past is the present—that we can't afford investment, that we need to save money for a rainy day—we hold ourselves back," Parker said. "This industry is permanently and fundamentally transformed, and it's important to acknowledge that."

Delta's Continued Evolution

In its years at the top of BTN's list, no one could accuse Delta of coasting, as it has improved its total score each year. This year, its total score reached 4.4 out of 5, up a tenth of a point from last year and from 3.14 in its first year atop the field. Global sales SVP Bob Somers said the improvement is a validation of Delta's strategy. "We're always evolving to meet the needs of our customers," he said. "This is visible affirmation that, in the eyes of our customers, they recognize that we continue to reinvent ourselves and meet their needs."

The most effervescent comments praised Delta's willingness to communicate with travel buyers. Among the survey's 10 categories, in fact, account managers and sales reps is the area in which Delta received its highest individual score. Several respondents cited their own sales reps, while others attributed Delta's achievement in the category to the sales team as a whole. The carrier's score in this category was more than a point higher than its closest competitor, the largest gap in any category. One travel buyer said Delta implements their service-improvement suggestions within two to three months. "Delta really listens to the corporate traveler manager and always looks out for what's good for all, not just their bottom line," the buyer said.

This year, Delta relaunched its portal for buyers and travel agents, adding more self-service options, including the Delta Edge Wallet point system that manages upgrades and vouchers, said sales operations and development VP Kristen Shovlin. Its Delta Edge Meetings product, introduced in 2016 largely in response to requests from its corporate advisory board, also has grown and is in hundreds of travel programs, Somers said.

In addition, Delta this year expanded its Corporate Priority Program, which offers benefits to travelers in corporate programs regardless of frequent-flyer status. This year's expansion gives onboard crews the opportunity to recognize corporate travelers and thank them for their business, Shovlin said.

In BTN's survey, customer service for travelers was Delta's second-highest-scoring area. "Delta has made tremendous efforts to reward our corporate customers and make good on their corporate commitment," one buyer said. "I've seen it at the airport, with sales support and with my representatives. They are huge leaps and bounds above the other legacies."

Networks, partnerships and frequencies was another high-scoring area for Delta, and several buyers particularly praised its joint venture with Aeromexico, which was approved late last year. This year, Delta, Air France-KLM and Virgin Atlantic announced they will combine their partnerships into a single JV. Delta also formed a JV with Korean Air. CEO Ed Bastian said during the carrier's most recent earnings call that Delta has invested about $2 billion over the past five years in its partner carriers, which also include Gol and China Eastern. Somers said, "These are all things that speak to being more integrated and deeper with our partners than any other alliance in the world."

Delta continues to lead its competitors operationally, as well, and is improving its own performance, he said. As of early November, it has had 189 days with no cancellations across its entire system, just four shy of its total in all of 2016. Two years ago, Delta introduced its operational guarantee, in which customers would get compensation should Delta's on-time and cancellation performance fall below both American's and United's. United soon followed with its own guarantee, and operational performance for all carriers has been on the rise. "Operational reliability is even more pronounced this year and continues to be a differentiator," Somers said. "They've made the industry better, as well."

American Pumps Up Sales Efforts

American improved its score slightly, by 0.02 points, in BTN's 2017 survey. With heavy investment on the sales side this year, the carrier hopes for bigger gains moving forward. It has filled 100 of the 132 new sales positions approved for 2017, global sales SVP Alison Taylor said. The result has been a "fresh mix of associates," including some brought in from rival carriers, that has "led to a great vibe and a lot of movement, training and onboarding," she said. During an October earnings call, SVP of revenue management Don Casey said American has grown its corporate market share in each of the first three quarters of 2017 and has added 16,000 small and midsize corporate accounts this year.

American improved its complaint resolution score on BTN's survey and moved from fourth to second in that category. One buyer in the survey said, "American's customer service department is more responsive than other carriers."

The sales support team now answer calls at any hour and has reduced the number of calls by lifting caps on Flex Funds, with which buyers and agents can manage and access fee waivers, according to Taylor. American also ramped up training for customer-facing employees, has improved its reaccommodation program for travelers with canceled or delayed flights or missed connections, and introduced baggage notifications through its app, she said.

American also improved its score in meetings travel pricing. Taylor said that could stem from a recent relaunch of its group conferencing and incentive segment. "Last year, if large corporate accounts wanted to book a group, we would have to refer them to revenue management," she said. "Now, it's managed in sales and we have a new group booking system and shopping experience for users." That platform is common between American and British Airways, Iberia and future joint-business partner Qantas, and the carrier also has enabled prepayment for group baggage. Additionally, American has made seat assignments more flexible in group bookings for those that wish to sit together, she said.

American is piloting customer portals with some of its corporate customers that provide marketing information, specials and other data to travel managers. The carrier plans to provide them more widely early next year, Taylor said.

United Scores on Network

It's been a tough year for United's public image, but the carrier's reputation among corporate buyers has improved. Its score in BTN's survey increased for value, transient pricing, meetings travel pricing, services and amenities, distribution, complaint resolution and networks, partnerships and frequencies. United's operations also have improved, particularly its on-time performance, worldwide sales SVP Dave Hilfman said. "We have a lot fewer complaints than we've had, and when we do occasionally have an issue that needs resolution, we have systems in place to respond quickly," he said.

For the networks, partnerships and frequencies category, United received the highest score in any category other than Delta. Hilfman attributed United's performance in that category to always "looking for opportunities where we would line up well with corporate client demand, particularly internationally." In addition to major international route additions, such as Los Angeles-Singapore, the carrier also is growing its domestic network for the first time in several years, both increasing current frequencies and adding midsize-community destinations, he said.

Several buyers specifically praised United's Jetstream portal, introduced this year. The tool allows buyers self-service for penalty waivers and Economy Plus upgrades, which had made up the majority of calls to United call centers. The portal also provides operational statistics and other relevant news. "We've been listening to clients and what they want, so there are developments forthcoming with future waiver types," Hilfman said. "We're very excited about the impact Jetstream has made on the marketplace."

Buyers also cheered United's move this year to become the first airline to go live with Concur TripLink. One buyer said it "gives me visibility and my travelers choice, so we're anxious for others to follow along."

Southwest Adjusts Sales Structure

Southwest's score on BTN's survey declined 0.18 points year over year, dropping in all categories except meetings travel pricing. Even with the declines, Southwest continued to outscore both American and United in its two best areas: customer service and value. The latter has traditionally been a strong category for Southwest, as it remains the sole major carrier not to charge bag fees or change fees. As for customer service, Southwest has invested in a big way in hospitality," including flight attendants and customer service at airports, said business development managing director Dave Harvey.

This year, Southwest has doubled the size of its sales organization, and it's looking to build on that next year. "2017 was more about professionalizing and building a foundation, trying to create technical skills, contract skills and skills around service and operations analytics," Harvey said. "Now, in 2018, we can scale and extend the team with more direct selling resources."

In the meantime, contracting at Southwest has risen year over year in both renewals and new corporate customers, he added. The carrier also built up service at Cincinnati this year. Delta had downsized its hub there significantly after its 2008 merger with Northwest Airlines, and Harvey said Southwest's buildup was "a big corporate play." Similarly, Southwest has built up its network within Florida, will expand its service out of Oakland next year and is working on flights to Hawaii, which will "get us in all the major markets in the United States," he said.

Another potential score-booster for next year is Southwest's May 2018 switch to a new Amadeus-based reservations system. The carrier is developing plans around the capabilities this move unlocks, including allowing self-service when travelers need reaccommodation during irregular operations, adding red-eye flight options and enabling interlining and codesharing with other carriers. That last one, in particular, Harvey said, could open up chances of courting corporate customers with global needs.