Not to be outdone by competitors working to enhance
corporate reporting, Delta Air Lines has begun sharing with clients new data on
ancillary sales beyond bag fees, including traveler spending on premium-economy
seating, first-class upgrades and the carrier's suite of "trip
extras." It also is delving further into customer support and service
recovery metrics.
Delta since May has been sharing its next-generation
"SkyPartner" reports covering first-quarter data, and now is tracking
and reporting to clients the vast majority of ancillary fees collected from
them, according to executives. The carrier provides a spending profile of each
company, showing breakouts of base fares, fuel surcharges, ancillary fees and
government-imposed taxes and fees.
Since first released last year, Delta's SkyPartner reports
are designed to show corporate clients the total value of a preferred carrier
relationship beyond negotiated discounted fare savings. Presented during client
reviews and also sent to clients monthly or quarterly, the reports continue to
address share goals, contract performance and an increasing array of traveler
expenses.
In addition to client-specific metrics on baggage handling,
the impact of frequent-flyer status and on-time performance, Delta now also provides
details on how it has addressed traveler needs during irregular operations or
other flight disruptions.
For example, reporting now includes customer support
profiles, highlighting how often and why a company's travelers call for support
and how the carrier addressed those situations, whether by waiving a change fee
or offering of a preferred seat.
Among other new metrics, Delta is reporting how often a
client's travelers are denied boarding—both voluntarily and involuntarily—and
even detailing through which channels travelers are checking in, be they
online, through mobile phones or at airport kiosks.
Delta senior vice president of global sales Steve Sear this
week told BTN that Delta can offer a
variety of "drill-down capabilities" and client customization, such
as further details on an individual traveler or reports covering a specified
timeframe.
Delta's client reporting has drawn praise from corporate
buyers and last year helped the carrier bag its first-ever BTN Annual Airline Survey win. Now, Delta's competitors are
beginning to enhance their corporate reporting. US Airways this month is launching reports that detail bag fees for corporate clients, while United
similarly plans to include in corporate reports account-specific data on
ancillary spending, on-time performance and baggage handling.