I have spent the better part of my career traveling all over the world and and have had the privilege or traveling across multiple airlines and aircraft’s

As I sit on the Delta flight from Florida to Atlanta I can help but reflect on our dear home airline Kenya Airways.

There are a couple of things I have come to appreciate about Kenya Airways and I believe there are a couple of things they can do to improve our customer experience and here are my thoughts.

KQ mobile application

Now there are a number of people out there who would love to travel paperless and I believe by enhancing their app would really help

• Boarding passes on the Native Phone wallets . Apple wallet for IOS and google Pay for android
• Ability to track your bags as they move along the airport
• Aircraft Information for the flight a passenger is taking
• Airport Maps for KQ flights
• Full UI Overhaul to align more around the brand guideline.
• Improve loading time for both Website and mobile app
• Support for occasionally connected and offline scenarios.
• Ability to book for Special services for differently abled persons in app.
• Authentication using native Biometric services like Face ID and Fingerprint
• Ability to track past and future travel by KQ
• Profile on app to store and preset passenger info and travel docs and preferences
• Simplify the ability to do upgrades or book tickets based on miles and other loyalty programs in app
• Provide real-time updates on changes for trips (upgrades, weather advisories, seat assignments )
• Provide in flight menu on app

In flight

Now that we’re inside the aircraft. its time to keeping passengers entertained in he forms that they would prefer.

• Overhaul of Inflight Entertainment UI and content
• Upgrade inflight entertainment service to include modern services like Spotify
• Upgrade service to include more recent content and ad local Kenyan content to showcase what Kenya has to offer as a country. (This could be an amazing partnership with local content creators)

Loyalty

I think at this point in time Kenya airways should invest in creating its own Loyalty program. this would give them more control over some of the services they could provide.

• Ability to view fly blue status(Loyalty Program) and miles in app.
• Ability to redeem points for additional services e.g. extra baggage.
• When partnering with other airlines to offer connecting flights please make sure their loyalty status is recognized and so they wouldn’t have to pay extra charges on services that their loyalty offers.

Airport Experiences

There are a number of other features that the airline could add on their mobile app to enhance the experience of a passenger within the airport.

• Access and purchase Lounge pass from the app.
• Enhance airport experiences for Priority customers

If you’re interested. In hearing some of the things I think our airport could improve on. Please let me know in the comments.

Support

There are times you run into bits of trouble, and you need some help.

• Support chat integration with WhatsApp, iMessage and Android Messaging (RCS).
• Add Bot Capability to triage issues that passengers might have.

Cabin Crew

This is a place where the airline has done outstandingly well. I think giving more technology to your cabin crew will help them make the experience for the passengers even better.

• Digital way of communicating and pre planning a trip on company issued mobile devices to get rid of paper records.

• Communicating with boarding gate on baggage capacity on board
• Communication on pre flight checks

There are several others I could highlight. If you’re a cabin crew, please let me know what more we can add on this list.

Wishful thinking

Now, of course, I wouldn’t end this without sharing some ideas that can be added in the future.

• Onboard Wi-Fi for messaging only (free), streaming (Paid)
• Partnership with Visa/MasterCard or a Local bank to offer Credit Cards with travel benefits
• Why fly an aircraft with empty seats, create a complementary last minute upgrade for frequent travelers to increase customer satisfaction.
• Incase of any inconveniences to passengers e.g. flight cancellations, lost Baggage. Award passengers with loyalty point as a form of apology.
• Compensation on customer inconvenience
• Reduce the number of advertisements on the content (This is 3 min of Ads before every piece of content)