Southwest Airlines

Southwest Airlines

Transforming consumer experiences and driving efficiency

Context

Waiting at airports is unpleasant for passengers; waiting at airports is unprofitable for airlines. Southwest asked Innovia Technology to transform the passenger experience, from booking to boarding, to make it more pleasant, more efficient, and more consistent with Southwest’s brand.

Approach

We used airport visits, passenger surveys, and an understanding of the psychology of journeys to define how passengers felt, thought, and behaved. This work enabled us to identify their pain points and build a model of consumer behaviour in airports. From a framework of concepts, we created a vision of a cohesive, branded airport experience, brought to life through sketches, renderings, and videos.

Impact

When Southwest tested our concepts in different airports, they saw a reduction in plane turnaround time of up to four minutes. This could represent a significant time saving across Southwest’s fleet. Southwest described the trials as a huge success. Customers agreed, saying Southwest is “progressive, modern, and innovative, and really cares about its customers”. We’re continuing to work with Southwest on their ambition to revolutionise air travel through their unique brand experience.

We used behavioural science to build an innovation framework.

We used behavioural science to build an innovation framework.

The innovation framework highlighted various opportunity areas. One of these was around communication of real-time information.

The innovation framework highlighted various opportunity areas. One of these was around communication of real-time information.

We designed ways to address each opportunity area. We gave Southwest a toolkit of design elements that could be used to build a transformational passenger experience.

We designed ways to address each opportunity area. We gave Southwest a toolkit of design elements that could be used to build a transformational passenger experience.

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