Close Your Inflight Feedback Loop

Determining and allocating load and meal plans is a stressful task with a lot at stake. For example, if an aircraft is overloaded, the airline burns too much fuel because of the excess weight, but customers don't get what they want if the aircraft is understocked. Add to this balancing act the task of ensuring the quality of the goods served, and it's no wonder catering managers find it challenging. It's often said that the past is the best way to predict the future. As a result, catering departments rely heavily on past information to make informed decisions about future load and meal plans.

While airlines have a wealth of information on the content of previous plans and some record leftovers, few know their implementation and consumption. For example, most airlines that offer food and beverages have no data on what was consumed, whether it was enough, or whether more or less is needed for future flights. Similarly, many airlines lack data on what was uplifted without knowing if the quantity and quality were what was ordered. Without this vital information, it is difficult to predict future needs and ensure quality.

To provide insight into the implementation, execution, and consumption information, LimeFlight introduced MobileApp Reports. This feature provides an easy and time-efficient way for the cabin crew to give feedback to the catering team.

MobileApp Reports

The best time to capture information about the implementation and execution of load and meal plans is when cabin crew already have a device in hand. For this reason, MobileApp Reports is integrated with the existing LimeFlight mobile application—already providing catering-specific information for the cabin crew. As a result, less time is spent providing feedback as the crew can immediately capture discrepancies, issues, and other required details with the right device at the right time.

MobileApp Reports bridges the gap between the airline's need for inflight information and the time constraints of cabin crew in two ways. First, the cabin crew can quickly communicate quantitative data by identifying discrepancies directly when checking the loading inventory. Here, with just a few clicks, the crew can check the ordered inventory, determine under- or over-deliveries and indicate whether more or less of an item is needed for future flights. This feedback method saves the crew the usual hassle of filling out a long form by keeping the clicks to a minimum.

Second, cabin crew can report problems with a photo and a short text rather than filling out a lengthy quantitative questionnaire. This Instagram-like approach means, for example, that a picture of a meal with the text "The presentation of meals in business class was not up to the caterer's standard" is all the crew needs to do to ensure the information gets back to the airline. Then machine learning and natural language processing techniques, such as sentiment analysis and text classification, take over to automatically derive the report categories and provide an easy-to-understand summary to the airline. With machine learning doing much of the work, users no longer need to select multiple categories and add detailed descriptions to provide meaningful feedback to the airline.

A Glimpse into the Unknown

MobileApp Reports offers a glimpse into the unknown for airlines and has benefits in both cost savings and customer satisfaction. On the one hand, MobileApp Reports saves costs by enabling airlines to create more accurate load and meal plans, reducing the unnecessary transport of goods not needed for a flight and limiting weight, fuel consumption and waste. At the same time, the cabin crew can identify and report discrepancies in the delivery of goods so that the airline only pays for the goods it receives. On the other hand, MobileApp Reports improves customer satisfaction by providing a feedback mechanism for low inventory and quality issues, ensuring the satisfaction of future customers. Thus, MobileApp Reports offer insights into the implementation, execution and consumption of meal and load plans and, at the same time, a good metric for measuring the performance of caterers.

Benefits all Round

LimeFlight's MobileApp Reports helps catering departments make informed decisions about their load and meal plans and ensure the quality of their inflight service. At the same time, the feature provides a quick, efficient, and discreet mechanism for cabin crew to provide feedback without interrupting their inflight service tasks. As a result, catering departments are no longer in the dark and missing out on critical information about implementation, execution, and consumption—reducing the stress and uncertainty of the task.

Would you like some more information about how LimeFlight can help airlines with insights into the implementation, execution, and consumption of their load and meal plans? Click here to get in touch.