Gomez Advisors(TM), the world's leading e-commerce authority, today released the results of its Spring 2000 Internet Airline Scorecard(TM). New site developments and technology enhancements are the trend this quarter as leading airlines compete fiercely to attract and retain customers. Airlines that began exploring new technologies such as wireless communications and introduced new features such as award travel booking achieved new heights, while those that didn't invest in Web site initiatives suffered in the rankings.
United Airlines and Northwest Airlines took the top two spots, respectively, and set the standard for the industry. With ready links to customer service contact information, travel upgrade capabilities and personal profiling features, United took home first place Overall. Northwest lands in a tight second place with a strong navigation scheme and the ability to redeem frequent flyer miles online, while Continental Airlines follows in third place with a full-featured Web offering.
Even with significant new developments this quarter, results show that reliable customer service is still sparse throughout the industry. "Competition for online consumers is intensifying," said Krista Pappas, director of travel at Gomez Advisors. "Online and offline airlines are taking major strides to meet the needs of loyal customers, but surprisingly, we're still not seeing consistent customer service. In order to compete effectively and succeed in the online realm, it will be critical for airlines to invest in strengthening customer service offerings."
This quarter's results point to several emerging trends that are having a positive impact in the industry. With the prevalence of wireless technology, many airlines are offering flight status, gate locations, timetables and other basics to consumers adopting wireless devices. Results also show a lucid divide among online strategies. Many airlines have developed highly sophisticated, full-featured sites, while others are merely offering basic transactional capabilities. The two approaches are succeeding, and there is clearly enough room in the industry for both models.
"We expect these trends to continue in the airline industry," said Pappas. "It will be interesting to watch the effect these developments will have on customer attraction and retention rates and the general population's adoption of airline Web sites as a popular booking vehicle."
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