CASE STUDY
How Alaska Airlines Uses Video Insights to Enhance Customer Experience
Overview
Alaska Airlines is the fifth-largest airline in the U.S., with 20,000 employees and service to 100+ destinations across North America. The airline has been recognized for 12 consecutive years as the highest-ranked traditional carrier in customer satisfaction (J.D. Power), with its last such recognition in 2019. This success is driven by a commitment to understanding traveler needs and continuously improving the passenger experience.
- 500+
- Customer video responses collected
- 4-day
- Research turnaround for rapid insights
- 20,000
- Employees enhancing customer experience
The Challenge
To maintain high customer satisfaction, Alaska Airlines relied on their Alaska Listens survey to collect feedback on travelers’ experiences. While the survey provided valuable insights, it lacked the depth and emotion needed to fully understand customer sentiment. To bridge this gap and better capture real customer voices, Alaska Airlines sought a way to amplify customer feedback and uncover deeper, more actionable insights.
Solution
Alaska Airlines integrated video feedback into their Alaska Listens survey to gain deeper insights into three key areas:
Understanding friendliness – What does it truly mean to travelers?
Millennial perspectives on sustainability – What role does sustainability play in airline choice?
Open-ended feedback – Giving customers a voice with no limitations.
Using video, Alaska Airlines was able to segment customers and explore key themes emerging from their survey data. Video feedback allowed them to go beyond surface-level responses and dig into the why behind customer sentiment.
Results
Alaska Airlines gathered 500+ customer video responses in just four days, significantly accelerating the research process and enabling rapid insights. With automated analysis of themes and sentiment, the airline was able to gain a deeper understanding of customer needs beyond traditional survey data. This approach provided clearer insights into key customer segments, helping Alaska Airlines take actionable steps to enhance passenger satisfaction. Additionally, the open-ended nature of video feedback uncovered unexpected insights, allowing customers to highlight issues and opportunities that had not been previously considered, further strengthening the airline’s commitment to continuous improvement.
Business Impact
By incorporating rich video feedback, Alaska Airlines is driving meaningful action and fostering company-wide empathy for travelers. Sharing customer videos across teams has motivated employees, reinforcing the impact of their work.
One major outcome was a redefined approach to “friendliness.” Initially flagged as a key theme in the Alaska Listens survey, the term was too vague to act on. Through video responses, Alaska Airlines was able to break down what friendliness truly means to customers and implement specific strategies to enhance their flight experience.
Humanizing customer data through video storytelling has influenced decision-makers beyond statistics alone. The empathy created by video insights is now a driving force in customer-centric innovation, ensuring Alaska Airlines continues to prioritize passenger satisfaction.
Voxpopme’s Impact on Alaska Airlines’s Research
500+ video responses collected – Rapid consumer insights at scale.
4-day research turnaround – Significantly faster than traditional qualitative methods.
Automated analysis of themes and sentiment – Provided deeper, actionable insights.
Enhanced customer segmentation – Helped Alaska Airlines better understand key traveler groups.
Uncovered unexpected insights – Customers highlighted issues and opportunities not previously considered.
Humanized customer data – Video feedback created empathy and drove stronger decision-making.
Amplified the voice of the customer – Allowed travelers to share authentic experiences in their own words.
Transformed vague feedback into action – Helped define and implement improvements based on real customer input.
Improved stakeholder engagement – Video storytelling made insights more compelling for decision-makers.
Strengthened Alaska Airlines’ customer-centric approach – Ensured continuous improvements in passenger experience.
See the Power of Video Insights in Action!
Discover how Voxpopme can help you capture real customer voices, uncover deeper insights, and drive meaningful action—just like Alaska Airlines. Book a demo today and transform your research with the power of video!
Company Summary
Alaska Airlines is the fifth-largest airline in the United States, with 20,000 employees serving 100+ destinations across North America. Known for its commitment to exceptional customer service, the airline has been recognized for 12 consecutive years as the highest-ranked traditional carrier in customer satisfaction (J.D. Power, last awarded in 2019). Alaska Airlines prioritizes innovation and passenger experience, continuously evolving to meet traveler needs through personalized service, sustainability efforts, and customer-centric initiatives.
- Industry
- Aviation
- Region
- United States
- Employees
- 20,000
- Business Type
- B2B and B2C