TylerHollisHill.

Problem:

The airline's legacy distance-based elite loyalty frequent flyer qualification resulted in low-value, high-frequency members crowding the highest program tiers (and benefits), while some lower-frequency high-value members couldn't achieve status. This led to  a misalignment in value and satisfaction problems with some of the most valuable members. The program's P&L was difficult to forecast, and layers of legacy program changes made loyalty status complex and less aspirational.

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Solution:

I tackled this problem with an immediate strategy to solve satisfaction problems and a long-term design solution to simplify the program, better align it with company revenue goals, and future-proof the program from becoming more complex in the future.

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Short-Term: I designed an at-risk model using SQL and SAS Enterprise Guide that merged satisfaction event data with historical revenue data and future bookings. I then partnered with operations leaders across the company to implement surprise and delight programs this model could plug into so we could offer high-touch experiences to high-value members that were at risk for churning. Since upgrade benefits were one of the program's most coveted benefits, I created a proactive upgrade program that found members in the model with lowest upgrade success and gave them an upgrade well in advance of their flight with a thank you email for their business. This involved gaining approval from inventory teams and operationalizing the program with customer service agents to execute the upgrades. For our highest value members, I leveraged the Mercedes Tarmac Service which historically was only dedicated to shuttling United's Global Services members between tight connections. I collaborated with airport operations leaders to plug this model into the Mercedes pickup app so that when the cars had downtime, we were able to instead redirect them to offer this white-glove service to at-risk members. I also partnered with the inflight operations team so that flight attendants proactively recognized these at-risk members' status and value, and offered them complimentary food and alcohol beverages when they were seated in economy. I designed educational flyers with United's creative team to gain advocacy with inflight crews, and flew around the United system to support the roll-out hear how the offering was being received.
 

Long-term: I created a program design proposal that changed the paradigm for how the airline qualified members for frequent flyer status - a change that would eventually lead to all major US airlines changing how they qualify members for elite status. Instead of distance flown, I remodeled the program to be value-based to better align with company revenue targets, make the program population and P&L more predictable, and to make status more aspirational for members. This was a major shakeup for the program, so in parallel I also designed new benefits to drive positive reception of the change. One of those benefits, PlusPoints, was the first-of-its-kind digital upgrade currency that gave members control of how to use and request their upgrade benefits, solving some of the biggest legacy problems the airline struggled with and leapfrogging competitors in the benefit space. This also included a complete redesign of the user experience in digital channels where members would interface with the new program and benefits as well in customer service systems. This project included major change management, project management and requirements building, case studies, modeling, and coordination with executive leadership and dozens of cross-functional teams across a globally matrixed company for a successful rollout. I socialized these business cases with executive and operational leaders, gained approval and funding, and led the largest re-investment in program history to its successful and on-time launch in 2020. As a result of this program simplification, the program was best positioned among competitors to weather the impact the COVID-19 pandemic had on travel disruptions, because the new simplicity of the program lent itself to straightforward promotions and retention plays in 2020 and 2021.