Up to 70% of the total of 70 airlines analyzed had the functionality to dial the call center. This seems relatively low considering most users would resort to this feature first in case of problems, especially if when they are in transit.

There is a huge delta between telephone and form-based support in airline Android apps and for good reason. Still, 30% of airline apps have integrated an e-mail/form based support mechanism. A fundamental reason behind it could be to document all grievances and feedback.

Most airlines today have presence on varied social networking platforms. Yet only 9% of the airline apps analyzed integrated social network channels for customer support in 3Q19, significantly down from 23% in 2Q19.

Chatting has emerged as a major customer engagement tool on website but this has not widely translated into an in-app feature. Airlines have been rather slow in integrating messaging platforms within their apps. Part of the reason could be integration issues itself, ultimately leading to a heavier app, apart from privacy issues. Only 6% of the airline apps supported in-app messaging in 3Q19.

These are relatively early days for messaging services such as Facebook Messenger, WeChat or Line to roll out business profiles that could communicate with individual users. As a result, very few airlines – 4% – have such integrations. But expect more airlines to be onboarded as a business profile on these platforms; ultimately, these communications take place on platforms customers are most comfortable with, and offer a broad range of back-end analytics for the airlines.