Tag: airline marketing

WestJet Flight Light

WestJet creates a small device with a big emotional job. WestJet Flight Light is a nightlight that uses live flight data to project a parent’s WestJet flight path onto a child’s bedroom ceiling, turning the wait into a visual, interactive countdown of hours and minutes until the parent returns.

Behind it sits a broader shift that shows up across industries. More brands move beyond selling a product and start designing convenience services that drive repeat usage and loyalty by solving real-life friction.

Here, the friction is business travel. WestJet wants frequent travellers to pursue work opportunities without losing connection with the people waiting at home. Flight Light makes the journey feel present. Not abstract.

Why the concept works

The power is not the hardware. It is the experience design. A child’s instinct is to count down. Flight Light makes that countdown tangible and playful by projecting the route in the place where bedtime routines already happen.

The service logic

This is a brand service that behaves like a product. Live flight data becomes a family connection layer. The airline becomes part of the at-home story, not just the transport provider.

Beta-testing and what it signals

WestJet says a prototype of Flight Light exists, with beta testing scheduled to begin later this year. That is the bridge between a cute concept and something that can be operated, supported, and scaled.

A few fast answers before you act

What is WestJet Flight Light?

A nightlight concept that uses live WestJet flight data to project a parent’s flight path onto a child’s bedroom ceiling as an interactive countdown to their return.

Who is it designed for?

Business travellers and frequent flyers with families, especially parents who travel regularly for work.

What is the core experience design move?

Turn a data stream. Live flight status. Into a comforting, visible bedtime ritual that makes the trip home feel real and close.

Qantas Out Of Office Travelogue

Qantas, Australia’s national airline, wants a new way to inspire travel with an increasingly younger audience. Their answer is a smart twist on a familiar behaviour. The out-of-office email. Instead of the usual “I’m away” message, Qantas turns it into a personalised travelogue powered by the user’s Instagram photos.

The mechanism is simple and effective. Qantas’ research shows that tips from friends and colleagues are a major driver for choosing the next holiday. So the brand uses Instagram’s API to transform a mundane autoresponder into something people actually want to read. A short visual story of where you are, what you are doing, and why it might be worth visiting.

What elevates the idea is the commercial bridge. The email does not just inspire. It incentivises recipients to book flights directly from the out-of-office message. This is social proof plus direct response, built into a format people already accept as normal workplace etiquette.

As a result, users created over 10,000 Out of Office Travelogues. The activity generated 100 million media impressions worldwide for Qantas.

Why this works as modern email strategy

Most marketing emails fight for attention in an overcrowded inbox. This one arrives with a built-in reason to be opened and read. It is a message you expect when you email someone who is travelling.

It also uses the strongest distribution channel many brands overlook. People’s real networks. When your colleague shares their trip, even passively via an autoresponder, it carries more credibility than a brand-led destination ad.

The real innovation is the data-to-story pipeline

At a tactical level, the campaign is “just” an API integration. In practice, it is a reusable pattern.

  • Pull customer-owned content from a platform they already use.
  • Convert it into a lightweight narrative unit that fits a communication norm.
  • Add a clear, transactional next step without breaking the tone.

If you can operationalise that pattern, you can treat email not as static creative, but as a dynamic surface where personal context becomes relevant storytelling.

What to watch if you replicate this pattern

The moment you use personal photos and automated messaging, the trust layer matters.

  • Permissioning and transparency. Make it obvious what is being pulled and why.
  • Control. Users need an easy way to curate what appears.
  • Brand safety. You need guardrails so the travelogue stays on-message without becoming intrusive.

A few fast answers before you act

What is the Qantas Out of Office Travelogue?

A personalised out-of-office email reply powered by the user’s Instagram photos, designed to inspire travel and drive bookings.

Why is the out-of-office format such a good carrier?

It arrives with intent and legitimacy. People expect it, and it is naturally tied to travel.

What is the core growth loop?

One person travels. Their network sees the travelogue via everyday email behaviour. The recipient gets inspired, and is pushed toward booking directly from the message.

What results does Qantas report?

Over 10,000 travelogues created and 100 million media impressions worldwide.

KLM Messenger: Travel Updates in Chat

Facebook wants to transform their Messenger platform into an all-encompassing utility, where people will be able to conduct virtually any interaction, from buying products to paying bills to various other customer service related queries and tasks.

So together with KLM they have launched a new Messenger service. Travellers who book their flight on klm.com can now choose to receive booking confirmation, check-in notification, boarding pass and flight status updates all via Facebook Messenger.

For further questions they can also contact KLM directly through the Messenger, 24/7.

Why this is a meaningful shift in airline service

This takes airline communication out of the inbox and into a channel people already use all day. The value is not novelty. The value is reduced friction. Fewer app logins, fewer email searches, fewer “where is my boarding pass” moments.

  • Proactive updates. Confirmation, check-in prompts, and status changes arrive automatically.
  • One thread per trip. The travel journey stays readable in a single conversation.
  • Service in context. Questions can be asked and answered where the information already lives.

Messenger as a utility layer

If Messenger becomes a place where you can transact, track, and solve problems, then brands that show up with real utility earn repeat usage. In this case, KLM turns Messenger into a travel companion, not a marketing channel.

The more predictable the updates, the more likely customers are to opt in, and the more valuable the channel becomes for both sides.

In service-heavy journeys like travel, messaging becomes valuable when it carries the essential trip artifacts and keeps help in the same thread.

What to take from this if you run CX or MarTech

  1. Meet customers where they already are. Messaging reduces the cognitive load of managing travel.
  2. Design for opt-in value. People accept notifications when they are clearly helpful and timely.
  3. Keep the thread “service-first”. Utility collapses if the channel gets flooded with promotion.
  4. Support matters. Proactive notifications plus 24/7 human help (or well-designed escalation) is what makes it credible.

A few fast answers before you act

What did KLM launch on Facebook Messenger?

A Messenger service that delivers booking confirmation, check-in notifications, boarding passes, and flight status updates for travellers who book on klm.com, with the option to contact KLM through Messenger 24/7.

Why use Messenger for travel updates?

Because it reduces friction. Customers receive timely information in a channel they already use, without searching email or opening an airline app repeatedly.

Is this a chatbot initiative or customer service?

At its core it is customer service and trip management delivered through messaging. The key value is proactive updates plus the ability to ask questions in the same thread.

What is the main CX benefit?

One continuous conversation that contains the essential trip artifacts. Confirmation, reminders, boarding pass, and live updates in a single place.

What is the transferable lesson for other brands?

If you can deliver high-frequency, high-value updates through a messaging channel with clear opt-in, you can increase satisfaction by making the journey easier to manage.