Monday’s announcement that United would expand Wi-Fi to the first of its United Express regional aircraft to enable customers to stay connected in flight is a strong example of effectively listening to its customers as it continually seeks to retain and create brand loyalty.
United Airlines Public Relations Manager Karen May told Loyalty360 that customer feedback played a crucial role in adding Wi-Fi on its Regional Jet Service (which includes service to smaller cities as well as to business destinations such as New York, Chicago and San Francisco).
“What we hear from our customers is critically important to what we’re doing,” May told Loyalty360. “All things being equal on our planes, aircraft that offers Wi-Fi have higher levels of customer satisfaction. Our customers told us how critical it is to offer connectivity, so we’re adding Wi-Fi to our regional jets so people can keep up 
with their work or use it to be entertained.”
The airline will outfit more than 200 regional jets with Gogo’s ATG-4 air-to-ground Wi-Fi product. By mid-2015, United expects to complete installation on nearly all these aircraft.
What’s more, United will begin providing Personal Device Entertainment on regional jets this year, offering customers hundreds of complimentary movies and television shows to view on their Wi-Fi-enabled iOS and Android devices using the airline’s mobile app, as well as on laptop computers.
May said having Wi-Fi enables customers to avoid feeling disconnected during flights.
“They’re relaxed and ready to go when they land, instead of feeling like they have to rush to catch up,” she said.
May said United receives customer feedback in a variety of ways.
“We get it in ways that are formal and sometimes very informal,” she said. “Our customer surveys are very important to us. We also have an online community where we receive feedback from some of our most frequent fliers. And we have some customers who will email letters to executives. They tell us what they think we’re doing well and what they feel we need to improve on. We definitely take that feedback seriously and use it moving forward.”
United’s regional jet Wi-Fi installations begin as the airline continues to outfit its mainline fleet with Wi-Fi, which the carrier currently offers on nearly three-quarters of its domestic mainline fleet. The company has installed Personal Device Entertainment on nearly 200 mainline aircraft, including its entire Boeing 747, Airbus A319 and A320 fleets and its nine Boeing 777 aircraft that fly primarily between the continental United States and Hawaii.