Driving Premium Sales: Aligning Cross-Channel Selling for a Major U.S. Airline

A major U.S. airline sought to grow sales of its premium travel offers, including clubs, seating upgrades, baggage services, and meals. However, the airline struggled to align its various consumer touchpoints and cross-channel selling efforts, resulting in missed revenue opportunities. The company lacked a cohesive approach to selling these premium offers across multiple customer interaction points, leading to inconsistent sales performance and underutilized services.

The project team leveraged retail experience to identify cross-channel selling opportunities and align the airline’s selling approach with consumer behavior. A new customer service and selling program was developed, focusing on enhancing customer interactions across key touchpoints. This included staff training to better promote premium offers and align the organization’s selling efforts across different channels.

The new selling program resulted in a significant increase in premium travel sales, with some product categories experiencing sales growth of 100%. Overall, the initiative identified opportunities to drive $40-50 million in additional revenue per product initiative, resulting in a total revenue increase of $200 million—an uplift of 26%. The program also improved alignment across the airline’s consumer touchpoints, leading to a more consistent and effective selling strategy.