Streamlining airline contact center seasonal spikes with Simply Contact

Commercial aviation is a highly seasonal business. While peak periods can push airline resources to their limits, equally, the slower periods can see airlines over-resourced and exposed to unnecessary costs, potentially affecting their bottom line. However, regardless of the season, meeting customers’ expectations remains paramount at all times for any airline business.

But how do airlines manage such peaks and troughs in demand for customer support services while remaining efficient and cost-conscious throughout the business cycle? Simply Contact, Europe’s leading customer support provider, has spent over 12 years delivering personalized solutions to global brands and building strong partnerships in a wide range of business sectors, including commercial aviation. 

As a customer support expert with over 17 years of experience, primarily in the aviation industry, Tamara Maleta, Head of Aviation Projects at Simply Contact, has built her career based on taking a people-first approach, combining operational excellence with a deep commitment to communication and collaboration.

AeroTime recently sat down with Maleta to discuss how the company can assist airlines handling contact center seasonal spikes, and how Simply Contact’s expertise in this field can help airlines achieve a whole new level of customer support across the business cycle. 

Challenges and opportunities

The conversation with Maleta began by discussing the biggest challenges that airlines face in maintaining service quality while also controlling costs in the face of fluctuating customer service demand throughout the year. 

Simply Contact“Seasonality is absolutely one of the defining characteristics of airline customer service,” explained Maleta. “From my experience, the biggest challenge lies in balancing scalability with efficiency. During high seasons, like summer holidays or winter breaks, support volumes can double almost overnight. Airlines must respond quickly to surges in bookings, rebookings, cancellations, and inquiries across multiple channels and languages. But once the peak ends, demand can drop just as sharply.”

“The real difficulty is that overstaffing during low season leads to unnecessary costs, while understaffing during peaks leads to long wait times, frustrated passengers, and reputational risk. And since customer expectations are rising (people want fast, seamless support on the go), there’s little room for error,” she added.

“Another major challenge is agent burnout,” she continued. “We have seen how quickly pressure can build during peak periods. Without the right planning and support structure, performance starts to slip, and that impacts both service quality and employee retention. At Simply Contact, we have tackled this with agent cross-training and flexible staffing structures that allow us to reallocate agents based on live demand. It is not just about having enough people – it is about using them smartly.”

To explore these concepts in more detail, Simply Contact has recently published a whitepaper entitled ‘Aviation’s Highs and Lows: Adapting Customer Support to Volume Spikes.’ Maleta explained that the paper includes insights from Simply Contact’s airline partners, data-backed strategies, and a case study on how the company has helped one of Europe’s largest low-cost airlines reduce average handling times (AHT) by 30% while maintaining a 95% rate for first contact resolution (FCR).

You can access the Simply Contact white paper here to explore how smart planning and outsourcing can help your airline customer support function be ready for anything.

Flexibility is the key

The subject of business process outsourcing (BPO) has often been an issue for the airline sector, as most large BPO providers follow a standardized model where each team member’s role is defined and documented. However, traditionally, airlines have struggled with mainstream BPO models as these limit their ability to scale up and down as seasonality dictates. But why do these traditional BPO models limit airlines’ ability to scale customer support up and down effectively? 

“In my experience, the traditional BPO model, where agents are tied to fixed roles, single channels, or narrow scripts, works well in stable environments, but it falls short in aviation,” explained Maleta. “Airlines operate in a constantly shifting landscape, where one day can look completely different from the next. A fixed model cannot keep up with that level of variability.”

“One of the main issues is inflexibility. When each team member is locked into a single task or channel, it becomes very difficult to redistribute workload during a sudden spike or drop in volume. For example, if voice support is overwhelmed but your chat team is underutilized, a traditional setup will not let you shift resources quickly. That leads to long wait times on one channel and idle agents on another, which hurts both service quality and cost-efficiency,” she added.

Simply Contact“There is also a risk of slower response during crises. Airlines need partners who can adapt in real time to weather disruptions, system outages, or unexpected promo spikes.”

“At Simply Contact, we have moved away from this rigid structure. Instead, we cross-train our agents and use a blended support model. This model trains agents to handle multiple channels and dynamically shift between them based on live demand. For instance, when call volume drops, agents pick up chat tickets. This setup only works when volumes are low or moderate, but during those periods, it is incredibly effective and allows us to avoid reducing headcount.”

Improving operational efficiency

While adopting a less rigid structure, Simply Contact can improve operational efficiency. This makes the company’s operational structure stand out from the crowd, an advantage that has been capitalized upon by at least one leading European low-cost airline. But how do such advantages differentiate Simply Contact from other providers in the field of customer support services? 

“What sets us apart is our ability to stay both flexible and efficient, especially in industries like aviation, where service demand can shift dramatically from week to week,” confirmed Maleta. “We’ve built our operational structure around adaptability without losing sight of performance or cost control.”

“A great example is our ongoing partnership with one of Europe’s largest low-cost airlines. Their customer support volumes fluctuate heavily throughout the year: during high seasons, demand can spike by more than 50%. Instead of constantly scaling teams up and down, we apply a blended support model where agents are trained to work across voice, chat, and email,” she added.

“During the high season, calls are a priority. And during low seasons, instead of reducing headcount, we reallocate agents to other verticals or non-voice tasks like loyalty program support. We also maintain a pool of bilingual agents who can switch between languages. That way, we keep utilization and cost efficiency high and preserve product knowledge year-round. The result is an operation that is not just scalable but sustainable – and that’s exactly what airlines need today.”

Simply ContactMeasurable results

But how does adopting such work practices and the overall strategies that Simply Contact can provide to a business have such a positive effect and work so effectively in the airline sector?  Furthermore, what are the metrics by which an airline can evaluate results, having adopted these strategies to meet seasonality trends?

“By adapting our model to match the airline’s seasonal fluctuations, we achieved truly impactful results in terms of efficiency and service quality,” commented Maleta. “For example, we maintained an 85% average utilization rate across the entire year on our main aviation project. That is important because it shows we are not just managing peak volumes well but also using resources efficiently during low seasons, without overstaffing or idle time.”

“We also helped the airline reduce average handling time (AHT) by 30%. On one of the most high-volume lines, we brought AHT down to two minutes and 45 seconds, which was well below the contractual target. That improvement alone had a big impact on speed, customer satisfaction, and operational cost,” she added.

Simply Contact“Another key win was increasing call productivity from eight to 12-13 calls per hour, even during quieter periods. We achieved this without adding pressure to agents, thanks to better training, optimized scripts, and flexible channel allocation. All of this contributed to significant cost savings for our client, especially compared to maintaining a large in-house team year-round. And the airline did not just save money, it kept service levels consistently high, regardless of season.

You can find out further details on Simply Contact’s successful relationship with one of its European low-cost airline clients by following this link. 

Workforce forecasting

Yet, Simply Contact believes that setting realistic targets and surpassing them wherever possible is just one piece of the puzzle. Another important aspect of the strategic thinking employed by the company when evaluating a client’s requirements is that of workforce forecasting, and especially how this can ensure that airlines can maintain service quality, regardless of season.  

“Workforce forecasting is critical,” commented Maleta. “It is the foundation for maintaining service quality and cost control in an industry as dynamic as aviation. Airlines do not just face regular seasonal peaks but also deal with sudden shifts caused by weather, strikes, or last-minute sales. Without solid forecasting, even the best teams can find themselves underprepared,” she added.

“At Simply Contact, we work closely with our airline partners to combine historical data, real-time metrics, and external signals, like public holidays, flight schedules, or past campaign performance, to predict demand as accurately as possible. That is what allows us to stay ahead of the curve.”

Simply Contact“But forecasting alone is not enough. You need a structure that can act on it. That is where outsourcing becomes a real asset. Our teams are built for flexibility. When we see a surge coming, we can quickly scale support using trained agents who already know the brand and systems. During quieter periods, we reassign those same agents to other projects or non-voice tasks,” she added.

“This model ensures that we are not scrambling during a spike or sitting idle during a lull. Forecasting helps us make smart decisions, and outsourcing gives our clients the tools to respond fast without sacrificing quality.”

Future-proofing customer support

But while seasonality is commonplace and can be planned for to a large degree, not just in aviation but in other industries too, how can airlines in particular future-proof their customer support strategies to adapt to sudden spikes in demand? 

“The key to future-proofing airline customer support is building agility into the core of your operations,” explained Maleta. Spikes in demand are not just seasonal. They can come from anywhere: sudden weather disruptions, tech outages, viral promos, or even global events. Airlines need systems that can scale fast without breaking,” she said. 

“It starts with flexible team structures. At Simply Contact, we train agents to work across channels and reassign them quickly based on demand. This prevents the chaos of emergency hiring or underused teams. We use real-time data to monitor volume, queue pressure, and trends as they happen. That visibility helps us act before service levels drop,” she added.

Simply ContactWhat will the future look like?

So, while Simply Contact’s customer support services have been developed over many years and are tailor-made to the specific client’s requirements, the company is fully aware that the passage of time means these processes need to evolve. But, with that in mind, what trends does Simply Contact see shaping customer service in the airline industry over the next few years? 

“One of the biggest trends I see is a shift toward greater flexibility in both technology and people,” commented Maleta. “Airlines are realizing that customer service cannot be static. It has to adapt to fast-changing passenger expectations, unpredictable demand, and global disruptions. The focus is moving away from volume-based models toward value-based partnerships, where BPO providers are expected to contribute not just agents but strategic insight, performance improvements, and resilience.”

“Personalization at scale will also continue to grow. Passengers expect more than standard responses; they want context-aware support that understands their preferences, history, and needs. That will require better CRM integration, more empowered frontline agents, and thoughtful use of automation,” she added.

Another trend is the blending of digital and human services. “AI will keep evolving, but it will not replace people – it will enhance how they work. The future is hybrid support: AI for speed and consistency, humans for empathy and complex problem-solving.”

“Finally, I see more airlines investing in specialized, aviation-experienced BPOs – partners who understand the unique pressures of the industry and can deliver tailored solutions,” she explained. “That is what we are committed to at Simply Contact and why our clients choose to stay with us. We recently celebrated five years of partnership with one of Europe’s largest low-cost airlines and are excited for more milestones ahead.”

Simply ContactLooking ahead

With the international airline industry continuing to expand, and with the number of passengers flying annually also increasing exponentially, the pressure on airlines to provide exemplary customer support will undoubtedly remain in the years to come. And while seasonality of demand for such services is unlikely to disappear either, airlines can benefit from Simply Contact’s team of experts to ensure that their customer support provision remains fit for purpose. After all, developing a base of satisfied customers is what will allow any airline to thrive in the future. The post Streamlining airline contact center seasonal spikes with Simply Contact appeared first on AeroTime.

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