Scandinavian Airlines Innovates With a Wi-Fi-First Digital Strategy: Connecting Crew and Passengers, Reducing Costs
Formed after WWII, Scandinavian Airlines now boasts a fleet of more than 150 aircraft, flying all over the world, and supported by some 10,000 ground and flight crew. But when it comes to being digital first, SAS really shines.
So it was no surprise that SAS was out in front of the Electronic Flight Bag trend, going fully paperless in favor of modern tablets. But there was a catch. A simple, secure, efficient digital program requires consistent, cost-effective connectivity. The kind you can’t get from just 3G/4G roaming. So SAS had to look elsewhere, and they turned to iPass.
With the world’s largest, global Wi-Fi network, iPass was the natural choice to provide always-on coverage to SAS flying crew, both in the air and in the locations they frequent most, i.e. airports and hotels.
So what were the results? Well, the deployment was a screaming success for the users that has activated the service. Not only does SAS achieve savings on its 3G/4G costs, its flight crew enjoys a markedly better user experience, no longer interacting with fickle airport and hotel Wi-Fi networks. In fact, some pilots have even changed their work patterns to perform additional pre- and post- flight tasks from their hotels, instead of at the airport.
After bringing global Wi-Fi access to pilots and crew, SAS thought it wasn’t such a bad idea to let loyal passengers in on the fun too – and hey, make a little history in the process. Appreciating that global Wi-Fi is a surefire way to enhance customer loyalty for its passengers, SAS became the first airline to offer unlimited, global Wi-Fi monthly subscriptions via the iPass services. Not too bad.
To get the full scoop, download the case study below.
What’s in the case study:
- Scandinavian Airlines kicks off an Electornic Flight Bag initiative
- Finding a partner
- SAS goes Wi-Fi-first
- Closing the digital gap with SAS passengers