Ashley Seed, Chief Commercial Officer, CMAC Group
Flight disruption (IROPS) has always been one of the aviation industry’s toughest challenges - not just operationally, but reputationally. When people are stranded, delayed, or rerouted, they don’t remember the technicalities, they remember how they were treated. That’s the difference between a one time customer and someone who’ll go out of their way to book with you again.
At the World Aviation Festival 2025, I had the privilege of joining an expert panel - alongside Finnair, KLM, Swiipr Technologies and AIR Consulting Ltd - exploring how airlines can turn disruption from a pain point into a powerful loyalty driver. It’s a topic we at CMAC Group know extremely well, because we sit at the very heart of disruption response, connecting passengers, airlines, transport, and accommodation providers every day.
Here’s the headline takeaway: Disruption doesn’t have to destroy trust. If handled correctly, it can actually strengthen it.
The points I shared during the panel drew on insights from CMAC’s brand new 2025 Aviation Disruption Whitepaper a mix of fresh passenger research and what we see day in, day out on the frontline of disruption management.
It’s not the disruption, it’s how you handle it
For too long, airlines and their service partners have found themselves reacting once disruption has already taken hold. By that point, queues are forming, social media’s lighting up, and the whole thing’s harder to recover. Staff are under pressure, tempers are high and the moment to show care has passed. This is where proactive communication changes everything.
Passengers shouldn’t have to chase updates, they should feel informed, cared for, and in control. Even a short, honest explanation of the cause of disruption “Your flight is delayed due to Storm Amy” paired with timely assistance such as meal vouchers and clear guidance on next steps can significantly ease frustration. Providing these tangible forms of care not only helps passengers feel valued and reassured but also protects and strengthens the brand’s reputation in challenging situations.
Our 2025 Whitepaper found that 74% of passengers expect help within an hour, but fewer than half actually get it. When they do receive updates early, even small, honest ones, they’re 40% more likely to rate their experience positively. That’s the impact of getting communication right - a small effort that delivers a huge return in trust.
At the end of the day, customers don’t always choose an airline just because it’s cheaper or faster. They choose it because it promises better outcomes and because it makes them feel better when things go wrong.
At CMAC, we help our airline partners prepare for these moments, facilitating connected transport and accommodation solutions that can be activated at speed, so care reaches passengers faster and more consistently.
IROPS isn’t just an ops problem, it’s a loyalty strategy
The industry is shifting. Disruption management is no longer an isolated operational event - it’s becoming a strategic pillar of customer experience and loyalty.
The reality is, disruption can’t be avoided. Weather, congestion, technical issues - something will always throw a spanner in the works. What matters is how well it’s handled when it happens.
The impact is measurable. Airlines that treat disruption response as a loyalty opportunity see measurable benefits: higher NPS, stronger brand advocacy, and lower compensation costs. It’s the difference between paying backwards in claims or investing forwards in trust.
Passengers who feel supported are less likely to switch airlines after a disruption - with those “less likely to fly again” falling from 46% to 29% year on year. That’s not coincidence; it’s good management turning frustration into trust.
Handled this way, IROPS becomes a brand differentiator.
Take care of the people behind the people
This area often gets overlooked, but it’s huge. When things go wrong, the people dealing with passengers are under real pressure. They’re tired, emotional, and doing their best to hold everything together. You can have the best tech in the world, but if your team’s stressed, underinformed, and not empowered to act, the passenger experience falls apart.
It’s about giving people what they need in the moment - clear information, fast access to options, and the backing to act on them. That’s when you move from saying, “I’ll find out what’s happening” to “Here’s what I can do for you right now.”
It’s not just about systems and data, it’s helping the humans in the middle of it all do their jobs with confidence and care. That’s what passengers remember.
The real power is tech and people
There’s a lot of buzz in the industry around AI and automation, and rightly so. It’s changing how disruptions managed - but the best results happen when tech and humans work together.
Automation handles the simple stuff - claims, rebookings, basic updates. That frees up real people to focus on the tricky, emotional cases where empathy matters most.
And passengers agree. Our survey found 63% are satisfied with self-serve disruption tools, but when asked what they still wanted, the top answers were empathy and human support.
Looking ahead, emerging tech like autonomous ground transport could make recovery even faster - imagine passengers automatically transferred to hotels minutes after a cancellation – but however clever the tech gets, the human touch will always matter most.
People remember people.
More collaboration is needed
Airlines can’t go it alone anymore. Disruption doesn’t stop at the airport gate, so neither should care.
That’s why we talk about a connected disruption ecosystem. Airlines, airports, hotels, and ground transport all working together to deliver a seamless experience from start to finish. Recovery becomes faster, clearer, and far less stressful. The care a passenger receives on the tarmac should flow seamlessly through to the bus driver, the hotel check in desk, or the taxi at 2 am.
That’s how trust is built - not just between passengers and airlines, but across the whole travel chain. And that’s where the industry still has room to grow: breaking down the barriers between operators and partners to create one joined up experience that travellers can rely on.
Disruption isn’t going anywhere, but loyalty can grow from it
At CMAC, we don’t see disruption as a failure to fix. We see it as a chance to show what care really looks like - a moment to prove what your brand stands for when passengers need you most.
Handled poorly, it’s chaos. Handled well, it’s connection. It’s the difference between someone feeling stranded and someone feeling supported. Those moments stay with people long after the flight has landed.
Because disruption is inevitable, but loyalty? That’s earned - one honest update, one small act of care, one seamless recovery at a time.
If you want the full story - the data, the trends, the insights to what passengers really think - download CMAC’s 2025 Aviation Disruption Whitepaper.
Then explore how these ideas come to life in practice in our Disruption Management solution.
