Cebu Pacific speeds up digital transformation

MANILA, Philippines — Budget carrier Cebu Pacific is discontinuing its call center operations next month in line with efforts to speed up its digital transformation and improve overall customer experience.

The airline said it would discontinue its Philippine hotline numbers by May 1 given the improvements in online booking, check-in, manage booking and online travel assistant Charlie the chatbot.

“We are glad to have started our digital transformation journey even before the pandemic because we have come to rely on it in this new normal environment. We continue to prioritize the safety and convenience of our passengers, that is why we have accelerated our digital efforts to support contactless and self-service processes,” Cebu Pacific vice president for marketing and customer experience Candice Iyog said.

The airline said 87 percent of its passengers maximized its website to book flights directly in the platform, while 67 percent conveniently managed their bookings online.

Cebu Pacific started ramping up its customer-first initiatives through digital innovation in 2017 when it was among the first airlines in Asia to invest in an integrated facility and technology for social intelligence and customer engagement.

The airline introduced in 2018 Charlie the chatbot in order to enable passengers to receive real-time answers to common queries and transactions such as flight schedule and status, check-in process, itinerary and boarding pass retrieval, or lead them to the right steps to address their concerns.

Since then, Cebu Pacific said Charlie the chatbot has been continuously improved and is now able to respond to more queries, without having to talk to an agent.