The Canadian airline created a custom bot for Messenger named Juliet to help personify its brand, which created a 24% lift in positive sentiment among travelers and also improved employee productivity.

5Xincrease in the number of messages WestJet can support

50%of total inquiries handled by a bot for Messenger

24%lift in net positive sentiment

THEIR STORY

“Love where you’re going”

Started in 1996, WestJet began with 3 aircraft, 5 destinations and 220 employees. Today, the Canadian-based airline now flies 24 million guests to more than 100 destinations worldwide. Named “Best Airline in Canada” by TripAdvisor for 3 years running, the airline is undergoing a transition from a point-to-point airline to become a global network airline flying 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft around the world. While growing, and with the help of the “Juliet” Messenger experience, WestJet remains committed to giving its guests an “authentically Canadian” travel experience to ensure that they love where they are going.

THEIR GOAL

Embarking on a digital journey

WestJet was looking for a way to elevate the guest experience beyond phone support, its 24/7 Social Care team and its website, while handling the growing number of support requests from travelers. Always delving into new technologies and enhancing existing products, the airline wanted to improve the experience in a modern way.

THEIR SOLUTION

Creating a digital travel assistant

With over a million followers on WestJet’s Facebook Page, the airline had already been providing guest support through Messenger for more than a year. Building a Messenger experience was a natural next step. WestJet worked with AI software company msg.ai to create a bot for Messenger named Juliet that serves as the airline’s official digital travel assistant.

Finding the right passengers
WestJet integrated the artificial intelligence-powered bot into existing Messenger experience, making it the first point of contact for guests. Guests were introduced to the bot via westjet.com, WestJet Mobile Apps, ads that click to Messenger and posts on its Facebook page with a “Send Message” call to action. The bot was also introduced during “on hold” times when customers called into customer support.

Expanding its horizons
To make sure guests received the best in-flight and on-the-ground experience, Juliet handled all simple and common queries to start with, such as frequently asked questions, baggage claim information and flight details. WestJet’s 24/7 Social Care team would take over when more complex issues needed to be resolved. With Juliet’s help, employees increased their productivity since they no longer had to handle everyday inquiries and could focus on bigger requests.

Creating a flight plan
To provide guests with an immediate response to their questions, the Canadian airline relied on Natural Language Processing (NLP) and continually trained Juliet from past interactions so that it could refine the bot conversation experience. As time went on, Juliet eventually handled 50% of WestJet’s total inquiries on Messenger.

Adding a safety card
Knowing that guests can be uncomfortable with sharing personal information, WestJet made sure to let guests know why it was collecting data and how they could delete the information if needed. This helped build trust with passengers and encouraged them to ask Juliet questions.

Landing in the right place
With access to WestJet’s booking flow, flight status, trip-managing functionality and analytics, Juliet helped guests at various stages in their travel journey. By giving travelers the support they were looking for, Juliet helped WestJet increase messages the airline could answer by 5X.