IAA Website - Thursday, July 29, 2021 6:00 AM

The Irish Aviation Authority's primary source of revenue is from our airspace users, i.e. the air operators (or "Customers") which use our air traffic management and communications services. Therefore, the Authority is committed to customer consultation in our objective of providing, on a sound commercial basis, safe, efficient and cost-effective air navigation services to meet our customers' needs.

Customer Care Programme

To support this commitment, the Authority has a dedicated Customer Relations Management team which manages our internationally respected "Customer Care Programme". The programme contains three primary elements:  

1. Customer engagement,
2. Online Customer Relations Management System (CRM) system, which with an online annual scorecard, and
3. Customer Care Annual Report 

1. Customer engagement

Customer meetings play a crucial role in the Authority's Customer Care Programme, as they enable the Authority to communicate key messages and to secure customer feedback. Focusing on our top-20 largest customers, annual corporate meetings are held with all of our key customers within Ireland, in the UK, in Europe and in North American.

These face-to-face meetings have become invaluable to the Authority as they act as a forum to generate essential feedback concerning the quality of our ATC service provision. Information is shared concerning our strategic plans, financial status, operational plans and technological investment. Frequently, plans are refined on the basis of customer feedback as a direct result of this engagement process.

On a national level, more frequent meetings are held with our domestic airspace customers in order to deal with day-to-day operational needs at Dublin, Shannon and Cork Airports.

During times of crisis, the CRM team functions as a buffer between the core ATC operation and the airline customers. This allows the airline to obtain information from a central dedicated source and at the same time, allows the ATC Operations Directorate to focus on managing the operation.

2. Online CRM System

Our customer engagement process is supplemented by our online CRM System (Customer Relations Management System). This is a secure portal used by the IAA and our airline customers. The CRM system has significantly changed the IAA's capacity to interact with its airline customers and is playing a key role in driving efficiency changes within our organisation. The CRM system has two primary functions:

• CRM Scorecard: On an annual basis, customers are offered the opportunity to rate the IAA's air traffic control services in relation to five key areas (including detailed qualitative feedback):
  • Safety;
  • Service Delivery and Operational Efficiency;
  • Financial Cost-Effectiveness;
  • Customer Communications and Relations; and
  • Innovation and Continuous Improvement.

For each question, customers are required to provide detailed comments to justify each score and to clearly outline their requirements and expectations. The Scorecard generates formal feedback from each customer and enables the Authority to become aware of what the Authority is doing right, as well as areas of concern to the customer. This feedback forms the basis of the annual Customer Care Annual Report (see next).

• Document Management: Many of our customers are spread worldwide. The CRM system enables the instant dissemination of information to our customers. The CRM system provides a one-stop-shop for our airline customers for pertinent operational, technical and strategic information. The information which we upload to the CRM system requires secure access.

3. Customer Care Annual Report

Each year, the Authority produces a detailed internal document entitled, "Customer Care Annual Report". This document is presented to the Board of the Authority and shared to our staff and all our key customers. The report is the culmination of the work of the Customer Care Programme outlined above. The report contains feedback secured from individual customers in relation to five areas assessed through the annual scorecard. It also indicates how the Authority's performance has changed over time (trend analysis). Finally, the report contains various actions for the IAA which are aimed at rectifying and/or enhancing our current operational performance and our strategic plans.

International Recognition

The Authority recognises the critical importance of maintaining good customer communications and an effective consultation process with our customers. This has been frequently acknowledged and formally recognised by the international industry. For example, our efforts to support the crisis faced by the industry during the recent economic downturn were recognised by the International Air Transport Authority (IATA). During 2010, as part of the annual IATA Eagle Award process, the Authority secured an honourable mention "for its best practice Customer Care Campaign, and its robust and stringent Cost-control measures in a difficult environment".           

Contact Details - Customer Care Programme