The impression of a flight consists of dozens of details: boarding speed, cabin cleanliness, crew performance, meal quality, movie selection, and even the ease of navigation in the onboard portal. However, traditional questionnaires sent to passengers after landing do not always give the airline a complete picture. The email may get lost among notifications, and the emotions from the flight may quickly give way to everyday concerns. An embedded survey on board solves this problem by inviting passengers to share their opinion directly during the journey, while the impressions are still fresh.
The questionnaire can be placed in an entertainment or information portal that opens on the passenger's smartphone, tablet, or laptop. Participation does not require installing a separate app: it is enough to connect to the onboard network and go to the relevant section. The short survey takes only a few minutes and does not distract from watching a movie, reading, or other activities. The simpler the form and the clearer the questions, the higher the chance of receiving meaningful responses.
Instead of one overall rating, the airline can ask passengers to rate key elements of the flight separately. For example, the ease of boarding and settling into the cabin, crew attentiveness, temperature and cleanliness on board, and the quality of beverages and meals. A separate block can be dedicated to digital services: portal speed, interface usability, connection stability, and available content. This level of detail reveals not only overall satisfaction but also specific areas that need attention.
Questions about onboard content are especially valuable. Viewing statistics help understand which movies, series, podcasts, or games passengers choose, but do not explain the reasons behind their choices. The survey can determine whether the library is diverse enough, whether it is easy to find the desired materials, and which genres are missing. This data helps shape the content program not only based on the number of launches, but also taking into account the actual preferences of the audience.
Feedback on meals is equally important. Passengers can rate taste, temperature, portion size, presentation, and menu variety. The airline can compare ratings across different routes, aircraft types, and flights of varying durations. If a particular dish consistently receives low ratings, it can be replaced or its recipe adjusted. If passengers point out a lack of special meal options, this becomes a reason to revise the menu.
Evaluating crew performance requires a particularly sensitive approach. Questions should address specific aspects of service: politeness, attentiveness, responsiveness, and clarity of announcements. At the same time, the survey should not become a tool for emotional complaints about individual employees. Its purpose is to identify enduring trends and help improve service standards, staff training, and passenger interactions.
For the airline, context is as important as the ratings themselves. Results can be correlated with the flight number, destination, flight duration, class of service, and departure time. This makes it possible to spot differences between routes and determine whether a low rating is due to a systemic issue or an isolated incident. Data collection must be transparent: passengers need to be informed about what information is used and for what purposes.
Short surveys with just a few questions and a free-form comment field are the most effective. Long questionnaires reduce response rates and often go unfinished. Questions can be shown in stages: ask passengers to rate a movie after watching it, meals after the meal service, and overall impressions closer to landing. This way, feedback becomes part of the interaction with the onboard portal rather than a separate formality.
Built-in surveys give the airline an opportunity to hear passengers before they even leave the plane. However, the value of such a tool is determined not by the number of collected ratings, but by how the carrier uses the results. If feedback influences the menu, content, portal interface, and service standards, passengers see that their opinions truly matter. In that case, the survey becomes more than just a source of statistics—it becomes a full-fledged quality management tool for the flight.