Emirates and Etihad-International Day of Happiness

EMIRATES AND ETIHAD - INTERNATIONAL DAY OF HAPPINESS

March 20th was International Happiness Day. Few people in Western countries will have been aware of it, but with the United Arab Emirates having an actual ‘Minister of State for Happiness’, it is taken seriously as an occasion in the UAE.

This year that extended to both of the country’s major airlines, Emirates and Etihad.

Emirates and Etihad both surprised passengers with free upgrades on the day.

Etihad’s Happiness Day celebrations involved a piano performance at Abu Dhabi International Airport by the first UAE national female music composer, Eman Al Hashimi. Meanwhile two guests were the lucky winners of an Etihad Airways upgrade to business class.

On check-in more passengers were also treated to a series of “mini upgrades” ranging from WiFi vouchers to spa treatments, while Etihad cabin crew and passengers held up ‘smile’ placards.

Dubai-based airline Emirates went one stage further. Not only were unsuspecting passengers at its terminal three base given free upgrades, staff were given a return ticket on the airline’s network.

Employees also participated in a 360 degree ‘photo’ and were encouraged to share it on Instagram using the hashtag #happyemirates.

Emirates and Etihad are of course not the first airlines to use a ‘random acts of kindness’ approach.

WestJet has made it the theme of its annual Christmas celebrations, while it’s been a feature of KLM’s marketing strategy for several years.

As far back as 2011, a SimpliFlying blog post encouraged airlines to use surprises to show how they can go above and beyond what’s expected, and also to think about whether these surprises are scaleable as opposed to being a one-off.

KEY TAKE-AWAY

Acts of kindness is a tried and tested tactic, but it works. It humanises you as a brand and it disrupts (in a positive way) a passenger’s interaction with you.

As we’ve said, it’s worth thinking about whether these surprises are scaleable and also how they can be done differently. As a result, Emirates’ Happiness Day tactic deserves special mention for not only rewarding passengers, but also for saying thank you to staff via free flights.

Not only is this an important internal message, passengers appreciate it as well, recognising that happier airline staff results in a better experience for them.