Amid geopolitical instability, airline prices are on the rise again as customer flights take one of the largest hits on fuel costs, airspace access, and operational planning.
With many of these pressures sitting outside airlines’ control, this impact is nevertheless still felt most sharply by customers, seeing reduced flight flexibility, higher fares, and increased uncertainty.
For CX leaders, this latest challenge now requires turning unavoidable cost increases into an experience that preserves trust, loyalty, and long-term value.
Rachel Sheriff, Chief Customer Officer at Recurly, told CX Today that rising costs and geopolitical disruption matter less to customers when airlines are still able to deliver stable, dependable experiences.
“As external pressures – from operational complexity to shifting demand patterns – continue to impact the airline industry, the challenge is less about any single cost factor and more about maintaining a consistent, reliable experience amid constant change for passengers.”
CX in Volatile Times
The rising cost of air travel highlights a broader CX challenge for airlines, not just in increasing fuel prices and schedule inefficiencies.
These external pressures increase operating costs at a time when demand remains unpredictable, and airlines often have little choice but to pass some of those costs on to passengers.
From a customer perspective, however, the reason behind the price increase is often secondary to the experience that follows, meaning when fares rise due to the fault of the airline or not, passengers naturally expect more in return.
A customer’s tolerance for delays, unclear communication, inflexible policies, or inconsistent service may then significantly decline because the perceived value of the journey is being tested more directly.
This turns rising airline costs into a major CX issue, where customers are rarely reacting to geopolitical instability but instead testing trust in the airline relationship.
For example, if passengers encounter a negative experience while also paying more, this emotional impact is amplified.
As a result, reliability becomes more valuable than convenience, and clarity becomes as important as price, as every touchpoint shapes whether the airline is seen as responsive and dependable under pressure.
For airlines, preserving that relationship requires refocusing efforts on the aspects of the journey they can still control, even when external events remain unpredictable.
“In practice, this means prioritizing the experiences that customers value the most to ensure that even if there are external factors at play, the core relationship between business and customer is protected,” Sheriff continued.
“For airlines, this can look like prioritizing flexibility, simplicity, and transparency during every stage of a traveler’s journey, be it booking a flight or making use of loyalty benefits.”
Whilst customers usually recognize that airlines cannot control geopolitical conflict or fuel markets, they understand that they can control how clear communication is, how easily customers can rebook, and how consistently loyalty promises are delivered.
These areas increasingly define value in an environment where higher prices alone can create customer skepticism.
Turning Fees into Value
As fare volatility increases, subscription models are emerging as a potential stabilizer for both airlines and passengers, creating an ongoing relationship that extends beyond individual transactions.
In periods of high fuel costs, operational disruption, or geopolitical uncertainty, Sheriff argues that this model can help soften the emotional impact of price increases by giving customers a stronger sense of consistency, predictability, and control.
“Subscription offerings shift the airline-customer relationship from a transactional to a continuous experience,” she explained.
As a result, customers can begin to see their airline relationship as part of a broader service experience, rather than viewing each booking as a standalone purchase.
