APEX wants to collect "genuine" passenger feedback

HAMBURG - Arrive. Rate. This is the seamless approach APEX, the industry network for passenger experience, takes with its app-based passenger-survey tool "Official Airline Ratings".

OAR will launch in June embedded in a yet to be disclosed app with 12 million users, APEX CEO Joe Leader told an audience at the Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg.

Directly after the flight, the app will ask verified passengers to take a brief survey rating "Seat Comfort" and "Service" experience. "Food/Beverage", "Entertainment" and "Wi-Fi" are optional categories to rate with one to five stars.

APEX obviously aims for lean and genuine passenger feedback with a methodology it calls "Uber-inspired".

While subjective passenger ratings establish the data basis, "we will weigh it against objective data, such as seat dimensions," Leader said. Survey results will be provided to airlines free of charge to improve passenger experience.

"Currently, passengers are not thinking about their experience when booking their flights," Leader added. "That will change."