Inside United Airlines’ CX Strategy: AI, Trust, and the Future of Travel

2026-07-27 · Source: Execs In The Know · Field: Business & Management — Corporate Strategy & Leadership, Operations & Process Management, Project & Product Management · Depth: Intermediate, medium

Summary

United Airlines' Senior CX Researcher, Michael Crema, details the airline's customer experience strategy, emphasizing the integration of AI to empower travelers through self-service while simultaneously strengthening trust. His work spans the entire journey, from trip exploration and purchase to day-of-travel interactions via app, kiosks, and airport navigation. United focuses on agent-facing AI that enhances employee capabilities by providing faster context and reducing cognitive load, rather than replacing human agents. This approach is particularly effective for patterned interactions, where AI closes well-shaped gaps. Crema highlights that even the availability of AI tools reduces agent uncertainty. A key trust-building initiative involves balancing customer autonomy with reassurance, especially during high-stakes moments like travel disruptions. For instance, research on security wait times revealed that reducing uncertainty, not just wait times, was crucial, leading to the implementation of a credible expectation-setting feature in the United app.

Key takeaway

For AI Product Managers developing customer service solutions, prioritize agent-facing AI that augments human capabilities rather than replacing them. Your strategy should focus on reducing agent cognitive load and providing context for patterned interactions, which fosters adoption and improves service quality. Additionally, leverage customer journey research to identify and mitigate points of uncertainty, as this directly builds customer trust and enhances the overall experience.

Key insights

Balancing AI-driven self-service with human support and uncertainty reduction is key to building customer trust in travel.

Principles

• AI should empower agents, not replace them.
• Reducing customer uncertainty builds trust.
• Context shapes decision-making in CX.

Method

Customer journey research identifies evolving needs and uncertainties across the full travel experience, informing product development like the security wait times feature.

In practice

• Implement agent-facing AI for patterned interactions.
• Provide security wait time estimates in apps.
• Focus on reducing cognitive load for agents.

Topics

• Customer Experience
• AI in Customer Service
• Agent-facing AI
• Customer Journey Research
• Travel Industry
• Trust Building

Best for: Executive, Director of AI/ML, AI Product Manager, Consultant

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Editorial summary, takeaway, and curation by AIssential. Original article published by Execs In The Know.