• Sydney Airport retains its International Customer Service Standard (ICSS) certification receiving improved rating
• Sydney Airport was the first Australian airport to achieve CSIA certification for its complaints handling framework
• Staff passion and business intelligence key markers of Sydney Airport’s customer-centric focus

Sydney Airport has been recognised by the Customer Service Institute of Australia (CSIA) for its ongoing commitment to customer service excellence, improving its assessment rating while retaining its independent certification against the International Customer Service Standard (ICSS).

Sydney Airport Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Kerrie Mather said the certification reflected Sydney Airport’s strong commitment to customer service.

“I’m delighted to receive this important recognition of our efforts to transform the passenger experience from Australia’s peak customer service industry body,” Ms Mather said.

“The commitment and passion of our staff to ensure a positive airport experience for our passengers and visitors was a key part of our success.

“I’d like to thank our team and our partners across the airport community for their commitment to working together to make Sydney Airport a great place to visit.”

CSIA Chief Executive Officer Anouche Newman said CSIA was pleased to acknowledge Sydney Airport’s commitment to continuous improvement of its service delivery systems.

“Sydney Airport continues to demonstrate a real commitment to customer service, and we were struck by the passion of its staff to deliver improvements each and every day – which is paramount in a customer-centric organisation,” Ms Newman said.

“Sydney Airport’s use of leading software, data analysis and business intelligence techniques to drive process improvements is highly commended.”

The ICSS is a national benchmark of customer service excellence and performance to international best practice. It follows a formal assessment process, including evaluation of outward-facing and internal business units and assesses performance against best practice organisations across a diverse range of industries.

The certification process identified that Sydney Airport had a number of customer service strengths including business intelligence, mobility, culture, strategy, planning and frontline staff.

As part of the certification process, Sydney Airport was also recertified for its complaints handling system, based on its delivery of a comprehensive customer relationship management system to manage customer contact.

“The recertification of Sydney Airport’s complaints handling system is a mark of its cross- collaborative effort to keep the customer front and centre using innovative initiatives to achieve results,” Ms Newman said.

Sydney Airport has a range of ongoing initiatives to improve customer service delivery and was the first airport in Australia to achieve certification for its complaints handling system in 2015.

This year, Sydney Airport won the 2016 Australian Airports Association (AAA) Airport Innovation and Excellence (Customer Experience) Award for the airport’s Customer Care Centre. The award highlighted the introduction of the airport’s 133 SYD customer service line to provide a single point of contact for customer service contact across the airport. Further tools and training for staff, improved information sharing with business partners and further investment in understanding our customers is planned in 2017.