We surveyed aviation frontline workers to understand a number of things, including:
- The state of communication
- The quality of their employee experience
- The impact on productivity,
The results are clear: outdated systems and fragmented tools are preventing comms teams from getting the best possible engagement and productivity.
Disconnected and disengaged:
The economic cost of frontline friction
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The staggering number of lost hours
Only 21% of frontline aviation workers receive critical company updates within a day.
The rest? They wait an average of 3.98 days – and 41% wait nearly a week.
In an industry built on precision, this lag is a crisis.
It gets worse. 42% of aviation frontline workers spend an hour or more per shift just trying to find the information they need.
In an industry with time-sensitive operations, that’s a staggering loss. For an airline with 15,000 frontline staff, that’s over 1.6 million hours of lost productivity per year—the equivalent of 787 full-time employees grounded.
Poor information access = poor customer experience
37% of aviation employees also agreed that poor information access harms the customer experience. This was higher than the frontline average (which was still a significant 27%). It’s a clear indication that the aviation industry isn’t arming employees with the knowledge and tools they need to deliver exceptional customer experiences
Unily’s research calculated that poor information access costs enterprises over $80 billion a year. For airlines – in an industry where poor or slow customer experience can make headlines – this isn’t an issue they can afford to ignore.
All of this means that they need a robust and instant knowledge management system. But not just another tool that ends up creating another layer for employees.
What frontline workers need is a single source of truth – one application to cut through the noise and connect them with a digital workplace fit for their unique needs.
At busy airlines where intensity and pressure is high, frontline workers don’t have time to sift through countless systems looking for information. Providing them with one digital location is key to enabling speed.
In fact, when we asked all frontline workers which features they most want in an employee app, quick access to documents was the second most requested (28%).
The frontline is needing to find its own way
81% of frontline aviation workers use personal tools like WhatsApp to do their jobs.
But this isn’t a case of rebellion – it’s actually survival. Put simply, the official tools just aren’t working for them.
More than half of aviation frontline workers said that information is scattered across systems (52%), and nearly as many say it’s outdated (44%).
When asked why they were using personal tools, 60% said they were being faster and easier to collaborate with – and 44% said they were the best way to stay informed about critical or emergency updates such as weather warnings.
In an industry where weather has such a critical impact on operations, the fact that workers feel they have ineffective crisis communications channels is quite startling.
The airlines who are getting this right prioritize speed and clarity. For example, when the Heathrow power outage hit in March 2025, British Airways relied on Unily to communicate to thousands of colleagues about what was happening. They used things like Broadcast Center and the intranet homepage for clear, targeted content and FAQs.
“We had thousands of colleagues due to report for work, so speed and clarity of communication was really important. Unily really helped us with this – we used it to get messages out fast through email broadcasts, update our intranet homepage with clear, targeted content, and share easy-to-follow Q&As. Unily gave us the tools to cut through that digital noise, keep our people informed, and keep the airline moving.”
Peter Lyons, Head of Internal Communications, British Airways
Closing the compliance gap
When platforms don’t meet real-world needs, frontline employees turn to workarounds. This isn’t just a harmless irritation either: 38% have shared sensitive information through unofficial channels due to a lack of convenient, secure options. This shows that unsecured tools are more than a workaround – they’re a compliance timebomb.
Here are some of the things your frontline solution should contain – these may stop employees turning to unsanctioned ones.
- The same intuitive UX as consumer apps – with enterprise-grade security
- Offline access to critical documents, so employees in areas with limited connectivity can still get what they need.
- A smart search functionality to enable faster access to relevant information
- Multilingual content support – this is vital for enterprises with global workforces
- Easy integration with the tools frontline workers already use
The deskless divide is hurting airlines
Some of the most eye-opening figures for aviation leaders were around what employees felt about the future:
- 30% of aviation frontline staff feel stuck with no clear career path.
- 41% believe their corporate colleagues have better training and growth opportunities.
With talent shortages already straining operations, HR leaders can’t afford to ignore the disconnect.
The digital experience is a big part of this – 42% of aviation frontline workers said they would move to a company with a more modern one. This indicates how much thought frontline workers are putting into their career decisions - and that the level of tech sophistication they get as consumers needs to be matched within their digital workplace.
Download the exclusive research here
The key takeaway
The results show that an industry known for innovation needs to now reimagine the employee experience. By closing the gap between the headquarters and the hanger, the airports and the offices – airlines can connect and empower those critical frontline workers.
Without a fresh approach, time and money will continue to be drained.
