Our cost-saving approach isn’t about cutting corners but about operating smarter every season.
We’ve designed a blended support model that lets agents handle multiple channels and shift between them in real time, based on actual demand. When call volumes dip, agents switch to chats or written tickets. If social media traffic spikes after a flight schedule change, the same agents step in to manage the digital response. This cross-channel flexibility keeps teams productive during slower periods and ensures coverage without overstaffing.
During high season, we adapt again. Agents move to priority channels, where speed and accuracy directly impact customer experience. This fluid resourcing keeps quality high without adding headcount.
Driving Cost Efficiency Across Seasons for Leading European Airline
Simply Contact has been a trusted partner of Wizz Air for over five years. From day one, our role has been proactive: expanding multilingual teams fast, proposing efficiency-focused initiatives, and adapting support operations to match Wizz Air’s growth and seasonal shifts.
Challenge
Simply Contact has been partnering with Wizz Air for five years. Initially, the objective was to quickly expand the multilingual support team to reduce wait times and maintain service quality across high and low seasons. Today, the objective is to maintain cost efficiency, increase agent utilization, and adopt technology that improves service without raising costs. Our focus areas are:
- Maintain consistently high service levels during high and low seasons.
- Support the rollout of the Customer First Compass program, which introduced new quality metrics like resolving 95% of issues within 30 days.
- Propose, test, and implement tech-driven optimizations with measurable cost benefits.
Our approach
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Blended support as a strategy
Agents handle multiple channels (calls, emails, chats) and switch based on volume. This flexibility prevents overload, especially mid-season, and drives high SLA compliance.
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Bilingual agents
Our Polish–English and French–English agents ensure smooth service during seasonal traffic spikes without overextending the team.
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AI readiness testing
We test AI tools before rollout. Our agents validate how AI processes requests and spot errors, ensuring only effective solutions are deployed.
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Agent training and testing framework
We’ve built a robust training and knowledge validation process, fully supervised by our support leads. New agents undergo an established onboarding program that includes structured training sessions and mentoring.
Front and back office, fully synchronized
We support a wide range of Wizz Air’s front-line operations, as well as handle non-voice tasks that don’t require direct contact with customers. Back office operations are fully synchronized with the front line, eliminating task duplication and improving SLA performance across departments.
Front office
✓ Handling official claims
✓ Managing group bookings
✓ Quickly launching dedicated hotlines during crisis periods (e.g., the Israel conflict)
✓ Making outbound calls about flight changes and reservation updates
✓ Sending confirmations, managing early bookings and cancellation
✓ Resolving customer complaints and processing inquiries in writing
✓ Answering calls from travel agencies and group coordinators
✓ Managing welfare cases related to cancellations and delays
Back office
✓ Grouping and categorizing incoming emails
✓ Managing refunds and returns
✓ Processing formal claims and requests from regulatory authorities
✓ Matching duplicate requests
✓ Manual approval of official claims
Driving cost efficiency through smart operations
AHT improvement project
In November 2022, Simply Contact set out to reduce Average Handling Time (AHT) and strengthen quality control for Wizz Air by implementing AI-driven solutions.
This initiative was driven by new contractual terms, prolonged supervisor response times (ranging from 2 to 5 minutes during peak hours), and a noticeable 4-minute AHT gap between the highest- and lowest-performing agents.
Solution:
✓ Developed and tested 25 AHT-reduction strategies
✓ Optimized the agent knowledge base and scripts
✓ Formed a pilot group of agents to trial the improvements
✓ Introduced regular agent reviews and calibrations with the Quality Control team
Exceeding industry standards
Reduced AHT by 30%, with the Italian line averaging 2:45 minutes—well below the contractual limit of 3 minutes.
Enhancing internal performance
Cutting AHT to 2:45 minutes improved team productivity and enabled leaner staffing during peak periods, translating into sustained cost efficiency.
Boosting customer satisfaction
Shorter handling times contributed to a better customer experience, reinforcing satisfaction and loyalty.
The result
By introducing a multilingual, multi-channel setup and aligning back-office tasks with frontline support, we’ve enhanced speed, accuracy, and overall service quality. The blended support model, paired withthe strategic use of bilingual agents and AI-driven tools, allows us to adapt in real time, maximizing agent utilization and maintaining service quality year-round.
The result is consistent service quality, optimal agent utilization, and meaningful cost reductions without compromising the customer experience.
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6000
calls handled per day
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150+
agents on the line
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85%
of utilization in both high and low season
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10
languages of service
Achievements
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- The blended support model enables agents to handle multiple channels. As a result, 80% of calls are answered within 35 seconds.
- Reduced average handling time (AHT) by 30% on key service lines, outperforming contractual targets and raising efficiency benchmarks.
- Increased call-per-hour (CPH) rate from 9 to 11 overall and up to 12.6 on the Italian line even during the low season.
- Boosted CPH from 4 to 5 in the official claims department.
- Maintained an abandon rate (AR) between 5% and 10% in the call center, with best performance seen in March–May and November.
- Ensured 100% of emails are answered within 5 days and 95% of cases are closed within 30 days.
- Sustained an average agent utilization rate of 85%, regardless of seasonality.
Testimonial
Wizz Air and Simply Contact started cooperation and launched a project in the field of customer support in January 2020. The collaboration portfolio is based on call center operations, handling of written requests, real-time chat services and group booking support. Throughout the project, Simply Contact processed calls and requests in different languages—English, Italian, French, German, Polish, Hungarian, Romanian, Russian, Arabic, and Ukrainian. During our joint work, Simply Contact has proven itself as a reliable and flexible partner, which is always ready to support us in solving additional challenges. Simply Contact strives to achieve its goals by constantly looking for creative and innovative ideas and solutions.
Tsvetoplama Stoyanova
Wizz Air contact center manager
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