Faster refunds, smarter service: Inside Philippine Airlines’ Slack transformation

Philippine Airlines achieved a major win in aviation operations by doing an end-to-end process re-engineering of its refunds process which resulted in cutting refund times from weeks to days.

Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) has embraced Slack to transform the customer experience in streamlining the ticket refund process and paving the way for AI-driven service improvements. As part of the overall project, PAL also implemented a Robotics Process Automation (RPA) to handle complex ticket refunds. The utilisation of Slack coupled with the RPA dramatically reduced the processing time for refunds.

When refunds are faster, customers are happier

In aviation, refunds can make or break the customer experience — especially during disruptions. With Slack’s case swarming feature and the integration with Service Cloud, teams from finance, operations, and customer service can collaborate in real time, leading to faster resolutions and satisfied customers.

“Before Slack and our RPA initiative, processing refunds could take weeks. Customers were experiencing long wait times. Now, we’re wrapping them up in just three to five days,” said Mark Munsayac, PAL AVP for Customer Experience.

The impact has been huge: PAL’s customer satisfaction (CSAT) score skyrocketed from 60% to 90%, a win for both passengers and employees.

Before Slack and our RPA initiative, processing refunds could take weeks. Customers were experiencing long wait times. Now, we’re wrapping them up in just three to five days.

Mark Munsayac

AVP for Customer Experience, Philippine Airlines

The next step in collaboration: Slack AI

PAL isn’t stopping there. As the first airline in Asia Pacific to pilot Slack AI, it’s taking customer service to the next level. Slack AI will help the team automate repetitive tasks, resolve issues faster, and free up employees to focus on what matters most: creating a great customer experience.

“With Slack AI, we’re excited to create workflows that are faster, smarter, and make life easier for our employees and our passengers,” said Ria Vidal, the Chief Information Officer at PAL.

The results are in

Refund processing time: Down from weeks to just three to five days
Customer Satisfaction Score: Up from 60% to 90%
Response time: Personalised acknowledgments sent in under 24 hours

With the combination of Slack’s real-time collaboration features and Slack AI and PAL’s focus on end-to-end process improvements, Philippine Airlines is setting a new standard for customer service in the aviation industry.

With Slack AI, we’re excited to create workflows that are faster, smarter, and make life easier for our employees and our passengers.

Ria Vidal

Chief Information Officer, Philippine Airlines

Philippine Airlines transform customer service with Slack

Service Cloud integration and case swarming in Slack speed
Real-time collaboration between finance ops and customer service

90 %

Customer Satisfaction Score, up from 60%

3-5 days

to process refunds, down from weeks