Cape Air elevates customer service to deliver personalized, high-touch journeys

Overview: For customers living in rural communities and underserved locations, Cape Air is more than an airline—it’s a lifeline to medical care, vital services, and dream vacations. By unifying communications on the 8x8 Platform for CX, including 8x8 Work and 8x8 Contact Center, Cape Air has redefined how it engages with passengers. With fully remote teams and integrated customer touchpoints, the airline now delivers seamless, intimate flying experiences that boost loyalty and drive operational efficiency.

“When our passengers travel with us, I want them to feel special with an intimate flying experience like no other—one so enjoyable that they will want to do it again and again. Our 8x8 communications platform fully aligns with that vision.”

Tom Rocharz

Director of Contact Centers, Cape Air

Building loyalty through personal servicelink to this section

Based in Hyannis, Massachusetts, Cape Air operates in 36 destinations across the U.S. and the Caribbean. The airline is a vital connector, linking rural communities with essential services like medical care, legal and financial support, as well as offering memorable vacation travel. Director of Contact Centers, Tom Rocharz, plays a central role in shaping its distinctive, customer-first culture.

“In high school, my friend was taking aviation courses, so I joined him and instantly fell in love with the industry,” says Tom. “The best part of my job is collaborating across departments and doing things outside the norm.”

When legacy tech held them backlink to this section

One of Tom’s biggest adventures has been helping to transform employee and customer communications as part of a hybrid work model. The starting point was escaping a legacy on-premises Toshiba system that had been unsupported for years.

“We’d lost key features such as callback and call recording,” recalled Tom. “Our IT team worked tirelessly to keep the old system alive, sourcing spare parts on eBay. At one point, we couldn’t even buy replacement parts.”

Emerging from the pandemic, Cape Air was determined to bounce back stronger than before. That meant finding a new contact center and phone system within the same solution with one vendor relationship to manage.

“Cape Air did a wonderful job, so we didn't have to furlough our pilots and staff,” notes Tom. “When we were coming out the other side, it was essential that the new communications platform enabled us to rapidly resume service, with virtually all-remote contact center teams and zero downtime.”

A trusted partner for long-term growthlink to this section

With support from partner ARG, the airline evaluated several providers including Cisco, Five9, RingCentral and Evolve before selecting 8x8.

“We needed a solution that would flex with us,” Tom explains. “8x8 checked every box—price, reliability, scalability. They are a true business partner and, three years on, we still enjoy that close relationship.”

Recharging communications for office, airport, and contact center stafflink to this section

Cape Air successfully deployed 8x8 Work across its global workforce in all locations, combined with 8x8 Contact Center to empower agents serving internal and external customers.

“We completed a phased migration in under a month,” adds Tom. “Starting with our contact centers, headquarters, and airports in the northeast. Then we expanded 8x8 across Midwest, Montana, and Caribbean operations. People immediately noticed that their conversations sounded so much better.”

Among many new features enjoyed by office and airport users are softphones and a mobile app that allows them to take calls on the go. They also have more productive conference room meetings now that 8x8 Voice for Microsoft Teams connects Polycom phones to familiar tools used at their desks.

Remote service, real-time supportlink to this section

With most contact center agents now working remotely, 8x8 has enabled higher flexibility and faster onboarding.

“Our attrition rate has fallen by 80%, and a lot of that is down to flexible working. Retaining experience and knowledge allows our contact centers to handle calls faster.”

Tom Rocharz

Director of Contact Centers, Cape Air

While work-life balance has certainly improved, the 8x8 cloud-based platform helped Cape Air overcome obvious challenges arising from people no longer physically being in the same room.

Now, managers can make fast adjustments to call flows or audio prompts in about 30 seconds. It also includes barge, monitor, and whisper functions that speed up training for new joiners, as well as 8x8 Analytics that help agents uncover valuable insights for service improvements and then quickly pull that data into the CRM system via third-party integrations.

Importantly, quality monitoring allows supervisors to spot situations that might need extra assistance, ensuring agents don't feel alone or stranded.

“We maintained that office camaraderie—it’s just digital now with Teams calls and chat,” adds Tom. “Whether it’s sharing what’s on your mind or swapping stories, that connection matters.”

Exceptional service, every step of the journeylink to this section

Empowered by 8x8, Cape Air’s dedicated service teams expertly orchestrate operations across various customer touchpoints—from booking flights to alerting customers of changes. More than just a carrier for leisure travel, Cape Air is a community lifeline, delivering service with a personal touch.

“People fly across the world every day,” says Tom. “What makes Cape Air different is we only operate nine-seater aircraft out of small, rural airports. When our passengers travel with us, I want them to feel special with an intimate flying experience like no other—one so enjoyable that they will want to do it again and again. Our 8x8 communications platform fully aligns with that vision.”

Handling 50 to 100 calls daily, a fully remote, internal-facing helpdesk troubleshoots equipment and system issues that may be impacting passenger onboarding, ticketing, or ground operations.

The customer-facing team focuses on passenger concerns such as ticket bookings, changing or canceling reservations, and lost baggage. They manage up to 500 calls daily, either from Cape Air ticket offices or remotely from home.

Soaring KPIs and service improvementslink to this section

There are lots of things that the airline’s customer service teams can do now that they could not do before.

“Having a customized transcription search tool that tracks aviation-specific words and turns that data into actionable metrics has been massive,” says Tom. “Also, we now make fact-based business decisions for expanding and scaling back service offerings, backed by wrap codes that have been assigned to interactions.”

With new visibility into call data and analytics, Cape Air has been able to fine-tune its operations for better efficiency and service. For example, by adjusting IVR prompts and callback flows, the airline cut duplicate callbacks by 90%. Since leaving its on-premises system, Cape Air has also seen 90% fewer abandoned calls, an 85% faster average speed of answer, a 95% reduction in hold time, and an 8% drop in handle time. Combined with an 80% decrease in attrition, these gains reflect the value of retaining experienced agents who can serve customers more effectively.

Lifting off with digital serviceslink to this section

Cape Air is expanding beyond calls and moving away from email towards an online portal experience, assisted by web chat and SMS text updates.

“A great customer experience builds loyalty and trust. We want to make sure that we are proactive in solving issues and prove to the community that we are there to support them."

Natalia Xavier

Manager of Reservations and Customer Support, Cape Air

To progress that plan for 24-hour digital services, the airline is currently piloting conversational AI powered by 8x8 Intelligent Customer Assistant. “8x8 ICA allows us to easily transpose our voice gateway over to web chat and other text-based digital channels in the future,” explains Tom.

General inquiries currently account for around 75% of calls. The goal is to automate these basic information requests and get customers the help they need—faster and with consistent answers—in the process freeing up agents to respond to demand spikes and more urgent matters.

“There will always be weather delays or maintenance issues,” Tom says. “But what really matters is the trust and care we show passengers every step of the way. 8x8 helps us deliver on that promise.”