In the Air and Everywhere: Brussels Airlines’ One-Stop Shop for Vital Comms and Information

Learn how Brussels Airlines enhanced internal communication for its global workforce. See how Staffbase solutions improved community and analytics.

brussel airlines employees

Headquarters:

Brussels, Belgium

Founded:

2002

Company size:

3,000+

Industry:

Transportation

Brussels Airlines

Brussels Airlines, Belgium's largest airline and a member of the Lufthansa Group, faced the challenge of effectively communicating with their on-the-go workforce. Seeking a mobile communications solution that catered to their diverse workforce, Brussels Airlines turned to Staffbase.

Brussel Airlines’ Karina Arstanova, Digital Channels Officer, and Ilse Verhelst, Internal Communications Manager, walked us through their digital transformation.

Airline crew in uniform walking through an airport jet bridge.

Challenges

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Reach Non-Desk Workers

The majority of Brussels Airlines’ workforce is non-desk, with many of those workers travelling all over the world.

They needed a way to ensure the workers in the field got the same information as those in the offices.

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Community

Radical changes in the aviation industry during the Covid-19 pandemic had a negative impact on the sense of community among employees.

They needed a replacement for physical spaces where employees would gather and socialise.

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Connect existing channels

A key success factor was the integration of the existing intranet into the new employee app. To emphasize the cohesion of both platforms, Brussels Airlines decided to stay true to their existing approach and name the app “Sherlock” – inspired by the already existing intranet.

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Rebranding at its best

Alongside the launch of a mobile app, the project team also supported the airline’s rebranding. From day one, this created a consistent and impactful communication channel for the entire workforce. This ensured not only a cohesive color and imagery concept, but also made internal processes such as vacation requests and sick leave submissions more accessible.

We looked at a few other apps from the commercial world. After comparing the functionalities of all the apps, Staffbase came out as the best solution for us.

Brussels Airlines logo
Ilse Verhelst
Internal Communications Manager
Ilse Verhelst, Internal Communications Manager

An App That Reaches Their Dispersed Workforce

90 %

Cockpit crew registered

75 %

Maintenance and engineering staff registered

94 %

Active monthly users

Streamlining and modernising comms benefits the business at all levels

A Modern Solution

The app launch was synchronized with the airline's new branding, ensuring a cohesive and impactful introduction for employees. One of the core aims of the rebranding was to modernize and simplify internal processes — prioritizing digital solutions across the board.

The introduction of the app was central to this goal. With it, the comms team completely eliminated emails for wider internal communication, directing all operational updates, project announcements, and event information through the app.

Read more about our modern Intranet solution
Two smartphone screens showing an article about an airport tour for Brussels Airlines employees, featuring text and an image of people in an airport.

Relevant Comms First

Homepages were built for different departments to quickly communicate what’s most important to that group.

“The Ground Operations staff have a homepage called Airport Staff. Cockpit Crew and Flight Operations have a homepage called Cockpit,” Karina said. “Everyone sees their relevant information first. That's how we positioned it. We listen to what your needs are, we know what you want, and we offer you an app that will hopefully solve a lot of the issues you encounter every day.”

Dashboard interface showing a news section, quick links, and navigation menu. A highlighted event is a Town Hall meeting on February 2, 2023.

Creating a Visible Community

The introduction of a social wall within the app provided a space for employees to share their thoughts and feelings about work in a way that was visible and could be acted on by the organisation. Before the app, employees had been setting up pages on social networks such as Facebook. This change worked to foster a sense of community and helped to prevent sensitive information from being leaked externally. The app's usage extended beyond day-to-day communication, empowering employees to exchange ideas, ask questions, and share professional insights.

Collage of a koala on a plane, passengers taking photos, and flight crew posing with a koala toy.

Deep Insights

On the metrics side, Staffbase’s analytics and reporting facilitated data-driven decision-making. Data focused on engagement, such as log-ins, open rates, posts and likes, helped the communications team tailor content and continuously improve their internal comms strategy.

“With Staffbase, you can really track and trace. The first thing I do in the morning is look at the dashboards and the second thing I do is read all the comments.” - Ilse Verhelst, Internal Communications Manager, Brussels Airlines

Analytics dashboard showing new posts, visits, likes, comments, and shares with a yellow line graph indicating activity from 11/2021 to 08/2022.

Discover how this transportation leader informs and unites their workforce while increasing productivity and reducing risk.

Get the full case study
Brussels Airlines promotional image featuring a mobile app interface, an airplane tail with red dots, and a person raising arms in a hangar.

I would definitely recommend Staffbase, and I have recommended it many times already to people in other companies because of its user-friendliness. For me, it's been life-changing when it comes to communication. You can’t compare the way we communicated before — with static, boring emails — with how we are doing it today, with interactivity.

Brussels Airlines logo
Ilse Verhelst
Internal Communications Manager, Brussels Airlines
Four flight attendants in uniform stand smiling in front of an airplane.

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