Debasis Ray’s Post

With all the recent news from the Airlines regarding ongoing maintenance issues, and the continuing efforts to manage crew and operations to get passengers safely to their destinations learn why now is a great time to consider adopting a Unified Real Time Data Platform to mitigate risk and streamline data driven insights. Take a look at the below article to learn more! #RealTimeData #InMemoryComputing #realtimeanalytics #digitaltransformation

Unified Real-Time Data Platforms offer tremendous benefits for airlines, from managing crew schedules and operations to the predictive maintenance of aircrafts to keep passengers safely in the air. This article outlines how this powerful technology can be leveraged to ensure the smooth sailing of travelers around the globe. https://hubs.la/Q02pvzBj0 #InMemoryComputing #RealTimeData #RealTimeAnalytics #DigitalTransformation

AI is already being used by airlines to streamline and enhance their operations, per The NY Times article linked below. Highlights: 1) Last month in Chicago, a United Airlines jet bound for London used AI-powered app ConnectionSaver to allow 13 passengers on a late-arriving flight from Costa Rica to avoid missing the connection. It also allowed for transfer of their checked luggage, while still delivering an on time arrival in London. 2)Various airlines, including United, Alaska and American are working on new AI capabilities to make passenger travel easier, and per TD Cowen analyst Helene Becker, “carriers are also using the technology to reduce costs and streamline operations.” 3) Jitender Mohan of tech consulting company WNS notes that “A.I. is poised to change almost every aspect of the customer flying experience, from baggage tracking to personalized in-flight entertainment.” 4) A.I. has been helping Alaska Airlines plan more efficient routes since 2021. As Alaska VP Vikram Baskaran, says,”It’s like Google maps, but in the air.” 2 hours before scheduled departure, “the system reviews weather conditions, any airspace that will be closed, and all commercial and private flight plans registered …to suggest the most efficient route. The A.I. takes in ‘an amount of information no human brain could process,’ said Pasha Saleh (Alaska’s) corporate development director.” 5) In 2023, about 25 % of Alaska flights used this system to shave a few minutes off flight times—and save about half a billion gallons of fuel. 6) American has introduced the Smart Gating system at six airports, which sends “arriving aircraft to the nearest available gate with the shortest taxiing time, and if the scheduled arrival gate is in use, quickly determining the best alternate gate….The airline estimates it saves 17 hours a day in taxi time and 1.4 million gallons of jet fuel a year.” 7) “Last year, Alaska was among the carriers that began using A.I. to handle customer messages more efficiently. The airline’s system ‘reads’ each email and summarizes the issues raised…an urgent request involving an upcoming flight may take precedence over a complaint about a past one.” Dave’s take: This article is more than just good news for business and holiday travelers. It showcases some optimal AI use cases-where, for instance, crunching more data than a human brain can manage can lead to greater efficiency and smoother operations. Disruptions to industries caused by AI may lead to some job loss, but where it will have the greatest impact is where it can do with ease what people simply can’t. Or where it can, as in this article, set the table in a given situation for a customer service rep, but still let a person decide how to best handle the issue, with a human touch. https://lnkd.in/gUUbWfZZ

Recent anomalies—such as the door blowing out on an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 jet or a tire falling off of a United flight—are scaring passengers, Charlie Warzel writes. But flying has, historically, never been safer. Globally, the odds of a passenger dying on a flight from 2018 to 2022 were 38 times lower than they were 50 years earlier. So what’s behind air travel’s current image crisis? https://lnkd.in/emxr6vin One issue is that the experience of flying is worse than ever, Warzel argues. Although flight demand has crept up to near pre-pandemic levels, staffing has not leveled with it; partially because of the pandemic, roughly 10,000 pilots have left the commercial airline industry, adding to to shortages of mechanics and air traffic controllers. “Pile on unruly passengers, system outages, baggage fees, carry-on restrictions, meager drink and snack offerings, and … merely coexisting with other travelers who insist on lining up at the gate 72 hours before their zone boards and you have a perfectly combustible situation.” “Then there is the second factor: vibes,” Warzel writes. Ominous flight videos are going viral on social media; algorithmic bias may show the videos even to users who are not specifically seeking out the genre. An uptick in interest in these stories can lead to an increase in their coverage, which can make routine issues feel more prevalent. “This distortion—between public perception of an issue (planes are getting less safe!) and the more boring reality (they’re actually very safe)—is exacerbated by the intensity and density of information. It is a modern experience to stumble upon a meme, theory, or narrative and then see it in all of your feeds,” Warzel continues. “Today’s air-travel anxiety sits at the intersection of these vibes, anecdotes, legitimate and troubling news reports, and the algorithmic distortion of the internet, creating a distinctly modern feeling of a large, looming problem, the exact contours of which are difficult to discern.” 📷: Dennis Stock / Magnum

AI applications in the airline industry in terms of savings via flight routes, scheduling, baggage handling, and customer service provide incremental savings and efficiency that can add up. "In 2023, about 25 percent of Alaska flights used this system to shave a few minutes off flight times. Those efficiencies added up to about 41,000 minutes of flying time and half a million gallons of fuel saved, Mr. Baskaran said." "American introduced Smart Gating at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport in 2021 and now employs it at six airports, including Chicago O’Hare and Miami International. The airline estimates it saves 17 hours a day in taxi time and 1.4 million gallons of jet fuel a year." "But tracking the details required, composing an appropriate message and sending it to the right people for 5,000 flights a day would be too much for the staff to handle, Mr. Birnbaum said. Generative A.I. can process all that data and create messages tailored to conditions. " https://lnkd.in/gr78rhpz

Can you imagine changing something so engrained in your identity after 50 years, based on Customer Sentiment? In the case of ✈ Southwest Airlines, the move to change seat selection policies made headlines and since we personally fly SW a lot this definitely got my attention. Customer sentiment-based decisions may improve the overall SW flying experience for customers AND bring more revenue to the company, which is a huge driver for change. Seating based pricing models, and "unbundling" are expected to boost per-flight fees, and improve the bottom line. When the sentiment data was collected has not been shared as broadly (like was it over years, months, or other). But, I will bet it took a year like 2024, with reduced revenues for SW, for the change become reality. This harkens back to 2023 for me, when many Tech companies continued on their roadmaps when the world around them was crumbling. Taking time to consider what customers needed then, could have reduced churn for many, and maybe organically grown businesses for some. Want to continue the conversation? DM me or comment below! ----- Read on to learn more about this change....Article below by Bill Murphy and Inc. Magazine

Self-destruction via flawed market research Just got done reading an email from the CEO of Southwest Airlines claiming that a large proportion of customers prefer assigned seating. Who did this research? You got taken Bob. Of course people prefer assigned seats, but what proportion of your customers will pay the $25 (or so) for Early Bird boarding? Seems that it's a very small number in my experience of flying SWA 6+ times a year for more than a decade. There is also a bump up fee for priority boarding or other such non-sense. I almost never see people in that boarding group. You run literally millions of these experiments every day and already know the truth. Most people are NOT willing to pay more for an assigned seat. They want to get to the destination asap with minimal noodling around at the gate. That's it. There is a 50 year old technique called conjoint analysis that would have told you the exact same thing if you did not trust your own pricing and booking data. It's not that hard to do for a qualified market research company. This seemingly simply change will cause untold havoc in your operations. Your software was suspect before with a simple pricing model. This will make it worse. Your planes will be delayed due to issues with overhead space, etc. All of your training from gate check-in folks to customer service will have to be re-done. These are just a few of the nightmares in store for you and your company. I hope you thought about that (I'm betting you did not). The problem is too few pilots, planes, flight attendants, ground crew personnel, etc. You are just making it worse. This inane decision may supplant, "New Coke" as THE cautionary tale of how top managers misuse market research to get the (wrong) answers they want. Congratulations! Your name will be known by MBAs for the next 40 years. Unfortunately, not for the reasons you had hoped.

Looking for a brief summary of success stories in the making on the topic of airlines deploying modern examples of "artificial intelligence"?   Julie Weed's story for today's New York Times will probably satisfy your needs:   https://lnkd.in/gMcygHHk   My only quibble with Weed's story is there is no actual detail about the path knowledge transfer took between a decision to build and replace solutions already in place with ConnectionSaver and the other examples in the story and the finished product.   Was the whole process an internal matter, meaning top level information technology (IT) management coming up with the notion to go forward, with the delivery based on internal developers? Or were consulting businesses included in the knowledge transfer effort?   Weed does mention one consulting business - WNS, but I think there are other consulting businesses working with the airlines Weed mentions - United Airlines, American Airlines, Alaska Air.   What do other readers think?   #artificialintelligence #thenewyorktimes #unitedairlines #aiimplementers

Analysis: How Flight Upgrades Have Evolved Over The Years https://lnkd.in/e4RWRjZE

Whilst some airlines have yet to attempt any use of any kinds of dynamic offers, a number of global airlines have invested millions in new technology to deliver more than just dynamic prices. They are generating truly dynamic offers that include ancillaries and other product elements. During these times, airlines cannot just rely on its existing rules-based offer systems for enabling dynamic offers - they need to build out their own data science capabilities or engage with vendors who can work with these very large data sets. This also requires more micro-segmented data with additional context to drive personalised, dynamic offers. Read the full article and gain insights on https://lnkd.in/gS2aiKn7 #ATI #ATIBusinessGroup #TravelUpdate #TravelNews #AirlineIndustry #AirlineNews #Airlines #GlobalAirlines #Aviation #AviationIndustry