Innovatia

Innovation in Airlines: There are currently plans to create unmanned aircraft innovations; artificial intelligence; biom- etrics; robotics; block chain; alternative fuels and electric aircraft. These ideas would increase efficiency. Having new cutting edge technology, such as ultralight materials and autonomous devices make for a smoother, faster trip. Light- weight materials will also reduce fuel consump- tion, this along with more efficient engines will reduce pollution created by planes. AI Technology: AI is currently being used by Swiss International Airlines to boost efficiency, with more than half of their flights in their network being better op- timised. The airline saved 5 million Swiss francs ($5.4 million USD) last year due to their imple- mentation of AI. A Germany based airline called Lufthansa had a similar experience. They were able to monitor winds that blow from Switzerland and therefore they were able to better predict when the winds would result in flight delays and cancellations. The airline was able to better forecast the wind patterns, resulting in a more than a 40% improve- ment in accuracy. They were using the AI forecast model developed by Google cloud, which is help- ing airlines better predict the ‘what ifs’ that impact flights and therefore their reputation. A.I. technology is also being used in airlines today by improving “everything from how to actually schedule my people in a more efficient way, to understanding the weather conditions and being able to use that to predict when planes are going to land, and how much fuel they’re going to use,” says Warren Barkley, sen- ior director of product management at Google.

TRAVEL By Rose Lane The field of airline management is inherently complex and dynamic, spanning a range of disciplines from operational and financial manage- ment to marketing and customer service – and new technology is con- stantly reshaping these operations. Reputation matters Customers are more knowledgeable about different airlines and no longer buy tickets just based on price and schedule. More frequent flyers consider product offering, operational performance and customer service in their decisions. More people are booking directly on the airline’s website based on reviews they’ve read. Online travel agencies have evolved to suit this, they now show not only the price and schedules but also seat details, on time perfor- mance, wifi availability, seat maps, customer review scores and even environmental impacts. People are more likely to these pick higher

rated airlines. Therefore the secret to be one of the stand out airlines is building and maintain- ing a positive reputation, with high standards. Carriers that are reliably on time and have good operational performance have higher returns. Investing in reliability - as well as innovation onboard will have revenue upsides.

Barkley goes on to say that AI technology, “has the ability to look at hundreds of millions of data points and take factors that it never thought of before, or never could be used be- fore, to predict what’s going to happen.” Sensors: There is currently testing underway for sensors that will be both inside and outside of aircrafts that will connect all ‘things’ on board. There will be updates in realtime about the health of the engine and IFE system. The sensors, on aircraft seats, would provide the ability for crew to monitor individuals health and wellbeing and respond to their needs faster. The sensors will also be able to automatically detect and report faults to the maintenance teams, removing the need for crew to manually report faults.

INNOVATIA

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INNOVATIA

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