In the news: Providing a “seamless” travel experience and ensuring customer satisfaction across all touch points of a journey seem to be the focus of many airlines, which are implementing solutions and entering partnership to do just that. Featured – the Amadeus-Adobe tie-up, SITA’s bag tracking technology, Scoot-Quantrics partnership
Distribution: Amadeus-Adobe partnership brings improved airline experience to travellers
Personalised experience via video screen on back of aircraft seat. (Image credit: egdigita/iStock-Getty Images)
Amadeus has formed a partnership with Adobe to enhance the experience airlines deliver to their customers via their digital channels.
Through the tie-up Amadeus has combined its solutions and Adobe Experience Cloud, enabling airlines to deliver digital experiences to travellers across devices and at any point throughout their journey.
John Lonergan, Amadeus’ director digital, airlines, said the collaboration would open opportunities for airlines to deliver personalised experiences to travellers across any digital channel – laptop, iPad, smartphone or even a video screen on the back of an aircraft seat.
“The sky’s the limit as to what this partnership will bring to our shared airline customers,” he added.
Julie Hoffmann, head of industry strategy and marketing – travel at Adobe, added the company’s aim was to create and deliver engaging experiences to all touchpoints, “… and this partnership with Amadeus will enable us to integrate further with airline brands and take that experience to the next level.”
While both companies said they were working with airlines to leverage this partnership the joint capabilities of their technology, they did not reveal further details on how they are doing this or how airlines will bring these experiences to their customers.
Earlier this month Sabre signed a similar deal with Microsoft to expand its cloud-based services, which sees the migration of its commercial applications to Microsoft Azure.
Travel Technology: More airlines are using BagJourney to manage baggage
More airlines are using BagJourney to ensure prompt delivery of baggage. (Image credit: bibiphoto/iStock-Getty Images
Airlines are putting the prompt delivery of their customers’ baggage and lessening the incidence of delayed or lost luggage as one of their priorities in their service delivery, leading to more companies using SITA’s BagJourney.
The global air transport IT provider said an increasing number of airlines are using its technology to manage baggage, with 20+ airlines choosing this solution in the first six months of this year alone.
BagJourney is one of the key technologies helping the industry meet the IATA Resolution 753 requirement to track every stage of every bag’s journey. To meet the conditions of this resolution airlines must track every item of baggage at four key points in the journey: at check-in, loading onto the aircraft, transfer and arrival.
SITA said the biggest challenge airlines and airports face tracking baggage is scanning at the point of transfer and on arrival. Typically these are not areas of the airport where scanning was done, so they require attention and new infrastructure. The bag solution permanently tracks and, in situations where they are mishandled, the service makes it easier to quickly recover and reunite them with their owners.
Peter Drummond, director of baggage solutions at SITA, said IATA’s resolution has brought a sharp focus on the potential for further improvements in baggage management. The company is working with its industry partners to develop new economical infrastructure enhancements for BagJourney.
“These offer the choice of handheld devices for scanning or scanning arches that are quick to install. Each airline and airport has different needs, so we have ensured that the various hardware options are easily integrated into our BagJourney solution for fast implementation.”
Airlines: Customer satisfaction is on top of Scoot’s mind
More satisfaction for Scoot’s guests (Image credit: Corinne Wan)
Scoot, the low cost arm of Singapore Airlines, has enlisted the service of experience management platform Qualtrics to accelerate its customer experience by better understanding and reducing customers’ pain points on their journey.
The airline aims to improve its business operations, from delivering a check-in process to handling last minute flight changes and ensuring staff members are friendly to the passengers.
Qualtrics collects customer feedback from multiple sources and delivers actionable, real-time insights on a single unified platform using artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities. This enables the airline’s employees to prioritise and optimise service delivery for its customers quickly wherever they are.
Scoot is gathering customer insights, initially through post-flight feedback, to learn which customer touchpoints require improvement, and then arms their teams with the tools to make an impact.
Vinod Kannan, Scoot chief commercial office, said the focus on customer service was also to change traveller’s often-held perception that low-cost carriers offer minimal service quality. “In this customer-centric world, price is no longer a sole differentiator. As such, we have identified as a key area of focus for the business moving forward.”
Foo Mao Gen, head of Southeast Asia, Qualtrics, noted that airlines could no longer afford to compete on just price “due to rising competition and increasing pressure to keep flights affordable”, adding that “delivering a positive travel experience has become a key differentiator for airlines.”
• Featured image credit: skaman306iStock-Getty Images
