How do airlines use AI?

Take Skift

It’s still early days, but most experiments with AI focus on improving customer service and increasing the efficiency of flight operations.

Rashaad Jordan

More and more travel brands—including some in the aviation industry—are looking for ways to make the most of artificial intelligence. Five aviation executives recently told Skift what AI is doing—and can do—for their companies.

What impact does AI have on airlines?

We posed the question to our artificial intelligence chatbot Ask Skift, which used information from our previous reporting and research. We’ve also written additional reports on the topic.

What Ask Skift said:

AI is having a significant impact on the aviation industry in several critical areas, leading to profound changes in operations and revenue management. Key impacts include:

Revenue management and pricing models: AI and machine learning (ML) are being used to improve revenue management processes, including better demand forecasting, advanced pricing models, and improved customer segmentation. By using AI, airlines can optimize their inventory and personalize customer offers, which is expected to open up billion-dollar opportunities.

Additional income: AI is also leading to an increase in ancillary revenue – additional revenue from services such as baggage fees, seat selection and in-flight purchases. This focus on ancillary revenue represents a multibillion-dollar opportunity for airlines to increase their overall profitability.

Customer experience: According to a survey, 61% of aviation decision makers believe AI will have the greatest impact on delivering personalized customer offers and experiences. This personalization is key to improving customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Operating efficiency: AI helps airlines manage pricing, demand and logistics more effectively, especially in today’s volatile environment. AI solutions enable airlines to leverage data for better business planning and more accurate forecasting, reduce the risk of disruptions and increase operational efficiency.

Overall sales optimization: About 23% of industry decision makers see the biggest impact of AI in optimizing overall revenue, which includes decisions on fares, ancillary services and third-party pricing. This holistic approach ensures that airlines can maximize revenue across all areas.

Overall, the use of AI and technology is expected to revolutionize the aviation industry and bring tremendous benefits to both airlines and passengers.

What else you need to know:

Waste control: Airlines are seeing AI as a means of reducing waste, particularly since carrying fewer items on board thousands of flights can save large amounts of money and benefit sustainability campaigns.

KLM is one of the airlines using AI as a means of reducing waste.

“We already have a team working on and using AI to reduce waste and weight in onboard catering,” said CEO Marjan Rintel. “We learn exactly how much to bring on board and use AI to figure out which dishes are the favorites. This allows us to customize our orders, which already reduces a lot of waste.”

United Airlines is now using AI to help travelers who are worried about missing their connecting flight. The company has implemented an AI technology called Connection Saver to give passengers information about the next step in their journey.

Connection Saver identifies departing flights that can be held back for connecting customers. The technology analyzes thousands of pieces of data in real time to answer questions such as which aircraft to hold back, where to send cabin crew, and whether aircraft need to change gates.

The tool can also send passengers who have opted to receive notifications a personalized text with details about where the gate for their connecting flight is and how long it will take to get there.

And American Airlines uses smart gating technology that automatically assigns flights to the nearest available gate to ensure planes spend less time waiting on the tarmac.

Flight operations and safety: Boeing uses AI in its Airplane Health Management system, which monitors aircraft in flight and predicts potential maintenance issues before they occur. Likewise, Airbus uses Skywise, a digital platform that uses AI to analyze flight data. Skywise can predict possible delays or technical problems and enables proactive measures to mitigate them.

loyalty Thrust: Skift reported in May that Alaska Airlines is testing an AI-powered flight search tool to help travelers in the early stages of trip planning and help them redeem loyalty points. The tool lets users ask for flight destinations based on areas of interest, such as a whale-watching beach or a wine-tasting vacation. It also lets users search for flights they can purchase with a certain number of loyalty points.

Prices and reservations: Delta Air Lines executives said last December they had begun experimenting with AI for their reservations team and to determine pricing. CEO Ed Bastian said the company hopes to use AI to shorten the time it takes customers to get answers to reservation questions, while President Glen Hauenstein said Delta had begun using AI to determine how much customers would be willing to pay on top of base prices for premium products.