The airline industry has operated using technical standards like tickets, Passenger Name Records (PNRs) and Electronic Miscellaneous Documents (EMDs) for decades. These standards helped the industry globalise and interoperate, with a generation of technology specifically designed around these standards and operating processes, including our own Altéa Departure Control System (DCS).
Altéa DCS is used by ground handlers to perform core processes like check-in, bag drop and boarding as well as weight and balance calculations to ensure luggage is optimally loaded in the hold.
But things are beginning to change.
Moving to new offer and order standards
In a drive to provide a better service and to grow incremental revenues, airlines are transforming to become retailers as part of an industry-wide initiative. A new generation of industry standards more akin to those used by online retailers, like Amazon and Netflix, will gradually be adopted on an airline-by-airline basis. An entirely new generation of technology is being built around these new standards.
Instead of rigid fare classes and tickets, airlines will make personalised offers to the traveller including a bundle of services based on the passenger’s anticipated need and a price point based around market dynamics. These offers are also expected to contain more content beyond flights, like hotels, transfers and destination activities, helping the airline to secure additional revenue.
Once the passenger has purchased an offer, a single order will be created. This order contains the passenger’s entitlements in a single record, which can be made available to key stakeholders as the traveller progresses through their journey. This centralisation promises to greatly simplify information management and exchange, providing the foundation to improve the service provided to travelers.
Amadeus has already signed agreements with four airlines (Air France – KLM, British Airways, Finnair and Saudia) to adopt Amadeus Nevio, our new generation of airline retailing technology. Work is already well underway with these airlines to transform their commercial and operational processes.
The role of Delivery Management Systems (DMSs)
It’s all-very-well retailing a personalised offer and efficiently housing it as an order, but how do we then ensure the correct services are fulfilled for the traveller? That’s where Delivery Management Systems come in. DMSs will gradually replace today’s DCSs.
Delivery systems sit at the heart of an airline’s operations, interfacing with commercial systems like offer and order management as well as airport touchpoints, to coordinate multiple processes like order processing (preparing the services and facilitating customer service), and logistics planning (ensuring services are available and that the passenger receives them). In short, they manage the passenger’s experience ‘on the ground’.
DMSs also monitor the delivery status of the various items contained in the passenger’s order e.g. seats, bags, lounge access as well as other air and beyond-air services, which is crucial for improving performance and the customer’s experience.
Improvements to the passenger experience
From a technological standpoint, this new retailing technology will be based on more open and modern architecture that makes data available when and where it’s needed to enhance the passenger’s experience. It provides the opportunity to re-think and improve many aspects of the air travel experience. Modern DMSs will enable a number of important new capabilities:
- Grow revenue with personalised retailing
- Arrive at the airport 'ready to fly' with no need to check-in
- Travellers will be instantly recognised across the entire journey (journey code)
With the journey code as an enabler, travellers will no longer need traditional static boarding passes, hotel and car reservation documents. These are replaced by dynamic information provided to the customer, covering their entitlements, baggage status, next steps in their journey and embedded retailing options. Simple examples would be reflecting a gate or seat change and including wayfinding information at the airport.
What next?
The transition to become retailers will take a number of years, with each airline choosing when and how it transforms. Early adopter airlines that have shared timelines anticipate it will take more than five years to fully transition their airlines away from traditional standards and technology. In the meantime, it’s important that all industry stakeholders understand this major change, it’s implications and the opportunities it will bring to operate more efficiently, with the traveler at the center. If you are interested in learning more about this change, Amadeus' latest white paper provides additional detail, which is available for download below.
Also, see this full exclusive commentary in the April edition of Ground Handling International.
