Last month in Chicago, a United Airlines flight bound for London was ready to depart, but still waiting for 13 connecting passengers from Costa Rica. The airline predicted that I would miss my flight by 7 minutes. Under normal circumstances, they would all be scrambling to rebook.
But thanks to a new artificial intelligence-powered tool called ConnectionSaver, the jet was able to wait for them and arrive in London on time, check-in baggage included. The system also sent text messages to late arrival passengers and passengers on waiting jets explaining what was happening.
AI may not be able to find space for your carry-on just yet, but it can help you with the 40-gate dash, sprinting to catch your connecting flight before the door slams, and other common travel headaches. It could help put an end to the species.
It's not just United. Companies like Alaska Airlines and American Airlines are working on new AI capabilities to make it easier for passengers to fly. Airlines are also using the technology to streamline operations, such as cutting costs and saving fuel, said Helane Becker, an aviation industry analyst at investment bank TD Cowen. Many airlines develop their own programs, but if any airline's innovation is successful, it has the potential to become an industry standard.
Jitender Mohan, who works with travel and hospitality clients at technology consulting firm WNS, says AI is poised to change nearly every aspect of a customer's flying experience, from baggage tracking to personalized in-flight entertainment. He said it was done.
Fuel savings and frustration
AI has been helping Alaska Airlines dispatchers plan more efficient routes since 2021. “It's like Google Maps, but in the air,” explained Vikram Bhaskaran, the company's vice president of information technology services.
Two hours before your flight, the system considers weather conditions, airspace closures, and all commercial and private flight plans on file with the Federal Aviation Administration to suggest the most efficient route. AI takes in “more information than the human brain can process,” said Pasha Saleh, director of corporate development and pilot in Alaska.
In 2023, approximately 25% of Alaska flights will use the system to shave several minutes off flight time. These efficiencies have resulted in approximately 41,000 minutes of flight time and 500 million gallons of fuel saved, Bhaskaran said.
On the ground, American Airlines and others are working on an AI-powered system that American Airlines calls “smart gating.” It routes arriving aircraft to the closest available gate with the shortest taxiing time, and quickly determines the best alternative gate if the scheduled arrival gate is in use. All of this can save you hours of frustrating waiting on the tarmac.
American Airlines introduced smart gating at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport in 2021 and now has it at six airports, including Chicago O'Hare International Airport and Miami International Airport. The company estimates he will save 17 hours per day in taxi time and 1.4 million gallons of jet fuel annually.
Mohan said using AI as a virtual parking attendant could save up to 20% in taxiing time, with the largest airports seeing the biggest benefits.
Faster and better customer service
Rapidly evolving generative AI (think ChatGPT) is helping improve communication between airlines and passengers. At United Airlines, company-wide challenges over the past year have led to a plan to send more specific messages to passengers about the causes of delays. Jason Birnbaum, United Airlines' chief information officer, said passengers can be frustrated when flights are delayed without explanation.
But with 5,000 flights a day, Birnbaum said it was too much for staff to keep track of the necessary details, craft the right messages and send them to the right people. Generative AI can process all the data and create messages tailored to the situation. For example, a passenger who booked a United Airlines flight from San Francisco to Tucson in January received the following text with a new departure time and an apology. “Due to runway construction at San Francisco Airport, incoming flights are delayed. All airlines are requested to expedite arrivals and departures.”
A more detailed explanation will ease travelers' nervousness. Jamie Lalounis, a travel industry analyst who flies about 150,000 miles a year, said she received a text message last summer explaining that her flight from Chicago had been delayed due to a storm and related crew scheduling issues. I remembered. “After hearing the specific reason for the delay, I felt the airline had the situation under control,” he said.
Generative AI is also great at summarizing text, making it a powerful tool for reading through emails. Last year, Alaska was one of the carriers to start using AI to process customer messages more efficiently. The airline's systems “read” each email and summarize the issues raised.
“We used to process requests as they came in on a first-in, first-out basis,” Bhaskaran said, but now the system helps prioritize emails. For example, an urgent request for an upcoming flight may take priority over a complaint regarding a past flight.
The system also helps human agents decide how to respond, such as offering a voucher to a customer, and can also draft an initial written response. “You make the decisions, but it's streamlined,” Bhaskaran said.
Although AI offers many benefits to airlines and passengers, the technology still has some drawbacks. First, they don't always provide accurate information. In 2022, an Air Canada chatbot falsely promised travelers that if they booked a full-fare ticket to a relative's funeral, they would receive a bereavement fare after the fact. When he filed the small claims lawsuit, Air Canada tried to argue that the bots were their own separate entity and were “responsible for their actions,” but the court ruled Air Canada was responsible. He admitted and was ordered to pay approximately $800 in damages and fees.
Still, as AI develops and airlines compete to find even more ways to use it, passengers could potentially reap even more benefits. “As a customer and as a business person, this is one of the biggest technological disruptions in the last five to eight years,” Mohan said.
