“Airlines
expect to carry some 3 billion passengers in 2013. And that number
will double by 2030. Connectivity is a critical component of modern
economies. Serving that growing demand will require innovation. We
need to understand what consumers expect and what they value enough
to pay for. Aviation is team effort. And that is a challenge for all
industry stakeholders. Travel agents, airports, air
navigation service
providers, regulators, manufacturers, ground service providers,
global distribution systems (GDSs) and many others must work together
to make each passenger journey as safe, secure, seamless and
convenient as possible,” said Tony Tyler, IATA’s Director General
and CEO. Tyler made his comments in an address to the World Passenger
Symposium which opened in Abu Dhabi, United
Arab Emirates today.
Tyler
highlighted three priority areas for cooperation to create a more
seamless and more interactive modern travelexperience:
•
Simplifying
airport processes with Fast Travel
•
Implementing
a Checkpoint of the Future (CoF) for passenger security
•
And
developing a New Distribution Capability in line with modern
retailing practices
Fast Travel:
IATA is working with industry stakeholders to implement self-service
options with its Fast Travel program. This gives passengers
more control over their airport experience in six key processes:
check-in, bag check, traveldocument scanning, boarding, flight
re-booking and baggage tracing. “IATA’s Global Passenger Survey
reveals that 52% of travelers are eager to print out their own bag
tags at home and 77% would prefer to use a self-boarding gate at an
airport. Fast Travel responds to these and other consumer
demands for more control over their journey,” said Tyler.
“Our
2020 vision is for a fast, seamless curb to airside experience that
is predictable, repeatable, secure and globally consistent. An
important component of that vision is ubiquitous one-click access to
Wi-Fi at airports. This will enabletravel services providers to
exchange data in real-time with passengers,” said Tyler. Such
interaction will provide a channel to provide passengers with options
to add value to their journey as well as facilitating a smoother
process when there are delays or other irregularities.
CoF:
The CoF project will enable a walk-through security checkpoint
experience without stopping, removing items of clothing and liquids,
or taking computers out of bags. “CoF will replace today’s
one-size-fits-all approach to screening with a model based on risk
assessment. By focusing resources where
the need is greatest we will make the system more secure and reduce
the hassle for our customers,” Tyler said. According to IATA’s
Global Passenger Survey, queuing time is the most frequent complaint
with security.
Key
to achieving the goals of CoF is the use of passenger information
that is already required by many governments for purposes of customs
and immigration.
This could be supplemented with voluntary known traveler programs.
“Sharing information about passengers is a sensitive subject, but
our Passenger Survey shows that nearly three out of four air
travelers would be willing to share personal information with
governments to speed up security screening,” Tyler said.
CoF
is moving forward in a staged approach. The initial focus is on
making today’s checkpoints more efficient through such steps as
introducing dedicated known traveler lanes, which can increase
efficiency by up to 30%. Trials of specific CoF components are
currently being carried out and Tyler urged airports, security
regulators and equipment providers to join together to identify
candidate airports for the first CoF trial in 2014.
New
Distribution Capability: Tyler also cited the need for a New
Distribution Capability (NDC) to enable the industry to offer more
options to customers and to reach them seamlessly regardless of
distribution channel. “The internet economy has fundamentally
reshaped the ways in which sellers and consumers interact. Customers
expect to be recognized when they shop online. And they are used to
receiving tailored offerings based on their past purchasing behavior.
Airlines are able to participate in this new model with those
customers purchasing directly from their websites. They can recognize
return visitors and make offers based on travel history,
loyalty status, credit card brand or other metric. And customers have
complete visibility of additional products and services on offer,”
said Tyler.
About
40% of ticket sales by value come through airline websites. The rest
is sold indirectly via travel agents using GDSs. As a
result, it is impossible for the airline to tailor its offer to these
customers. Furthermore, this model is focused only on finding the
lowest ticket price which is commoditizing air travel even
as airlines innovate their products.
“Airlines
are trying to escape the commoditization trap through
differentiation, and merchandizing. They are developing products and
services, such as special meals, expedited boarding, roomier seats
and access to airport lounges. But the travel agent sees
only fare codes—F, J, Y and their various derivatives—which
cannot fully describe options available. Customers expect more. The
solution is
the NDC powered by open XML standards. This will enable innovation in
the way airline products are distributed. One key outcome will be
closing of the gap between airlines and their customers so that
customized offers can be made to travelers even
through travel agents,” said Tyler.
IATA’s
role is to lead the industry to adopt a new, modern infrastructure
that will accommodate more choices for personalized travel offers,
provide the foundation for the development of efficient tools for
agents and lower the overall cost of distribution. To this end, IATA
will propose a roadmap and business case for the NDC. “We expect to
complete the
Standards definition
next year. Then competition and travelers’ needs will guide
airlines, agents, system providers and new entrants with tremendous
opportunities for innovation. Forty years after the birth of the
current distribution paradigm, we have an opportunity for a
revolution in airline retailing,” said Tyler.
