Being offered cash at the fate to avail of a later flight due to overbooking might end up a rare occurrence if technology being examined by major airlines including JetBlue, Qantas and British Airways catches on fast.
Several airlines continue to regularly overbook flight owing to a small number of passengers who fail to show up.
And if the airplanes are overloaded, they look for volunteers change flights prior to boarding, usually in exchange for cash. A platform that was developed by Atlanta-based travel technology company Volantino would be identifying passengers who are most likely to be flexible about their flights and let airlines contact them before they are about to depart.
The carrier can then offer an alternative seat in addition to incentives like travel vouchers or an upgrade.
Azim Barodwala who is the CEO of Volantio mentioned that anybody who chooses to its system can be easily contacted. Machine learning algorithms would be utilizing data such as information that is available on the flight list to help determine which types of passengers might be ready to change.
He told media that there are huge privacy concerns over who can be contacted.
The partners with whom they have worked till date have a setting in their marketing permissions that permit them to reach out to them. This technology also implies that airlines can potentially shift passengers from high demand flights and free up tickets for last-minute travellers who are prepared to pay a premium.
Barodwala then went on to assert that the new technology would offer airlines the ability to generate some additional revenue while making two other parties better off.
Volantino said this week that it was able to raise US$2.6 million in a funding round that was led by Ingleside Investors that represents the interests of the New York-based Israel family. Ant they also involve BA-owner International Airlines Group, JetBlue and Qantas.
Tags: Azim Barodwala, JetBlue, qantas, Volantino
