Skift Aviation Forum Video: Reimagining the Modern Retailing Experience
Skift Take
Key Points
- Airlines need to modernize retailing by focusing on data utilization, technology integration, and AI decision-making.
- There is a gap between AI enthusiasm and practical ROI, with 67% of executives seeing AI as vital, but only 38% able to track measurable returns.
- A hybrid approach, combining external technologies with in-house talent, is recommended for effectively aligning AI solutions with airline needs.
Summary
The Skift Aviation Forum video discusses the importance of modernizing airline retailing by focusing on data utilization, technology integration, and AI decision-making. Despite high enthusiasm for AI, airlines face challenges in achieving measurable ROI from AI initiatives. A hybrid approach that leverages external technologies while maintaining in-house talent is suggested to better align AI solutions with specific airline needs. The panel also highlights the changing consumer expectations influenced by personalized experiences from companies like Netflix and Amazon.
This sponsored content was created in collaboration with a Skift partner.
In this video:
- Modernizing airline retailing: Improving the customer experience requires addressing issues such as data utilization, technology integration, and recognizing the importance of AI in decision-making.
- Closing the gap between theory and practice: Airlines face a gap between the enthusiasm for the possibilities of AI and the ability to use it to its full potential. A recent Skift and FLYR survey found that 67 percent of aviation executives see AI as “very important” to their commercial success over the next 5 years, but only 38 percent “strongly agree” that they are able to track a measurable ROI to initiatives utilizing AI solutions.
- A hybrid approach: It’s critical for airlines to take more control over how decisions are distributed and foster a cultural shift that prioritizes investment in talent and skills. A hybrid approach, where businesses leverage external technologies but maintain in-house talent to align AI solutions with their specific needs, may be the best path forward.
Consumer expectations for how they shop for and purchase airfares and other ancillaries are changing, influenced by the types of personalized experiences they receive from Netflix, Amazon, Google, and others. Airlines must be more deliberate about the customer data they’re collecting and utilize AI to enable better decision-making. In this environment, modernizing airline retailing requires a multifaceted approach, involving data, technology, and talent to bridge the gap between AI interest and measurable ROI.
In this Skift Aviation Forum panel discussion, Kartik Yellepeddi, vice president of product and offer and order at FLYR, and Mike Melton, principal architect at Google Cloud, spoke with Dan Marcec, research editor, SkiftX, about reimagining the airline retailing experience to alleviate the anxiety travelers often experience when booking flights and related services. Other key takeaways included the need for data-driven decision-making and the pivotal role of AI in modernizing the customer experience.
This content was created collaboratively by FLYR and Skift’s branded content studio, SkiftX.
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