Airline passengers are likely to continue experiencing “high” levels of flight disruption for years to come, according to a new report from travel technology company Amadeus.
The research included surveys and interviews with 150 senior airline and airport leaders, and found that many in the sector believe that disruption to air travel will continue to grow over the next three years, compared to pre-COVID-19 levels. It turns out that they expect it to remain at a high level compared to 2019. , which could create a “new normal” for air travelers.
Airline schedule changes in 2023 were still about three times higher than in 2019, according to the data.
“More than half of airline and airport leaders reported experiencing greater disruption today than in 2019,” Amadeus said in the report.
“Respondents reported a wide range of reasons for the disruption, including skills shortages, adverse weather conditions and a rapid recovery in aviation demand.
“Even as the industry continues to recover from the pandemic and air traffic patterns begin to normalize, several additional factors are contributing to continued disruption.”
These factors include difficulties in retaining and recruiting employees post-pandemic, as many experienced employees have left the industry in recent years. Respondents also cited “lack of automation, decision support, and collaborative platforms,” meaning they have to make phone calls to deal with disruptions.
technology investment
The study found that 64% of airlines are investing in new technology to better respond to disruptions. The main reason for doing this is to improve the airline's public image (70%), followed by improving the passenger experience (66%), and as a means of differentiating itself from other airlines (58%). did.
Half of airport managers blamed the “lack of common technology to connect stakeholders” as the main challenge in dealing with disruptions. Also, his third of airport leaders said “last minute information from airlines” was an ongoing problem.
Amadeus said in its report that industry leaders “recognize the historic challenges caused by commercial tensions and the overall below-average way in which they are handling today's disruptions.” Stated.
The study highlighted the “siloed” nature of the aviation industry, including “competing commercial objectives, disparate IT systems and a lack of trust between aviation stakeholders.”
However, what we would like to see more of is the report, which adds: “These tensions have been put on one side and new data-sharing arrangements have been advocated to ensure that the information needed to make better decisions that improve emergency response is put where it is needed. May be helpful in obtaining information' confusion. “
One of the challenges facing the industry is that its highly regulated structure means that “the pace of change is slow and often requires regulatory buy-in.”
That said, the report revealed that the use of biometric technology at every passenger touchpoint is “rapidly accelerating.” Both airports and airlines also recognized the need to improve the way they communicated with passengers affected by the disruption.
Amadeus added in his conclusion: “Disruption may still be severe in many parts of the world today and cannot be completely avoided, but airlines, airports and ground handlers have the option to work together and do things differently. there is.
“Encouragingly, more than half of airline leaders in our Amadeus survey said they plan to implement ‘end-to-end disruption management technology’ in the next few years.”
