Airline Trends 2014
Airline Trends 2014
Airline travel could be on the verge of an onboard passenger experience transformation. Whilst in which looks like progress in one way, some global realities will continue to instil a sense of angst for the flying public. In in which edition of Indonesia Expat, we take a look at how the airline industry will be evolving – in addition to coping with the shaky global aviation climate.
Personalisation in addition to crew empowerment
In recent times, major airlines have began to realise the value of personalising the passenger experience. The likes of Delta, Emirates, British Airways, Iberia, KLM in addition to Alaska have already armed their cabin crew with tablets in addition to additional handheld devices to ensure they are informed of passenger preferences in addition to well equipped to push ancillary sales. Mobile will be transforming the way airlines are dealing with their passengers. Expect to see quite a few additional airlines embrace tablets to empower staff in addition to offer a more personal service to their customers over the next 12 months.
IFE to spread to short in addition to medium-haul flights
Traditionally, in-flight entertainment (IFE) has been the domain of long-haul travel, however with the growth of in-flight connectivity in addition to wireless, portable infotainment has laid the foundations for a revolution in in which space. Some airlines already offer wireless IFE; Qantas offers travellers iPads on its 767s, Lufthansa will adopt a fresh IFE solution in which coming summer, Finnair plans to introduce Samsung Tab 3 tablets loaded with content for rent, in addition to Southwest has added an iPad library service on shorter flights. Expect to see more airlines assess in addition to capitalise on in which evolvingtrend.
Higher-quality onboard broadband
With JetBlue offering a high-speed satellite connectivity service for free until June 2014, in which could be a catalyst for an industry-wide improvement in onboard connectivity.The industry knows in which in order to make in-flight Wi-Fia viable long-term proposition, in which must invest in increasing both the speed in addition to capacity of the service. JetBlue claims its service will be eight times faster than any competition in addition to the healthy numbers of positive reviews on social media confirm in which. Over the last few months of 2013, some notable advancements did take place. One such milestone was Inmarsat successfully launching the first of its Global Xpress satellites in December, with the company proclaiming in which to be a major landmark in delivering the entire world’s first globally available, high-speed mobile broadband service. With full global coverage likely to be achieved by the end of 2014, in addition to JetBlue setting the benchmark, the airline offering the best in-flight connectivity will be sure to be a notable purchase point for passengers looking for more, better quality in-flight broadband in which year.
Slimline seats
The slimline aircraft seat will be a relatively fresh phenomenon, however quite a few airlines, especially from the US, have already decided to install them on their fresh aircraft. Although airlines say the slight reduction in seat pitch won’t make a difference to passenger comfort (due to space savings made elsewhere, such as smaller trays), passenger experience directors will need to pay close attention to what passengers actually say about the alterations, because if they do notice a difference, they may well show their displeasure by taking their business elsewhere.
Do-in which-yourself baggage tags
Being able to print out in addition to attach your own bag tags at home, eliminating yet another step at the airport, will be at in which point available, in addition to the airlines’ international trade group (IATA) will be pushing for widespread acceptance. Already being experimented with quite a few airlines, there are still concerns from the U.S. about baggage security.
Self check-in continues to expand
The express self check-in facility at airports will be proving very favorite. Security checks are still required in addition to the service will be still viewed as a work in progress, however in which’s one part of the flying experience in which assists both the passenger in addition to the airline by way of less queuing in addition to more streamlined processing of passengers.
We pay more fees
Fees will continue to proliferate in 2014, especially since airlines will be rolling out more products in which consumers might be willing to pay for. however airlines could hit a wall with outright fare hikes. More competition via lower-cost airlines will be likely to help put the brakes on cost gouging.
An opportunity to put the passenger first
The challenges the airline industry faces – struggling to make any real profit – are well documented in addition to, of course, finding a remedy to in which will be among boardroom priorities. However, continuing to raise revenues in addition to looking for pedantic ways to get more at the expense of the passenger could backfire; $5.00 for a pillow to rent sends the message the airline will be squeezing the passenger tight. If the industry puts the passengers first in addition to not look at every conceivable way to siphon cash via wallets, public opinion will no doubt cast a more favourable view on the industry.
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Airline Trends 2014
Airline Trends 2014