siliconindia | | December 20199them book a ride, and even suggest nearby points of inter-est to help brighten their post-disembarkation time.· Airlines can also use AI to personalize and smooth each individual's airport experience in other ways. For example, they can analyze customer data to provide booking assis-tance and appealing loyalty rewards. By interacting with customers at various points in their journey ­ preflight, in-flight, and post-flight ­ they can deliver actionable offers at exactly the right time. For customers, this can lessen some of the pain points of air travel. Customer data can also be analyzed in the aggregate, allowing airlines and airports to make informed decisions about how to keep their custom-ers happy.· Some airlines have equipped the cabin crew with a data analytics app that provides detailed information on the pas-sengers sitting in each seat. In flight and during the board-ing process, this info can be used to make seating changes and tailor offers to each per-son's tastes.As technology continues to explode, we can expect to see new ways that airlines can use AI, ML, and IoT to continually improve their customers' journey. But what about the industry's `inside' ­ operations, mainte-nance, fuel savings, and others. Reshaping Aviation from the InsideAirlines are also using cutting-edge technology to improve the safety, reliability, and economy of their internal opera-tions:· Although it's not something most passengers think about, employee scheduling is vital to flight safety. Crew mem-bers' qualifications and previous travel (e.g. between mul-tiple time zones), work regulations, flight type, fuel usage, and even flight route all have to mesh; pilots and flight at-tendants have to meet specific regulatory requirements for time off and maximum working hours; all of this and more has to go into the schedule. Using AI to process informa-tion and uncover hidden insights is a tremendous boon to those responsible for safe scheduling.· On the ground and in the air, machine sensors transmit a wealth of data that can be used to plan predictive maintenance, analyze aircraft performance, and fine-tune fuel management. This not only makes flights safer, it also makes them more economical. Even the in-flight food supply can be optimized for each journey so that planes aren't carrying too many comestibles (or the wrong kind, which passengers won't buy). · Predictive maintenance can also be used to reduce flight cancellations by assessing when various airplane parts are likely to need replacement. By proac-tively monitoring their fleets, airlines can anticipate needed maintenance, schedule it, and reduce time-consuming, scheduling-disrupting repairs. · Machine learning techniques like time series analysis and pattern recognition can be used to help find potential flight glitches that could result in a delay or a safety incident. Avoiding these is, of course, paramount.AI and Airlines' (Data-Driven) FutureAs exciting as these applications are, they're just the be-ginning of what's coming to the aviation industry. Airlines have proven themselves very quick to recognize the ben-efits of AI, ML, and other data-driven technologies; even more importantly, they've promptly integrated these new processes into their daily operations.With the commercial aviation industry poised for more growth and change, we can expect to see AI con-tinue to play an integral part in its function. We'll see ap-plications that go beyond marketing, beyond customer experience, and beyond profitability. We'll see a shift to-wards more and greater AI applications in every aspect of the industry. IoT data can be combined with weather, airport, and navigation data to predict and minimize potential schedule problemsSudeshna Datta, Co-Founder & Executive Vice President
< Page 8 | Page 10 >