Helen Massy-Beresford | Paris | Aviation Week | May 1-14, 2017:
Airlines are able to deal more efficiently with disruptions in scheduling thanks to the social media revolution. Most passengers possess smartphones and endless apps so, ideally, keeping travelers apprised (and sanguine) about delays is easy to accomplish.
But this can be a double-edged sword. “It’s really been in the last 5-7 years that smartphones have become so ubiquitous,” says Ilia Kostov, chief commercial officer of airline information technology for North America at Amadeus, a provider of disruption management tools to airlines.
“Ten years ago, if there was disruption passengers would line up at the gate in front of an agent, and it would take a long time to accommodate them one by one, even for as small a disruption as one canceled flight,” he says.
Now, more and more airlines are using not just their own apps but also social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook Messenger to communicate with customers and get them on the move again, Kostov adds. As well as being more efficient, handling re-booking via an app allows airlines to offer passengers several options for their alternative journey.
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