Post-COVID Aviation Industry Trends: Technological Strategies for Better Customer Experience
The sudden widespread of the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide has hit many industries irredeemably, aviation being one of them. The closing of international borders, cancellation of visas and overall travel bans have resulted in a huge number of cancelled flights, fewer traffic and a significant loss in revenue for the industry. On top of this, airports are now being compelled to bear added expenses of more cleaning and thorough sanitization of premises, as well as of ensuring touchless travel experience. This unfortunate situation has pushed many airports close to officially closing their commercial operations altogether.
According to a report by Airports Council International (ACI) World, the global pandemic was projected to cut down two-fifths of aviation traffic worldwide (roughly around 3.6 billion passenger) and almost fifty percent of airport revenue in the year 2020. Before COVID, the industry was predicted to garner a revenue of amount 172 Billion USD in 2020, but the aftermath of the virus can potentially cut it down by 45%, making the industry lose more than 76 Billion USD. To add to that, the potential bankruptcy of several airlines, ground handling and other service providers associated with different airport operations also pose a danger to the functioning of the entire industry.
In an asset-dependent industry like aviation, it is very difficult to adjust the fixed cost, which is usually very high, in exceptional times like this. The most immediate response to such a crisis is to reduce variable cost through shutting down infrastructural areas, delaying big expenses and handling the cost of human resources. However, this is far from being enough to help cope with the situation at hand. Airlines need to adapt other technological approaches beyond the traditional remedies to save their business.
In this respect, Quality assurance in Aviation is vital, as experienced software testers would be able to help you optimize your systems, thereby saving costs and aiding in improved user experience.
Technological strategies to consider making post-COVID redemption of business:
The main priority here is to reduce cost at every step possible. When travel is restored to normalcy after COVID, airlines need to be ready with functional strategies in place to anchor the situation the best in their favor.
The three key technological aspects that need to be considered here are:
Analytics: Real time data must be the primary weapon to be utilized in this case. Organizations need to gather and analyze all the appropriate information available on flight frequencies that would operate negative profit in the coming period. To get a precise estimate of the future loss, it is important to collect real time data on the extent of COVID-19 spread, the state-wise travel restrictions that are in place, consumer temperament and so on. Analyzing this data and using it to predict the loss helps organizations ensure that they have enough funds to operate flights and stay prepared with relevant strategies to minimize the losses.
Along with handling bookings and cancellations, analytical data also assists in getting access to interventions specific to certain locations to maximize ROI. Analytics come with something called a consumer confidence index that helps organizations understand the specifics of the general temperament of their consumer base. Judging by the data sourced from both the internal and external resources of the industry, companies can come to an understanding of how comfortable consumers are to travel at any given point in time and what will get them to start booking tickets early.
Boosting Demand: Only being prepared for post-COVID travelling rush to return is not enough to sustain the business for airlines companies. It is important to proactively create incentives that will automatically elevate demands. These stimuli can be anything from more PR, attractive new packages, and price drops. With the help of analytical data, organizations can also reach out to passengers who had cancelled future bookings and offer them customized plans according to the revenue strategies. But along with getting the sales numbers back on its feet, airlines need to adapt to new technological solutions to handle the process and push it to the back offices.
Adobe Experience Manager is one of the most powerful tools available in the market to help with this task. It assists in managing sales, virtual resources, and different contents. Post-COVID travelling would obviously put heavy emphasis on safety and sanitization, and hence passengers would be opting airlines that take care of those aspects the best. This can prove to be a great opportunity to gain new consumers if an organization can put together a unique flying experience through the help of digital tools.
Enhanced customer support: Consumers today need the sense of control over their travelling experience to be at ease while doing business with any airline. Providing them with technologies that allow them to be self-sufficient in booking, cancelling, or postponing their flight without having to depend on a third-party agent would not only make customers comfortable but also help reduce cost spent on human resources at call centers.
The next on the agenda would be to regain passenger confidence in the airlines by providing them video demonstrations at different platforms on how they handle in-flight sanitization, maintain safety during preparing in-flight meals and stay prepared to handle emergency situations.
A reputed QA organization can help you achieve the DO-178B/C compliance certification, by conducting rigorous tests to ensure your systems are safe enough for successful and comfortable flights.
Employees, especially on-board crew need to be trained anew to make them capable of handling unique health emergencies of passengers in the post-COVID period. This would call for a specific learning platform that allows itself to be updated frequently and distribute the information to all the employees of the organization at every corner of the globe.
Despite the unfortunate blow of the pandemic, the aviation industry thankfully has advanced technology at its disposal that can aid them get back on track in a cost-effective manner. Proper planning would be the priority not only to handle the lapse right now, but also to prepare for the future of flying, since the COVID crisis is expected to change the ways of our everyday life to a large extent hereafter.
