Air travel produces mountains of information and your airline partners know how to use it. Do you?
The airlines are both generators and consumers of some of the most complicated and robust data in the travel industry – data that paints a picture of every facet of the business, from Fair Market Share to Quality Service Index to how much a seat is going to cost, and everything in between. Whatever happened to the good old days when an airfare was just an airfare and a discount was just a discount?
While it is more complicated, all this data certainly gives buyers greater insight into their airline partnerships and how they impact their overall travel program. Utilizing the Phat Data airlines now share with their corporate partners, there are three key areas where the way the relationship is managed can change.
Probably one of the most important things the airlines have done recently is offer web portals that provide travel buyers near real time data about multiple aspects of their air travel partnership. Having the ability to see how you are performing to contract on a monthly basis without waiting on a business review allows you to take action on potential contract shortfalls more quickly.
That means if a company isn’t performing, let’s say in a particular market or lane, the buyer can analyze the data and make intelligent decisions to steer travelers back to the preferred carriers for that particular market. This reduces the risk of long-term non-performance on a contract. Making course corrections as quickly as possible is imperative. This is a benefit to the both the airline and the buyer.
Another area the portals open up to buyers is the ability to monitor how the carriers are reacting to trip disruptions and understanding the quality of their product. Enabling buyers to answer questions like, How many of my travelers are experiencing disruption? How were they treated when the disruption occurred? What did the airline do to mitigate the disruption?
In addition, buyers can now control any waiver/favor funds allocating and manage them in partnership with their travel management company. It also gives them valuable insight into the ways these funds are actually being used. Access to this type of Phat Data increases the buyer’s visibility to how their TMC is performing.
While each airline manages the data presented in its online portal, the overall effect is to create increased value in the relationships by leveraging data to provide more transparency and enable buyers to manage their programs near real time. And near real time data is imperative to the success of a strong Phat Data strategy.
The NDC Conundrum While Phat Data has touched on the topic of IATA’s New Distribution Capabilities standard in previous issues, this topic needs to be recognized as a development that will have significant impact on managed travel programs. Even to this day we don’t have accurate visibility into ancillary fees, and to be honest, if the current state of affairs persists, we probably never will.
But when we think about the opportunities that NDC brings to the table with its ability to merchandise these products, it will give the industry the data boost that we have been yearning for for years.
Through NDC we will have more transparency into what is being marketed to our travelers and also have the ability to control what our travelers can and can’t book. Then we will have the ability to take that data and integrate it into the conversations and negotiations with our airline partners, creating more valuable discussions based on much more dynamic data.
NDC also creates an interesting value proposition for the TMC. Gaining more granular detail and greater insights into what travelers are selecting can help them create more personalized offerings. Whether that comes through new booking technologies or enhancements to existing technologies, travelers want personalization and any means to make the offering just that – more personalized – is a win-win for all parties.
Who’s in 5A? The last area where Phat Data plays a key role is among the airlines themselves. Major carriers are utilizing more data than ever to create better service offerings, improve amenities and to help manage their operations. Big data provides more information that can be analyzed in more meaningful ways, enabling carriers to mitigate delays and disruptions across their networks.
Good data can make weather somewhat more predictable; then it becomes a question of how the airlines use that data to reduce the impact on travelers. Data is also used to predict things like potential mechanical issues on aircraft, based on historical reports. Proactive cancellations to avoid frustrated travelers and expensive crew shuffling can benefit the airline and improve the travelers’ experience. When the airlines have better data about their performance, they can make intelligent decisions around how to improve those offerings, control costs and reduce risk.
It could be something as simple as understanding who is on an aircraft. What status does the person in seat 5A have? How profitable are they to the airline? Those tidbits of information in the right hands can help create a service experience that may look slightly different from what, let’s say, a one-time traveler might see. These things seem like common sense but just a few years ago they were impossible to execute on. Technology now puts information like this directly in the hands of cabin crew and gate personnel.
Phat Data looks and feels different depending on who is consuming it – and it should. Each managed travel program should have a Phat Data strategy, and it should be unique to their program. The airlines are no different; each carrier has different business objectives, services different markets, and wants to create product differentiation. They use Phat Data to do it.
Whether you are a buyer trying to balance service and savings or are looking for new ways to value your airline partnerships there are more ways than ever to access Phat Data. As buyers we should continue to look for creative uses of the data that the airlines have, and when a new idea comes into play, we should just ask our airline partners what data they can provide to help us deliver on our managed travel program.
These are exciting new times where we can take huge amounts of data and utilize technology to help us better manage our airline relationships. And that, my friends, is Phat!
Next Month: Ridesharing & Data Sharing
Jennifer Steinke is vice president Global Travel Experience at WHoldings, and an industry thought leader with over 30 years experience managing corporate travel. She holds an MBA plus Certified Corporate Travel Executive (CCTE) and Global Travel Professional (GTP) certifications from GBTA. Jennifer strives to deliver innovative and thought provoking ideas to the corporate travel industry.