Last month in Chicago, a United Airlines flight to London was ready to depart but still waiting for 13 passengers connecting from Costa Rica. The airline predicted it would miss the flight by seven minutes. Under normal circumstances, everyone would try to rebook.
But thanks to a new AI-powered tool called ConnectionSaver, the jet was able to wait for them – and their checked baggage – and arrive in London on time. The system also sent text messages to passengers who arrived late and to people on the plane waiting to explain what was happening.
AI still might not be able to find room for your carry-on, but it could help end the 40-gate board—the sprint to catch your connecting flight before the door closes—as well as other common travel headaches .
It’s not just United. Alaska Airlines, American Airlines and others are working to develop new AI capabilities that could make flying easier for passengers. Airlines are also using technology to cut costs and streamline operations, including saving fuel, said Helane Becker, an airline industry analyst for the investment bank. TD Cowen. Although many airlines develop their programs independently, a successful innovation by any carrier could potentially become an industry standard.
Artificial intelligence is poised to change almost every aspect of customers’ flying experience, from baggage tracking to personalized in-flight entertainment, said Jitender Mohan, who works with travel and hospitality clients at the technology consultancy WNS.
Fuel economy and frustration
Artificial intelligence is helping Alaska Airlines dispatchers plan more efficient routes starting in 2021. “It’s like Google Maps, but in the air,” explained Vikram Baskaran, vice president of information technology services at the carrier.
Two hours before a flight, the system checks weather conditions, any airspace that will be closed, and all commercial and private flight plans registered with the Federal Aviation Administration to suggest the most efficient route. AI takes in “a volume of information that no human brain could process,” said Pasha Saleh, director of corporate development and pilot for Alaska.
In 2023, about 25 percent of Alaska flights used this system to shave a few minutes off flights. Those efficiencies added up to about 41,000 minutes of flight time and half a billion gallons of fuel saved, Mr. Baskaran said.
On the ground, American Airlines and others are working on an AI-powered system American calls Smart Gating — sending arriving aircraft to the nearest available gate with the shortest taxi time and, if the scheduled arrival gate is in use, quickly determining the best alternate gate. All of this could mean fewer frustrating minutes waiting on the tarmac.
American introduced Smart Gating at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport in 2021 and now uses it at six airports, including Chicago O’Hare and Miami International. The airline he estimates he saves 17 hours a day in taxi time and 1.4 million gallons of jet fuel annually.
Mr Mohan said using AI as a virtual parking attendant could save up to 20 per cent of taxiway time, with the highest benefits seen at larger airports.
Faster and better customer service
Rapidly evolving artificial intelligence – think ChatGPT – is helping airlines better communicate with passengers. At United, a company-wide challenge last year led to a plan to make flyer messages more specific about what causes delays. Passengers can get frustrated when flights are delayed without any explanation, said Jason Birnbaum, United’s chief information officer.
But tracking the required details, writing a proper message and sending it to the right people for 5,000 flights a day would be too much for the staff, Mr. Birnbaum said. Generative AI can process all this data and create messages tailored to the circumstances. For example, passengers booked on a January United flight from San Francisco to Tucson received this text message, along with a new departure time and an apology: “Your inbound aircraft is arriving late due to airport runway construction in San Francisco that reduced the number of arrivals and departures for all airlines earlier.”
Having a more detailed explanation can calm travelers’ nerves. Jamie Larounis, a travel industry analyst who flies about 150,000 miles a year, recalled receiving text messages last summer explaining that a storm and a related crew scheduling problem had delayed his flight from Chicago. “Finding a specific reason for the delay made me feel like the airline had things under control,” he said.
Generative AI is also good at digesting text, making it a powerful tool for browsing emails. Last year, Alaska was among the companies that started using artificial intelligence to handle customer messages more efficiently. The airline’s system “reads” each email and summarizes the issues raised.
“We used to read media first, handle requests as they came in,” Mr Baskaran said, but now the system helps prioritize emails. For example, an urgent request regarding an upcoming flight may take precedence over a complaint about a previous flight.
The system also helps a human agent decide how to respond, such as offering the customer a coupon, and can compose an initial written response. “The individual makes the decision, but it is rationalized,” Mr Baskaran said.
Despite all the benefits that artificial intelligence promises to airlines and passengers, the technology still has some shortcomings. First, it does not always provide accurate information. In 2022, an Air Canada chatbot falsely promised a traveler that if he booked a full flight for a relative’s funeral, he could receive a bereavement fare after the event. When it filed a small claims case, Air Canada tried to argue that the bot was its own separate entity, “responsible for its own actions,” but a court found Air Canada liable and ordered her to pay about $800 in restitution and fees.
However, as AI develops and airlines struggle to find more uses for it, passengers could see even more benefits. “As a customer and an entrepreneur, this is one of the biggest technology disruptions of the last five to eight years,” Mr Mohan said.