COMAIR is one of the first
airlines in South Africa
to step into the Big Data
era of the airline industry,
tailoring services to its clients.
Ceo, Erik Venter, told TNW
the airline aimed to become
more predictive about what
customers want, before they
even know they want it.
The airline is looking for
ways to enhance its operating
performance and revenuegenerating
opportunities
during a sluggish economy,
where airlines are faced with
a declining passenger market
and high operating costs, Erik
says.
Despite posting strong
results for the 12-month
period ending June 30, 2014,
with a 16% increase in nett
income to R265m, Erik says
airlines – and the travel
industry in general – are still
facing a tough few years
ahead. “In the absence of
strong GDP growth, the travel
industry is going to have to
focus on efficiency while at
the same time tailoring its
offering to specific customer
requirements.”
In order to tailor its
offering to specific customer
requirements, the airline is
currently doing a lot of work
around data management. Erik
says Comair is developing a
model that will allow the airline
to target the right customers
with the right products.
“We will be following the
Amazon.com model, whereby
we offer our customers travel
packages and products based
on their historic purchasing
patterns and their personal
profiles. This is independent of
developing our product range,
and is more about finding
the right product for each
customer.” Erik did not divulge
details of how Comair would
implement this.
Amazon has been
recognised as an important
new facilitator for the airline
industry. During CAPA’s Airlines
in Transition 2014 Summit in
Dublin earlier this year, airline
strategist, Nawal Taneja, of
the Department of Aviation
at Ohio State University,
said technology-based
organisations such as Amazon
would enable semantic
research, which would in turn
facilitate the ability to predict
consumer behaviour based
on the past. “Consumerfacing
businesses can then
offer a ‘highly sophisticated,
personalised service’. This
can be particularly powerful
in tailoring solutions to
individual travellers when
some aspect of their journey
goes wrong. For example,
a passenger arriving just
too late at a departure gate
could immediately be given
information on an alternative
flight and associated pricing.”
United Airlines collects
and analyses data from
customers to see what the
most successful products
are and then markets these.
The airline looks at who the
customer is and his or her
propensity to buy certain
products. More than 150
variables about that customer
– prior purchases and previous
destinations among them –
are assessed in real time to
determine an individual’s likely
actions.
Delta Air Lines last year
equipped 19 000 flight
attendants with Nokia Lumia
820 handheld devices and will
replace these this year with
Lumia 1520 phablets. Theresa
Wise, senior vp and chief
information officer, said: “The
phablet is a great foundation
for future software applications
that, in time, will allow our
flight attendants to readily
access customer preferences,
previous travel experiences
with Delta and worldwide
connectivity to the company,
enabling them to provide the
more tailored experience many
customers have come to
expect.”
KLM also uses data-driven
evidence and knowledge.
to maximise its email
marketing strategy and gain
a better understanding of
its consumers. Since using
these analytics, KLM has
seen significant uplift in
conversions through email
marketing. KLM’s Frans
Poldervaart says: “The travel
market by nature is very fast
moving and we needed to be
able to quickly identify any
potential customers interested
in booking flights within the
optimal timeframe of one
hour.”
What is Big Data?
Big Data analytics is the
process of examining large
amounts of data of a variety
of types to uncover hidden
patterns, unknown correlations
and other useful information.
In the travel industry, Big Data
allows travel companies to use
the information that customers
are already generating to
provide them with better, more
targeted and customised –
and ultimately more profitable
– services and products.
