Airline passengers are likely to continue experiencing an “elevated” level of disruption to flights in the next few years, according to a new report from travel technology company Amadeus.
The research, which included a survey and interviews with 150 senior airline and airport leaders, found that many in the sector expect that disruption to air travel will continue to stay at higher levels during the next three years compared with the pre-Covid year of 2019, which could create a “new normal” for air travellers.
Data shows that airline schedule changes in 2023 were still around three times higher than they were in 2019.
“More than half of airline and airport leaders reported experiencing more disruption today than in 2019,” said Amadeus in its report.
“Respondents reported a wide variety of causes for disruption, including skills shortages, bad weather and the rapid return of demand for air travel.
“Even as the industry continues its recovery from the pandemic, and patterns of air traffic begin to normalise, several additional factors are contributing to ongoing disruption."
These factors include difficulties with staff retention and recruitment post-pandemic, as many experienced employees have left the sector in recent years. Respondents also cited a “lack of automation, decision-support and collaborative platform”, which means that they need to rely on making phone calls to manage disruption.
Technology investment
The research found that 64 per cent of airlines were investing in new technology to improve their response to disruption. The main reason to do this was to improve the carrier’s public image (70 per cent), followed by offering a better passenger experience (66 per cent) and as a way of differentiating between other airlines (58 per cent).
Half of airport bosses blamed a “lack of common technology that brings stakeholders together” as the main challenge when dealing disruption. One third of airport leaders also said that the “last minute provision of information from airlines” was an ongoing problem.
Amadeus said in its report that industry leaders “acknowledge the historic difficulties caused by commercial tensions and the generally subpar way that disruption is managed today”.
The research highlighted the “siloed” nature of the aviation sector, with “competing commercial objectives, different IT systems and a lack of trust among aviation stakeholders”.
But more hopefully, the report added: “There are also new examples of these tensions being placed to one side in favour of new data-sharing arrangements that can help to get operational information to where it’s needed to make better decisions that improve the response to disruption.”
One of the problems facing the sector is that its highly regulated structure means that the “pace of change is gradual, often requiring agreement from regulators”.
Having said that, the report found that the use of biometric technology was “accelerating rapidly” at every passenger touchpoint. Both airports and airlines also recognised a need to improve the way they communicate with passengers impacted by disruption.
Amadeus added in its conclusion: “While disruption may still be elevated across many parts of the world today – and can never be totally avoided – there are options for airlines, airports and ground handlers that choose to collaborate and do things differently.
“Encouragingly, more than half of the airline leaders in Amadeus' survey said they are planning to implement 'end-to-end disruption management technology' over the coming years.”