The View from 30,000 ft.

As the airline industry looks forward to recovery, how do partnerships and alliances factor in? Brian Wishlinski, director of Partners and Alliances at PROS gives us the details about the travel ecosystem and how collaborations with third parties will make the industry more sustainable in the future.

In this first episode of Season 3 of The View from 30,000ft, we explore the ins and outs of air cargo. What does the future hold for the industry as we aim for recovery from the pandemic, and will cargo become a sustainable, alternative revenue source for airlines?

Four years ago, IATA’s report “The Future of Airline Distribution” painted a picture of where airline distribution was headed: …by 2021, airline distribution will evolve from its current passive, rigid, and technology-centric state to a more flexible, dynamic, and passenger-centric environment which we call Active Distribution… We will need systems that will support calculating volumes of prices that may be several magnitudes larger than today. These prices will be dynamic, they won’t be based on ATPCO-filed fares.” Back then it was still the early days of NDC adoption. In this podcast episode, we chat with Sebastien Touraine from IATA about where we are today as an industry in terms of dynamic prices/offers and systems to support them.

The Coronavirus is disrupting the global economy, and in particular the airline industry. PROS legacy is to be a resource for our customers, and we are doing everything possible to support them during this difficult time. There are so many questions: Where can airlines focus? What can they learn? How can they generate demand? How can they recover? We explore these topics and more with PROS experts during this special edition of PROS Travel Podcast, The View from 30,000ft.

A key puzzle piece in the digital transformation process is the customer experience. Airlines and IT providers alike are exploring new and innovative ways to drive customer experience and in turn revenue. To explore that topic, we have lined up Tomi Maaniemi, Principal at PROS, but also former eCommerce leader at Finnair. He joins us to discuss the nuts and bolts of airline digital retailing and how airlines can take steps to accelerate and scale innovation across their organization. We touch upon topics like improving conversion and the digital experience, building the business case for innovation projects and measuring digital success through various KPIs. Take a listen and reach out to Tomi after, if you want to continue the conversation.

We spend a lot of time on this podcast talking about digital transformation and how airlines can better listen, personalize, and engage with their customers. For this episode, we wanted to turn the tables inward – to PROS and look at what we are doing to transform the experience for our customers. One of our core focus areas for us is airline revenue management, a mysterious world within an airline and typically very complex in regards to systems, processes, and the sheer number of people who are working in the department. There are going to be two parts of this episode. In the first part, we’re going to chat with Rachel Golden and Eunice Yang from the PROS team about the research initiatives their team took on to listen and learn RM Analysts, their pain points, and the real impact that information made to the final product. In the second part of this episode, we met with Pascale Batchoun, Director of Revenue Management at Air Canada. We chat about the role of an analyst, the data and systems they use, and how they are driving revenue for Air Canada.

A recent study on airline digital transformation shows that core changes to the airline tech stack include introducing BI & Analytics, and this is an investment for 2/3 of airlines; ~60% of carriers state that they are starting to implement or in the process of implementing AI across operations & sales. The main drivers for these changes are improving CX, better performance & staying competitive. To discuss these topics and more, we have Serdar Gurbuz from Turkish Airlines!

In this episode, we chat with Terra Davies, Senior Director of Professional Services at PROS and an industry veteran, about the nitty gritty of implementing new products – what works, what doesn’t, and where she’s seen the most successes. Because at the end of the day, implementing a new technology is a huge if not KEY step in the digital transformation process.

Airlines are now dedicating upwards of 30-40% of their budgets towards digital transformation and 68% are looking to upgrade software and IT infrastructure. Those are big numbers and big changes. To help us talk about this change, successes and failures, and how airlines can tackle their technology dreams, we have Michael Brownfield, VP of Professional Services at PROS.

On our final episode from the first season of PROS new podcast series, The View from 30,000 ft, we chat about key takeaways from the 2019 IATA Retail Symposium. Be sure to subscribe and stay tuned for Season 2, coming in February of 2020!

PROS is excited to continue our new podcast series, The View from 30,000 ft. Check out this week’s episode where we chat about the exciting future of Airline Digital Transformation!

PROS is excited to continue our new podcast series, The View from 30,000 ft. Check out this week’s episode where we chat about our recent webinar with Phocuswire! Be sure to stay tuned for next week's episode!

Karl Isler talks with us about the art of the possible with dynamic pricing.

PROS Justin Jander and Siva Arunachalam of Etihad Airways discuss the value of science in revenue management and the evolution of Etihad.

Rosario Phillips shares what’s unique about LATAM, as well as what it’s like to be a leading woman in the male-dominated travel industry.