The future of air travel

When we asked experts and pioneers from outside the airline industry to reinvent air travel, they presented a multitude of innovative ideas. What if thinking outside the box could transform the airline industry—and your travel experience?

Visions of reinventing the airline experience are nearly as old as the industry itself. Fifty years ago, pundits had a clear idea of how air travel would evolve. Passengers would stroll through architecturally daring terminals, like Eero Saarinen’s TWA building at New York’s Idlewild (now Kennedy) Airport, and relax in stylish lounges. They would be served by fashionable attendants, like Braniff International’s employees, who were outfitted by designer Emilio Pucci in ever changing uniforms. Eventually, space flight would make standard planes obsolete, or so the 93,000 people who registered in the 1960s for Pan Am’s projected moon route believed.

Knowing that grandiose predictions rarely turn out how we expect, Executive Travel took a different approach. We asked five visionaries outside the airline industry, from a mathematician to a hotel president, how they would reinvent one aspect of the air travel experience. Their images of the future aren’t fanciful but eminently practical, full of ideas that can be implemented today to improve the travel experience of both airlines and their passengers. Their fresh thinking presents some innovative alternatives for an industry that just can’t seem to shake itself from a cycle of service cuts and red tape. With new perspectives from outside the airline industry, they offer us a glimpse of hope that the experience of flying can be better, for us and for the airlines.

Passenger Interaction

A passenger’s experience begins before he ever steps onto the plane. Airlines need to capitalize on this fact, says Bruce Jones, programming director at the Disney Institute, the professional development division of the Walt Disney Company. Disney advocates service mapping: the thorough examination of a customer’s every interaction with a company. In air travel, the experience encompasses a lot more than the flight itself, Jones explains. It starts when the customer books a ticket and waits in line in the airport, and ends only after she collects her baggage at her destination.

Gaining a broader focus on their business means airlines must tweak how they hire personnel. Most airlines, like most businesses, hire people based on some technical savvy. That’s a mistake, Jones contends. “It is a lot easier to train for the technical skills necessary to do a job than it is to get somebody to be nice.”

Disney, for instance, hires for attitude first, then trains people for the need at hand. This approach paid off when the Disney parks installed automated turnstiles and biometric technology that made ticket-takers obsolete. These new systems ensure the integrity of park tickets just as effectively as live workers, making hundreds of people ripe for layoffs—airlines face a similar situation with the rise of Internet-based booking, electronic check-in kiosks and automated call centers. In Disney’s case, rather than eliminate ticket-takers, the company changed the job role to greeter. Greeters perform the subtle but important task of making sure the brief encounter at the entrance puts guests in the right frame of mind to enjoy the park.

Once airlines begin to view the travel experience holistically, they then need to implement training and technology to reinforce their objectives. First, they need to ensure employees have the most up-to-date information and guidance on delays, gate changes and other questions passengers ask. “Training is hugely important,” says Jones. However, he also cautions that too much of this attitude may lead employees to feel they have to provide a legendary experience all the time. “We don’t think anyone can sustain that energy for long. I don’t think passengers or guests are looking for that either. They are looking for people to do a little more when they can,” he adds.

Pricing

Every minute of every day, the price of an airline ticket can change. This volatility has led to a pseudo-science of guessing the best time to buy. Some say just after midnight, when booking systems supposedly reset; others claim you need to clear your computer’s browser of cookies, so airline sites can’t tell you’re fare-hunting. A new Web site called Farecast even claims it can divine the best time to buy a ticket between 74 U.S. cities.

In reality, says Stanford University mathematician Keith Devlin, no one stands a chance against the sophisticated algorithm airlines use. “From a revenue standpoint, I suspect the current system is working extremely well. That’s the only rationale you can give for prices that change even by the minute,” Devlin says.

A more elegant solution is a simpler process of pricing bands, he suggests. Prices would be relatively stable for set periods before a flight, one price for bookings six months out, switching to another for three to six months out and so on. Closer to takeoff, fares could readjust by week, then by day, with the days and fares all transparent to the passenger. Mathematically, adjusting the algorithm would require little effort, and the same amount of revenue would likely be generated—especially since high-priced, last-minute purchases already make up a significant percentage of airline revenue. (10 to 15 percent of passengers pay full fare— they’re primarily last-minute business travelers—but they can generate as much as 30 percent of passenger revenues, estimates Peter Belobaba, head of the MIT Global Industry Airline Program.)

The immediate benefit is that customers know the price won’t change in a few hours. An even greater benefit would be customer relations, Devlin notes. “Now you get a ridiculous situation where you get on an airplane and you are the only person who paid that price for the ticket. People have this sense of justice and fairness, and I think most of us feel if I book this ticket within a day or two of somebody else, we ought to be paying the same price.”

Such transparency doesn’t eliminate options for generating incremental revenue. Base fares could be based on recouping some fixed costs, like the cost of the jetliner and overflight fees, bringing fares more in line with their true price. This would probably mean longer flights would cost more than shorter ones. Then there would be markups based on how far in advance the ticket was purchased, plus optional add-ons for guaranteed aisle seats and avoiding a Saturday-night stay. If airlines have to charge for beverages, allow customers to pay during ticketing, so they can avoid fumbling for change on the flight.

Ultimately, Devlin contends people will willingly pay for service when they know there is a fair logic behind it, rather than today’s sneaking suspicion they are not getting a fair deal. “Most people have to fly, so we put up with it anyway, but I think that’s a bad business approach,” says Devlin. “Just because something can be done doesn’t mean it should be.”

Security

Imagine being able to leave the check-in counter and get through security in just a few seconds, without having to remove your shoes, your belt and your coat, and without having to try and convince a security agent that the corkscrew in your carry-on is allowed on the plane. It’s a fantasy everyone would like to see come true, and it isn’t unrealistic, says Rick Charles, head of Utah State University’s aviation program and a consultant to the new Department of Transportation for Abu Dhabi and to Ghana’s civil aviation systems.

Refocusing efforts and refining technologies available today can immensely improve the security experience, as well as boost safety, he says. One major component would be acceleration of the U.S. government’s “trusted traveler” program. Currently being tested in just five airports, the revitalized program would enable people who subject themselves to a thorough, one-time background check to gain access to a shorter security line and freedom from certain inspections, like removing articles of clothing. While this would improve the experience of frequent fliers, widespread use of biometric technology to identify criminals and terrorists could also ease the burden on occasional travelers.

Some countries, notably the United Arab Emirates (UAE), are already experimenting with biometrics—but the UAE uses facial recognition technology, which is still technically problematic. Much more effective and less expensive would be use of fingerprint biometrics, says Charles. The system can use algorithms to select certain points on a person’s fingertip to match against fingerprints in police database networks within seconds. The point-matching system has two benefits: It doesn’t capture enough data to re-create a person’s fingerprint, assuaging privacy concerns; and it takes far less time than scanning and matching whole fingerprints.

To guard against unknown criminals and random breaches, traditional methods, including X-ray machines for both carry-on and checked luggage, would still be used.

This system improvement would serve as just one step in a badly needed overhaul of the current security process. As it stands, no one seems satisfied with airport security, not even the security personnel themselves. The annual attrition rate of Transportation Security Agency (TSA) personnel is 30 percent for full-timers and 50 percent for part-timers, according to the Congressional Committee on Homeland Security. Charles suggests that eliminating unnecessary work for agents, such as random searches of highly unlikely threats like elderly women and young children, would boost workers’ attitudes. More important, extensive and consistent training would generate professional pride, as well as standardize the airport experience for passengers. In turn, this would lead to fewer encounters with surly agents or those unfamiliar with what is and isn’t allowed onboard. “I am a believer in the public sector operating the system. I just don’t think it is necessary for public sector enterprises to be inefficient,” says Charles.

Operations

A thunderstorm, mechanical problem or other event that ripples into an airline’s system, causing delays outside the airport, is known as a non-routine operation. For Joe Pine, cofounder of Strategic Horizons, an operations consulting firm whose clients include 3M and Nike, that definition is part of the problem. “I once did a workshop with one of the major airlines, and one of the things they talked about was non-routine operation. I asked how often that happens, and they said ‘every other day.’”

This frequency means the basic approach to the problem must change if airlines are to become more efficient and avoid nightmare scenarios, like passengers held captive on their runway in a weather-delayed plane. Airlines should give pilots the ability to generate an alert that will get the attention of top-level operations executives, who can immediately begin strategizing how to stop the rippling effect and take care of passengers already on the planes, Pine says.

Part of the solution could come from relaxing airport parking rules, which mandate that if a plane is parked in a spot it doesn’t own for more than three hours, it has to pay rent. This cost is a major factor in decisions to get equipment away from the terminal, and in determining how frequently to perform non-essential plane maintenance.

Further efficiencies could also improve the experience of first- and business-class passengers—the airlines’ most coveted. Explains Pine, “For the most part, [those passengers] don’t want to get on the plane first. What they really want is their carry-on luggage to get on the plane first.” Providing a service for elite passengers to have their carry-ons collected in the gate area and placed at their seats would both coddle key airline patrons and allow better passenger flow into the back of the plane.

Another means of making operations better would be full implementation of RFID tags in the luggage system. The current bar-code system requires baggage handlers to scan each bag by hand. If the bar-code sticker is crinkled or obscured, the accuracy rate of these scans falls to 80 percent. This contributes to the $2.5 billion annual price tag airlines must pay to deal with lost luggage. Since RFID tags are treated the same way as current luggage tags, but offer well over 90 percent accuracy, their implementation promises to shave hundreds of million of dollars in costs, as well as keep passengers happily connected with their luggage.

Onboard experience

After adjusting your lumbar support and switching your seat’s video screen to an on-demand movie, the air hostess addresses you by name and offers you a beverage. In keeping with the winter theme of the cabin, you select a hot chocolate—you’re headed to a snowy city, after all. From an earlier conversation, the hostess knows you’re on your way to a trade show; she mentions that someone else going to the same show is in the economy-class lounge, so you move forward for a chat.

If it sounds fantastical, it shouldn’t, says Ross Klein, president of W Hotels. “Airlines are in the hospitality industry, although they don’t think they are,” he comments. “Flight is extraordinary, but airlines view it as ordinary.” Taking a cue from W’s success, Klein says airlines should strive to provide passengers with a distinct experience that includes a sense of place and time.

The ability to customize your own in-flight experience, such as integrating your own music and video, is one improvement. Even more important is the opportunity for social interaction, which could be facilitated by air hosts and hostesses. While flight attendants would continue to fill their primary role in aircraft safety, hosts and hostesses would be charged with in-flight experience: mingling, offering conversation and tending to passenger needs. “Airlines have a great advantage in hospitality—they know your name. But they never use it,” Klein observes.

In addition to addressing passengers by name, airlines should provide meal and beverage service that feels more like dining, and less like an impersonal transaction. Ideally, each class of seating would also have its own lounge, designed to encourage mingling.

As part of Klein’s vision of air travel that isn’t commoditized, airlines would also dare to embrace a brand image and sense of style, much like the airlines of old. Interiors could be themed to the time of day or destination—a palette of pastels for routes to Miami, or crew outfits with flair for flights to Milan. The long-term cost for airlines would likely be about the same as the beige and blue hues they emphasize today.

“When I think of air travel, there is a conditioned response that it is going to be bad,” Klein admits. “We’ve forgotten it is a social occasion. I can’t think of any acknowledgement of that by the airlines today.”

What if it all comes true?

Only time will tell whether instant fingerprint scans will get passengers through security more quickly, or if air hostesses will help travelers make human connections. But one thing remains certain: Airlines don’t want passengers to have a bad experience.


Recent years have seen a burst of new innovations, from in-flight television to the iPod integration systems rumored to be coming by 2008. For every improvement made, there will always be visionaries—both inside the airlines and out—pushing for more.

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BRENDAN COFFEY is a freelance writer in New Jersey.