Airline Mobile Technology and Social Media Trends

August 5, 2011Olcay Korol

• Smartphone Market• Tablet Market• Airline Sector Technology Trends• Trends – Mobile Applications• Trends – Social Networks• Mobile Application Maturity Levels• Return-on-Investment• Innovation• Strategies• References

Contents

• According to a 2011 survey by Gartner, mobile smartphone and tablet application development are companies’ second priority in technology strategy

• In the US, the number of smartphones will exceed the number of full-featured phones by the end of 2012.

• According to a survey by Amadeus, 16% of all passengers and 34% of frequent fliers buy tickets via smartphone

Smartphone Market

Source Year Symbian Android RIM iOS Microsoft Diğer

Gartner 2011 Q1 27.4% 36.0% 12.9% 16.8% 3.6% 3.3%

Gartner 2010 37.6% 22.7% 16.0% 15.7% 4.2% 3.8%Gartner 2009 46.9% 3.9% 19.9% 14.4% 8.7% 6.1%Gartner 2008 52.4% 0.5% 16.6% 8.2% 11.8% 10.5%Gartner 2007 63.5% N/A 9.6% 2.7% 12.0% 12.1

Smartphone OS Market Shares

• Sale figures 2010 (real): 17.6 M total. 14.7 M iPads 2011 (estimated): 70 M total. 48 M iPads 2015 (estimated): 294 M total. 138 M iPads

• Market shares 2010 (real): %83 iOS, %14 Android 2011 (estimated): %69 iOS, %20 Android 2015 (estimated): %47 iOS, %39 Android

• Airline sector Cathay Pacific American Airlines

Tablet Market

• Mobile web development Cheaper Can be difficult to use Difficulties with satisfying expectations of web users

• Mobile (Native) application Expensive to develop User-friendliness Integration with location based services

Mobile Web vs. Mobile Application

• 91% of Airlines foresee an increase in mobile passenger services 60%: Program-level 31%: R&D project

• Percentage of passengers who check-in via mobile devices is expected to rise from 3% in 2011 to 15% in 2014.

• 69% of airlines either sell or plan to sell tickets via social networks by the end of 2014.

• 80% of airlines either sell or plan to market & sell products via social networks by the end of 2014.

Aviation Technology Trends(SITA 2011 Airline IT Trends Survey)

• TravelTech research prepared for Amadeus

http://www.amadeus.com/airlineit/the-always-connected-traveller/docs/Amadeus-The-Always-Connected-Traveller-2011-EN.pdf

• The concept of “Always-Connected Passenger”

• 3-phase analysis: Existing or short-time projects (max. 12 months) Mid-term projects (Those that are expected to be

live in 1-2 years) Long-term projects (Those that are expected to be

live in 3-5 years)

Trends – Mobile Applications

Services that are already provided by the airlines, or planned to be provided within the next 12 months:

• Basic Mobile Features Schedule information Booking 2D-barcode baggage pass printing Schedule change/cancellation notifications via SMS Alternative flight suggestion via SMS

• Most of these have already been industry-standard

• None of them are differentiating

Trends - 1

Services that are expected to be provided within 1 or 2 years:

• Ancillary services and merchandising Seat selection Food selection and purchase

• Personalized ticket price suggestions

• Location-based services Airport shopping information Last-minute information for passengers at the airport Navigation information for check-in desks and gates

• Troubleshooting on social media

Trends - 2

Services expected to be widespread in 3 to 5 years:

• Applications for better customer experience Disruption management (Notifications of delays,

cancellations etc) Social media responses Passenger tracking (No need for «last calls» any

more) Notifications based on push technology (possible up-

sells)

• Services based on new technologies and device features Mobile payment Near Field Communications (NFC)

Faster check-in and boarding Depends on the availability of smartphones with this feature

Voice command

Trends - 3

• Marketing, Campaigns

• Last-Minute Updates

• Ticket Sales

• Reward Programs

• Troubleshooting

• Peer Review

Trends – Social Networks

• Level 1: Basic. Adaptation of existing services to mobile devices

• Level 2: Deployment of “anytime, anywhere” services and applications Continuous up-sell capacity Cross-sell possibilities

• Level 3: Contextual intelligence, i.e. understanding the passenger’s context and offering services accordingly Operational improvements based on location-based

services More real-time information Prevention of fraud

Mobile Application Maturity Levels

• Reduction of Opex Fewer staff, more self-service Decline in the usage of kiosks Rise in efficiency

• Revenue increase Ancillary services Impulse sales Last-minute sales

• Customer loyalty

• Brand awareness

Return On Investment

• Pioneering

• Service differentiation Competition offers almost the same services How to differentiate?

Variations in services offered Loyalty programs Customer-specific offers

• Same customer experience on different channels (Multi-channel integration) Example: Start booking process on airline web-

page, finish on the mobile platform Use of smartphone features (gyroscope etc.)

Innovation (1)

Some features that passengers say «I’d love to use it»:

• Real-time flight information updates

• Real-time baggage arrival updates

• Directions for navigating at the airport

Innovation (2)

• Which way to go: Mobile Web vs Native App?

• Mobile web page At least as important as mobile applications

• Mobile native application platforms iOS Android Blackberry Windows 7 Java

• Tablet application development A niche domain

Strategy - Platform Selection

• Mobile reports

• Detailed analysis

Mobile application usage data Device OS Location

Cumulative statistics of mobile platforms Sales figures Check-in usage ratios Ancillary service usage ratios

Strategy – Data Analysis

• Almost all airlines outsource mobile application initiatives

• Outsourced activities

Software development Mobile software startups Airline software companies Systems integrators PSS/GDS service providers

Support

Strategy – IT Organization (1)

• In-house IT activities

Mobile strategy development Project management Style / UI / Customer experience projects Integration with existing systems

• Coordination with business units

Strategy – IT Organization (2)

• http://www.slideshare.net/softwarepark/mobile-apps-social-network-trends-impact-on-airline-business

• http://www.amadeus.com/airlineit/the-always-connected-traveller/docs/Amadeus-The-Always-Connected-Traveller-2011-EN.pdf

• http://landlopers.com/2011/01/18/top-airline-travel-iphone-ipad-apps/

Bibliography

Thank You...