Hi, I’m Mike McCormick and I’m back with another Travel Again snapshot. I’m here with Vinod Bridglalsingh from ESP Global Services. We are here at the CAPA Airline Leader Summit in Trinidad, just off a panel. I thought there was really terrific insight from the whole group.
Welcome. You had some really impactful insights when we were on the panel, mostly about the complexities and the need to really use a technology expert and integrator in this environment. Tell me a little more about that point of view.
One of the things is that as an integrator, we are not tied to any particular platform or any particular manufacturer. We can actually give you the insights into what works well, whether it is biometrics, passenger movement, kiosks, and the various things that NDCs are expected to bring for the experience of the customer. That is what NDC is: it is basically trying to give them a different experience in their travel. With technology, we will be able to actually make a smooth transition from purchasing your ticket to boarding your flight.
We spent a bunch of time talking about the need for the whole ecosystem to be involved in a much more comprehensive way than I think people are even imagining. It is not just about the airline, distributor, and travel agent reaching the customer. In this case, when you are out here in the real world of implementation, you are talking about airports, governments, technology companies, and the integrators. Everybody through the entire process—airport and every aspect—needs to be a part of this for it to work and for us to really see the benefit.
One of the things that we really got the point out yesterday was that the Airports Authority has to be a key stakeholder. They are the ones that are actually housing the technology for that last-mile experience for the customer in boarding the flight. What is available at the airport is key. Obviously, airlines need to engage with the Airports Authority more, as well as companies like ESP that can integrate technology to make it happen and make it enticing for the customer.
I guess our closing question when we were on stage was: when you look forward to two or three years from now—we talked about NDC becoming a “teenager” in a couple of years—where are we going to be? Is it a reality that we will actually start to see some of the benefits of dynamic offers and really seeing that start to materialize with the customer?
It is strange because ndcs are really… is it for leisure? Is it for business travel? I mean, how would Ryanair answer that question? They probably would not say NDCs are a part because they are not offering anything beyond there. But I would like to say that there are two areas.
One is obviously contactless technology is going to be the topic of choice. What contactless technology you choose to implement is going to be important, along with partnering with a technology company that can implement these types of things for you. Those are the two key areas I think we would be discussing because contactless technology is going to be evolving in so many different ways. You are going to have combinations of AI, you are going to have combinations of robots, you are going to have combinations of so many different things. How do you implement contactless technology? How do you maintain it? How do you get the ROI out of it? That is where the discussion is going to be.
Well again, thank you Vinod for coming and being a part of the panel yesterday and being in this snapshot. More to come. Thanks very much Mike, and great to have you here visiting Trinidad.