Travelport is claiming a first with the launch of Resolve, technology for airlines to help passengers with hotel rooms and flights during disruption.
According to a statement the Resolve product helps with the sourcing of hotel rooms, air re-booking and meal and transport requirements.
The mobile-based technology, being trialled with a "major US-based airline" is designed to get in touch with passengers when an itinerary changes so they can make local hotel arrangements via their mobile devices.
The service grew out of an idea that originated at the Travelport Labs accelerator.
In the statement, Derek Sharp, Travelport's air commerce senior vice president and managing director, says:
“With a few simple touches on their mobile device, Travelport helps disrupted passengers to by-pass the frustration of hotel and meal voucher lines and quickly be on their way to a comfortable hotel room.”
The Resolve technology also provides airlines with data on irregular operations such as passenger status and provides them with an analysis of the real cost of disruption.
Further developments to come include predictive capabilities to help carriers recognise potential disruption situations and provide them with a view on local events which may mean limited hotel availability.
Travelport is not the only distribution player trying to address disruptions.
Amadeus has spoken in the past about using mobile devices to address disruption. Although it initially unveiled a mobile disruption companion in 2014, the service was subsequently shelved.
A white paper it published last year to stimulate discussion around disruption put an annual figure of about $60 billion as the cost to the industry.
Amadeus launched its Schedule Recovery technology for airlines in 2015 with Qantas as the launch customer.
The technology helps carriers analyse data during disruption and hopefully improve operations.
Swiss become a customer for the passenger recovery element of the technology last year.