Delta Air Lines plans to continue to incorporate artificial intelligence into its practices as generative AI becomes increasingly entwined with the future of travel.
The airline's primary goal is to create a seamless experience for consumers, said Eric Phillips, Delta's senior vice president and chief digital officer in a session at the Skift Global Forum.
AI - specifically generative AI - has been one of the buzziest topics of 2023, and Phillips doesn't expect to see that changing anytime soon.
It’s part of a digital thread that’s now pulled through all aspects of the carrier’s business “through the airline and the entire experience whether you’re interacting with Delta or you’re moving through the airport,” Phillips said, noting “that’s where we see huge opportunities.”
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And fellow panelist Ben Ellencweig, senior partner at McKinsey, said that's important because generative AI isn’t going anywhere - and the travel industry on the whole is “a little bit behind.” He continued: “Now is the exact time to ask yourself: what are you doing with generative AI?”
How is Delta using AI?
Delta sees uses for AI in all parts of its business, both internally and consumer-facing, including operations at the airport, in the air and beyond.
“There are massive machine learning tools that we are using on the commercial side,” Phillips said.
On the operations side, the technology is helping to streamline the carrier's baggage system, by using AI to “to help baggage transfer drivers think about the sequence of gates they need to go to to deliver or transfer bags.”
Phillips also said AI has been useful for identifying weather patterns, both on the ground and at altitude.
As for the customer experience, AI is helping the airline use traveler data more effectively.
“The way we use that (data) is changing rapidly,” Phillips said, noting it’s “about our ability to say we know you and we value your time.”
AI should make travel experience better
Phillips said that the “promise that is embedded” in traveling with an airline like Delta “is that we will get you to that destination safely, it will be clean, it will be on time, you’ll get your bags.”
But years of headlines on baggage mishandling, flight disruptions and customer reports of poor help from airlines have shown that that’s not always a promise that’s delivered.
While there are natural obstacles that airlines can’t control like weather, for example, AI should help create a less disjointed process for customers while traveling, he said.
“It really is about connecting these interaction points for the customer,” Phillips said. “Historically, they kind of get treated, you know, as individual interaction points for the customer rather than a seamless set of interactions.”
The customer, Phillips said, should not have to deal with the complexities that the airline needs to manage.
And that’s the root of the interest the airline has in implementing AI. “That’s the vision, how can you make that much more seamless, much more intuitive, much simpler,” Phillips added.