“Airlines, like banks, are still very much dependent on on-prem. Legacy vendors really like to promote that they are on the cloud, or that they have partnerships with cloud vendors, when in reality, they’re just moving computational workloads to a bunch of VMs and not actually using the underpinning technologies the way they should be.”
With airlines, travel and transport in desperate need of direction, CEO and Founder of FLYR Labs, Alex Mans turns AI and contemporary tech into a beacon of resilience. One that aims to transform airlines and underserved industries for the better. We had the absolute pleasure of picking his brain and you’ll be amazed at what we pulled out!
The Acceleration of Digitisation in Airlines
“Post-Covid, the general willingness to try new things has tremendously improved… Airlines continue to evolve their needs in a space that is becoming more and more competitive.”
“Even before COVID, we started seeing a huge demand for airlines wanting to adopt new technologies that are better at forecasting future demand and revenue performance to inform their decisions, and that are better at reacting to changing environments for pricing… COVID triggered a realisation on the side of airlines that legacy approaches and systems just don’t work anymore.”
Lack of Investment In Data Infrastructure
“The airline industry is one of those that has under-invested historically in their data infrastructure. What this means is that data is very siloed across both systems and commercial organisations.”
“If you look at an airline, 98% of an airline’s staff is dealing with what they call ‘managing the metal’, whether that is the crew, the maintenance, the finance teams. 1% or 2% of the airline is actually focused on running the commercial side of the business… Airlines have very much under invested in that side of the business, let alone the technology that drives it.”
Obstacles; Courtesy of Legacy Infrastructure.
“Airlines, like banks, are still very much dependent on on-prem. Legacy vendors really like to promote that they are on the cloud, or that they have partnerships with cloud vendors, when in reality, they’re just moving computational workloads to a bunch of VMs and not actually using the underpinning technologies the way they should be.”
“A big reason why that’s a problem is historically, these legacy vendors have deployed technology with airlines and then heavily overlayed it with professional services. This means that every single deployment they have with customers today, whether it’s on-prem or a bunch of VMs in the cloud, is different. And that makes it very difficult and very expensive for them and their airlines to transition to cloud native technology.”
Much More On How FLYR Labs Is Changing The Game For Airlines
If you’re a fan of digital innovation in airlines, like we are, then this episode is a must.
There is some great work being done in travel. And FLYR Labs is making AI work in a very unique way.
Give it a good listen! And feel free to go right ahead and share any of your thoughts, comments or ideas with us.
