The challenges facing airlines in the next 10 years
Challenges persist
With the schedules of thousands of flights around the world being impacted by unforeseen circumstances every day, attempting to find a solution or at least mitigate the effects might seem like a substantial challenge. In Northern hemisphere summer 2022, airlines faced numerous causes of disruption including:
- Route cuts and cancellations
- Ongoing travel restrictions due to COVID-19
- Staff shortages due to sickness and strikes
- Bad weather
- Airport passenger caps
In 2021, overall traveller numbers were 47% of 2019 levels. This is expected to improve to 83% in 2022, 94% in 2023, 103% in 2024 and 111% in 2025.
Source: IATA
One challenge in numbers:
Pilot shortages and recruitment issues
Pilot shortfall expected over the next decade
Fewer monthly flights across the industry
American Airlines pilots retired during COVID-19
Pilots American Airlines expected to hire by end of 2023
Fewer staff working in aviation since COVID-19
Source: aviationpros.com
IATA expects global passenger travel to return to 2019 levels of activity in 2024 and expand substantially over the next two decades.
With pilot shortages set to continue for the next decade, airlines and airports facing recruitment issues due to people not wanting to join the industry, and training and security clearance issues, it’s not going to be an easy journey to get there.
"We somehow survived the summer but it was not great and it should not be happening again. We have to put appropriate resources in the system to deal with the challenges,"
József Váradi, Chief Executive, Wizz Air
Don't underestimate these issues
With three billion people around the world spending an average of two hours and 29 minutes on social media every day, one passenger voicing their dissatisfaction will resonate across the digital ecosystem before you can say the words ‘it’s gone viral’.
Multiply that by the number of affected passengers with a social media account and suddenly the negative impact on your brand is enough to worry the board of directors.
And that’s before you consider the cost of running a contact centre.
How to overcome these challenges
With this misalignment between traveller numbers, demand, and airport operational challenges, it is critical that airlines embrace the technology that is proven to maintain a positive customer experience even when things don’t go as planned.
With cancellations and delays being higher than ever, the days of airlines being able to efficiently employ manual notifications to advise passengers of flight changes are over.
Airlines that need to urgently contact thousands of passengers via manual notifications will not be able to do so without significant cost; the inevitable result is that some passengers affected by disruption are left without information at a crucial moment in their journey.
