As they plan the journey out of the COVID-19 pandemic, airlines, airports and other air transport industry stakeholders will prioritize investment in digital transformation, automation, sustainability, innovation and customer experience, according to a new report jointly released by Fast Future, Future Travel Experience (FTE), and the Airline Passenger Experience Association (APEX). Safety and trust building are also highlighted as central pillars to the industry’s recovery.
The COVID-19 Air Transport Near Term Impacts and Scenarios report explores how stakeholders expect the COVID-19 crisis to impact passenger volumes and investment strategies. It also highlights four possible scenarios for how the industry might emerge from the pandemic.
A global survey conducted as part of the report found that over the next two years, 68.4 percent of respondents expect investment in digital transformation to increase; 60.3 percent expect investment in automation and the deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) technology to rise; and 54.2 percent expect spending to increase on sustainability and environmental initiatives. More than half (53.5 percent) expect investment in innovation to increase during the same period, and 48.5 percent expect to see an upturn in customer experience and service spending.
At the other end of the scale, three-quarters (75.5 percent) of survey respondents expect investment in aircraft orders to decrease over the next two years, while 55.3 percent expect to see a decrease in terminal design and construction spend.
Air Transport Facing Two- to Three-year Recovery Period
During a webinar on 23 April, which included the unveiling of the initial survey results, a live poll of the 900-plus attendees found that 44.6 percent of respondents expect it to take up to two years for the air transport industry to return to 2019 levels of business, and a further 36.8 percent expect it to take up to three years. Only 5.8 percent expect the industry to recover to 2019 levels within 12 months.
Another live poll during the webinar found that 39.9 percent of respondents expect the public to feel comfortable flying again once new procedures are introduced to protect passengers. 32.4 percent expect consumer confidence to return once a COVID-19 vaccine is disseminated; 11.6 percent expect people will only fly if they have to; and 10.3 percent expect World Health Organization (WHO) advice to dictate when people will feel comfortable flying again.
Daniel Coleman, founder and CEO, Future Travel Experience, commented: “There is no doubt that the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic will be felt for some time to come and it is more important than ever that airports, airlines, and their partners take steps now to prepare for the new reality. Prioritizing health and safety is a given but all stakeholders must also commit to delivering a contactless, queue-less and fully sanitized end-to-end travel experience that is as automated as possible. Some radical new approaches, and collaboration between all parties, are essential to achieve this vision and support the survival of the air transport industry.”
