Airline technology has long been a thorn in the side of travelers in the past decades. Passengers have frequently been left to guess when an aircraft has been delayed, cancelled or missed a connection due to poor systems, incoherent mobile applications and inadequate real-time information. As most airlines concentrate their digital remarkable venture on the sale of upgrade and add-ons, the number of those that have extensively invested in tools that can actually enhance the traveling experience is quite small.

United Airlines however has been following a different route

With the leadership of the CEO Scott Kirby, United has continued to develop one of the most developed airline mobile app in the industry. And as Kirby himself puts it, the desire of the airline to be a technological industry best in passenger-facing technology was so intense that it passed through his head at one point to acquire Flighty, which is the name of an independent flight-tracking application that is extremely popular among frequent flyers.

Advantages of Airline Apps Why They do not Work

The majority of airline applications are slick in appearance but falter in areas where it is most needed, providing clear, timely and useful information in case something goes wrong. The legacy IT systems that are decades old complicate the ability of the airlines to consolidate the operational information, weather services, and air traffic control information into a reliable system.

The result? Passengers are made to refresh their applications that have blurred messages such as delayed, without clarifying the reasons behind the delay, and a lack of a schedule of when to go to the next stage.

It is this lack of communication that annoys travelers the most, and that is what United has been attempting to differentiate itself with.

So Special is Flighty?

Flighty was released in 2019 and developed by a former Apple engineer known as Ryan Jones. The app was inspired by the personal frustrations that Jones had during his travels, when he had to wait a long amount of time without much information or transparency on the part of the airline.

Flighty draws data throughout an extensive set of sources as opposed to using restricted customer-facing systems, such as airline operational feeds, aircraft movement data, weather systems, and air traffic control information.

The application does not simply indicate the delay of a flight. It explains why.

Flighty will inform users of the aircraft origin, late arrival, whether a weather or congestion will incur further delay, and even guesses inconveniences prior to the official announcement by airlines.

Flighty has become a necessity to the kind of traveler who appreciates information and predictability.

United vs. Flighty: Rivalry or Motivation?

Interestingly, Ryan Jones has come out openly to admit that the United app is the strongest airline app in the market today. He has also made jibes at United stealing some of Flighty’s best ideas, which is by all intended to be taken as flattery, not criticism.

Flighty is a benchmark and inspiration at the same time to United. Kirby has already claimed that United is already the top airline in the world in terms of explaining why flights are delayed but Kirby states that the airline is just warming up.

It is still in the pregame, Kirby said, pointing out that the long-term vision of United is far beyond the capabilities of the company.

The use of AI in the Tech Roadmap of United

The role of artificial intelligence is among the critical themes in the comments Kirby makes. United already applies AI to break down the complicated operational information and render it in plain-English explanations that passengers can understand, however, Kirby does not think it can stop there.

As he says, United has developed the data architecture that it requires to use AI to its full scale. The next challenge is to refine the way that data is presented to customers in a way that is intuitive, helpful and proactive.

In the future, this could mean:

• Anticipating disturbances in advance.
• Providing customized advice according to the schedule and the likes of a traveler.
• Suggestions of alternatives automatically in the event of delays.
• Giving more precise explanations lessening anxiety and confusion.

It is precisely in this area that applications such as Flighty have shone through, and should therefore be a logical place of influence to airlines seeking to be modernized.

Reasons to avoid making such a purchase of Flighty

Although Kirby admires Flighty, he is not sure that he will be acquired. There are risks that are involved in introducing a small, nimble tech team into a huge airline organization. It is infamously hard to be innovative, independent, and fast within a huge corporate organization.

Regulatory, financial, and even strategic factors may complicate such a purchase. Not only does Flighty have a code, but a culture, which can be difficult to maintain following an acquisition.

On this point, it seems to me United will proceed to observe and imitate the methods of Flighty instead of trying to assimilate him.

Passenger Impact of This

This behind the scenes conversation is eventually good news to the travelers. It is an indication that the leadership of United has realized one crucial fact; information is as important as on-time performance.

Whenever there are delays, which will always occur, passengers will desire transparency, context, and choice. The fact that United continues to invest in its mobile application has indicated that the company views digital communication as an aspect of customer service and not an appendage.

When United keeps moving in the right direction, passengers will be able to count on smarter notifications, better clarifications, and more help the company will give you when you are disrupted.

A wider Change in the Airline Industry

The technology strategy of United is also indicative of a broader change in the airline industry. With the ever-growing competition and/or similarity of the aircraft products, digital experience is becoming one of the primary points of distinction.

Airlines that will successfully merge real-time data, AI, and convenient design will be in a clear lead to securing customer loyalty and in particular among the frequent travelers.

The fact that United is comfortable enough to publicly praise and even think about purchasing an outsourced application such as Flighty is indicative of a healthy amount of humility and ambition that is quite unusual in the legacy carriers.

Final Thoughts:

The confession of Scott Kirby that he was interested in purchasing Flighty provides a unique idea of how seriously United Airlines approaches its digital transformation. Instead of considering apps created by third parties as threats, United seems to take them as evidence of what can be created when technology is centered on the needs of the traveler.

With or without an acquisition being consummated, it is abundantly obvious that United is dedicated to creating an airline application that people are willing to utilise. And in a business that has long been infested with bad technology, that is the only thing that makes United stand out.