Sometimes a beautiful solution for the future requires simple yet practical features for today.
In the last few weeks, we released a new feature for our Yana Platform, which enables airlines to collect volunteers for reaccommodation even if the airline does not know specifically what alternatives are available.
Typically, we require a valid alternative to be available, so that Volantio can fully automate the end-to-end process of reaccommodation.
At face value, this may seem like us moving backwards. Why is Volantio’s recent innovation important? The simple answer is that we clearly recognize that technology, alone, often cannot resolve the most complex challenges front-line airline staff face. Solutions must have the FLEXIBILITY to handle both the “easy” and the “complex” scenarios airlines face.
For example, say an airline needs to downgauge from an A321 to A320 but has no alternatives with any availability over the next 2 days. What if all the alternative routings are extremely complex and require overnight stays?
Volantio’s new feature addresses this key problem. Rather than only supporting scenarios where a passenger can be easily and automatically moved to a convenient alternative flight, the Yana Platform now supports a “contingency mode.” With this feature, we:
Airline front-line staff have the tools to effectively manage the situation after the fact without the enforced requirements of complex business rules and integrations.
While increased automation is a key tenant of our platform, we never want automation to cause a decrease in customer experience in complex situations. This isn’t Volantio’s only feature that provides our partners with significant flexibility to handle the growing complexity of the industry, but it is a good example of the balance we always hope to strike between technologically “ideal” solutions vs. day-to-day reality.
Airlines still benefit from a technologically enhanced solution, without the restraints that full automation could impose.
If you are interested in hearing more about our Yana Platform and some of the other features we are building out to solve industry challenges, please reach out to me at azim@volantio.com.