3 Airline CEOs Defend the Complexity of the Industry’s Technology Systems
Photo Credit: Passengers in Dallas/Fort Worth wait out a 2013 American Airlines system outage. Computer failures continue to be common in the industry. Fort Worth Star-Telegram/MCT / Max Faulkner
Skift Take
There's a bit of blaming the victim (the consumer) in these words. Few in the airline industry think carriers have solved their technology woes, so passengers can expect intermittent outages to continue for the foreseeable future.
Three U.S. airline CEOs on Tuesday downplayed criticism that the industry is too reliant on antiquated and inefficient computer systems, but all generally acknowledged carriers can do a better job of investing in technology.
The CEOs - Mark Dunkerley of Hawaiian Airlines, Gary Kelly of Southwest Airlines, and Brad Tilden of Alaska Airlines — argued airline systems are more complex than what other industries use, making it unfair to compare airlines with other businesses. They also noted many passenger complaints come not from the outages themselves, but the fact it takes airlines longer than the typical business to return to regular operations after any disruption.
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"What's somewhat unique about airlines is our customers are experiencing our product as we are making it," Southwest's Kelly said at a panel discussion in Washington, D.C. organized by Airlines for America, an i
