SkyTeam Eases the Hassle of Getting Rebooked When Flights Get Disrupted
Photo Credit: An agent at Xiamen Air, a Chinese airline, speaks with passengers. SkyTeam has introduced technology that allows its member airlines to rebook passengers on other alliance members. SkyTeam
Skift Take
Casual travelers often think airlines in the same alliance love to cooperate with each other. That's not always true. They're often fierce competitors. At least SkyTeam has developed new technology that is designed to make it easier for airlines to rebook customers during irregular operations.
When a complicated multi-airline international itinerary goes awry, passengers often don't know how to fix it. Do they ask the airline that issued the ticket? Do they pester the carrier that caused them to miss a connection? Or do they contact the airline whose flight they missed?
It's an issue that vexes even the most-seasoned customers. Why must they call Delta Air Lines because Air France took a two-hour delay from Paris to Guangzhou, which made them miss their China Southern connection to Chengdu? If they bought the ticket from Delta, they've generally had to contact Delta to fix it.
SkyTeam, one of the world's three major airline alliances, is trying to make this process easier. It has recently introduced a platform that allows any agent at any member airline to rebook a customer, no matter which carrier is at fault or where the passenger bought the tick
