How digitalization revitalised my career - and will drive airline recovery
May 18, 2022
“Are you crazy? Joining a start-up in the travel space in the middle of the worst global pandemic for over a century?!”
That was just one of the concerned comments made to me when I left my previous job role after seven years and joined Omnevo in May 2021, with most of the aviation world at a standstill. in fact, it was Omnevo’s confidence and ambition in launching during the pandemic that told me this was something special. In the aviation industry’s chaos, they saw an opportunity.
Exactly one year later, I know I made the right decision.
While Omnevo is a relatively new brand to the market, we’re backed by AOE – one of the most experienced players in the market – and we’ve assembled a team of highly experienced people who have worked across airline operations, retail, F&B operations, logistics and technology for many years. This experience, combined with an incredibly skilled technical team, means that we can make impactful changes to an airline’s performance; and that’s exactly how Omnevo saw the opportunity, even while most of the world’s fleets were grounded.
Many airlines are now really embracing the mindset of digitalisation and, as passenger numbers recover, these returning travellers bring with them challenging new expectations around service and choice. Digital consumer experiences were revolutionised during the pandemic; we all became used to seamless personalised experiences, huge choice, 24/7 availability, convenient delivery options etc. While the world’s fleets were grounded for a year or so, consumer behaviour accelerated by more than a decade. As these customers return to the skies, every airline needs to ask, ‘How will our airline experience compare?’
At WTCE, our team will show how that experience can match the passenger’s needs and expectations, but the aviation industry has been relatively slow in adopting digital tactics in ancillary revenue. Unfortunately, that past hesitancy may be due to the fact that technology offerings in our space have often proved to be inadequate, over-promised or poorly executed, with little integration to existing solutions. Those weaknesses lead to minimal impact on savings and revenue streams - and can even end up increasing process and cost that actually hit, rather than revitalise, the airline’s bottom line.
Achieving higher performance in the current market demands a versatile digital platform that off-the-shelf ‘solutions’ simply cannot deliver. We address this through a modular toolbox, enabling airlines to create, manage and control their own digital and operational model – we develop a tailored solution that can be anything from starting with a precise focus on F&B to developing a full-scale omnichannel platform. Regardless of scale, it’s designed around each airline’s true needs and not around a vague ‘one size fits all’ approach.
Forward-thinking airlines are absolutely right to look urgently to digital solutions; there is no other route to reaching today’s customer and certainly no other path to driving future performance. Our approach is based around key fundamentals where we look to increase revenue, reduce waste, enhance choice for passengers and raise profitability. I’ve seen how Omnevo has delivered on these KPIs for its airline partners (the impact on waste and sustainability absolutely stunned me!) but airlines need to look deeper than ambitions and promises when selecting a digitalisation partner. From my own industry experience I suggest three key qualities to look for in your chosen partner:
Our industry is recovering, which brings both new challenges and opportunities - and digitalisation is the path to optimising the airline’s response to both. I’m delighted to support that recovery as part of the Omnevo team and, if your airline is looking to a digital future, I look forward to seeing you at WTCE.
From 14th-16th June I will be at the World Travel Catering Expo, with my colleagues on booth, 1E40.
Every day from 4-6pm we'll also have Happy Hour so pop by for a drink and a chat.
