by Chris Clarke, event blogger

Today’s conference offered up many opportunities for discussion.  

Airlines 2.0, the theme of the conference, challenged delegates to think about the future.  A future which would fundamentally transform the relationship between airlines and customers.

Frederic Spagnou, Vice-President of the Airline Business Group at Amadeus, started the day by painting a picture of the future.  He spoke of the enormous opportunities available to travellers  to express their feelings on each travel experience.  Whether that is through their own blogs, ratings sites or social networking applications.

The airline sector isn’t immune to the global trend towards customer empowerment.  It is facilitated by new technologies but it is driven by a powerful need for individual self-expression.

The friendliness of airline staff, the quality of the in-flight food, the frequency of lost luggage and the cost of fares will all be subject to scrutiny and commentary.

This loss of control is something that airlines have to accept.  It is impossible for an airline, or any brand in any sector, to operate a control and command policy in such a fragmented world.  It simply won’t work.

The future won’t stop there.  The future opens up the possibility of complete transparency.  Travellers will be able to select their seats, their food, the movie they want to watch, whether or not they have lounge access, whether to go through fast-track. 

This is the emerging reality.  How can airlines respond?

Some suggestions include better segmentation.  Airlines will have to ditch the leisure-business-first segmentation in favour of a more sophisticated segmentation that really meets the needs of individuals and groups.

Airlines that cater to students, airlines that cater to the older travellers, airlines that cater to entrepreneurs are all possibilities that may emerge.  The Future Traveller Tribes 2020 report, launched by Amadeus last year, suggested a number of tribes that are expected to emerge in the next 20 years that airlines will need to take seriously. 

The questions posed by such a future are just as important as the answers:

• How can airlines build brand loyalty?
• Can airlines truly differentiate?
• What is the balance to be struck between following and leading customers?
• Is it really possible for airlines to develop the retailing capabilities provided by the likes of amazon.com?
• Is it possible for marketing, technology and revenue management people to develop a truly integrated approach to segmentation?

These are questions for all of us.  I look forward to your thoughts.