Can high tech 'personalize' flight attendant service?

Delta Air Lines is touting an interesting proposition: high-tech, in-flight gear, placed in the proper hands, can help ‘personalize’ the sort of service provided by flight attendants, can render it more humanized.

Here are the mechanics: the U.S. carrier’s new Guest Service Tool is embedded in hand-held Lumina 1520 ‘phablets.’ The aim is to give the airline’s approximately 22,000 flight attendants the ability to better “engage with customers while in flight,” says a company news release. That means being able to do things such as greet passengers by name, recognize their elite Medallion frequent flyer status, and (perhaps most important) help customers deal with flight disruptions – all in real time.

High-tech tools have a way of evolving fast, expanding the sorts of things they can do. In this case Allison Ausband, Delta’s senior vice president of In-Flight Service, says, “Eventually, flight attendants will be able to deliver food and beverage options that meet customer preferences” with the aid of hand-held devices – as well as better identify customers “who may have had previous disruption in their travel.” It’s precisely that sort of distinct, individual passenger identification that Delta contends will allow flight attendants to ‘personalize’ service in the wake of delays, flight cancellations and the like.

The idea isn’t exactly revolutionary. Customer relationship management (CRM) initiatives have been working in ground-bound industries for decades now. The twist is that it’s finally finding its way into the oft-times all-too-depersonalized cabins of commercial airliners.

To see a video of how this all works, click here.