2017 Commercial Aviation Trends

If you are an airline executive, the rising fortunes of your businesses are welcome news — but you know that big challenges remain. Several trends hint that this year and beyond could be problematic. Oil prices are increasing, and global traffic growth is expected to slow in 2017, according to the IATA — a slowdown that is particularly likely if GDP growth remains sluggish. Both trends would make it harder for the industry to maintain recent high levels of profit per passenger. Indeed, to ensure long-term prosperity, a sense of urgency is required now; figuring out how best to exploit the financial headroom you’ve just attained should be at the tåop of your strategic agenda.

Airline executives also are aware that they need new and more resilient strategies. In our view, two essential drivers of these strategies will be the use of digital technologies and the development of sharper, more nuanced competitive positioning. 

The digitization dilemma

Digitization is top-of-mind throughout the commercial airline industry, but moving beyond buzzwords like AI and IoT to actual applications can be difficult. Rather than getting bogged down in the “shiny object” aspect of technology trends, think more practically: Specifically, think in business terms about what digital technologies enable; what opportunities they offer to grow the top line and reduce operating costs simultaneously.

Conclusion

Whether carriers have something to crow about in the upcoming months and years will depend upon how seriously they take today the need to digitize their operations and respond to daunting competitive threats. 

"Airlines will have to build extensive digital marketing capabilities to stand out in a crowded market."

Isis Bindels, partner
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