Dive Brief:
- United Airlines is the first airline to get approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to digitize maintenance release documents using the Touch ID feature on Apple’s iPad, according to Linda Jojo, EVP, chief customer officer at United Airlines.
- The biometric technology has prevented delays on more than 4,300 flights and saves 684,000 passengers annually from experiencing delays, according to United.
- United Airlines began implementing Apple products more than a decade ago and now supports more than 120,000 Apple devices, Jojo said.
Dive Insight:
The ties between the two companies date back to over a decade ago when United Airlines announced its first paperless flight deck in 2011. In 2017, United said it was using 50,000 iOS devices and was working towards new apps with the help of IBM.
Since launching, the United Tech app has led to a nearly 20% reduction in tech operational delays on quick turns and a 30% reduction in deferred maintenance items, according to the company. Other apps include MyFlight for flight attendants, EasyChat for United workgroups and My Schedule for gate agents.
In total, United uses dozens of Apple apps and platforms, according to Jojo.
“We actually believe that the combination of working directly with our employees and having our digital technology professionals — those two together — create, in almost every case, a better product and a better experience than we would buy off the shelf,” Jojo said.
One of the features allows flight attendants to manage pre-order meals and track what passengers eat.
“That might not seem like much, but now we’re actually collecting that data and we’re using it to find out what customers are actually choosing and what this leads to is we are able to put food on the plane that customers want,” Jojo said. “Which really importantly means that we’re not throwing away food that customers don’t want and we’re really having an impact on food waste.”
As part of the “United Next” plan, the airline is adding 270 Boeing and Airbus aircrafts to its fleet by 2026. Technology will be updated in the aircrafts to support Bluetooth connectivity for passengers to connect and watch the in-flight entertainment with their AirPods or bluetooth headphones.
Every aircraft is expected to be updated for Bluetooth by 2025.
