The progress made with AI-enabled tools signals a shift toward more resilient and responsive operations
With nearly 119 million travelers hitting the roads and skies this holiday season, a narrow increase from the 116 million last year, travel disruptions are inevitable. However, emerging AI technologies offer a glimpse of a smoother journey amid the chaos.
Although air travel itself is incredibly reliable, managing disruptions at airports tells a different story. Human capacity for solving complex, multi-variable issues is limited; we’re wired to think locally, not globally. The intricate logistics of coordinating hundreds of flights across time zones and airports often surpass our problem-solving abilities.
Processing hundreds of flights from different airports that need to leave at specific times, cross various routes and align with connecting flights highlights the scale of this complexity. These challenges lead to thousands of disappointed travelers and frustrated workers. The solution isn’t adding more humans—it’s AI, working alongside humans to help them not just survive these situations but excel. AI can augment human abilities and transform data into actionable insights, enabling gate agents and crew schedulers to make better decisions, faster.
Airlines like Delta are already reaping the benefits of AI in prediction and planning. Through tools that forecast delays caused by weather or air traffic, Delta proactively adjusts schedules to reduce disruptions. In 2023, the airline achieved North America's best on-time performance, with nearly 85% of its 1.6 million flights arriving within 15 minutes of schedule—10% higher than the average. These results showcase how AI minimizes disruption, even during peak travel seasons like Thanksgiving.
With AI behind airport disruption management and planning services, irregular operations no longer have to feel like disasters. Alongside Delta, Airlines like Lufthansa and travel tech companies such as Amadeus and Sabre are developing solutions to handle real-time disruptions, resolve crew scheduling conflicts and address airport challenges that can derail holiday travel plans.
So how does this work? AI tools like Large language models (LLMs) can detect delays based on early signals—such as gate agent communications—before the information updates in official systems. AI layers then calculate critical factors to assist decision-making, such as:
Routing: Determining the best route between gates for passengers.
Passenger speed: Estimating seat to connecting gate time based on all available data and, including the probability they stop at Starbucks even when running late.
Jet bridge readiness: Assessing how quickly the bridge operator can connect the plane based on their individual historical performance.
Flight delay impacts: Tracing the effects of a delay on:
Crew schedules.
Passenger connections.
Aircraft positioning.
For example, the network monitoring layer might evaluate if a five-minute delay would:
Cause an hour-long hold due to weather conditions.
Push the flight out of its air traffic queue.
Force the crew to time out, preventing the flight from departing.
These calculations, completed in seconds, surface actionable insights for gate crew and airport or central operations team, enabling them to make informed decisions that keep travelers moving while being able to see the impact of their decision across the network.
While the benefits for travelers are clear, many employees express concerns about how AI might impact their roles in this transformation. A survey from Authority Hacker in 2024 reveals that over half of U.S. workers are concerned about the impact AI will have on their job security. However, these solutions are designed to complement human expertise, not replace it. By processing complex data and providing actionable insights, AI empowers employees to make more informed decisions. Whether deciding to hold or release a flight, switch crews, or predict passenger delays, employees become the experts—backed by invaluable data.
AI isn’t a replacement; it’s an accelerator. Collaborative AI expands human understanding and context, enhancing decision-making in ways that were previously impossible. By deeply modeling problems and improving collaboration between AI systems and experts, these tools enable humans to address critical operational challenges more effectively than ever before.
Despite the reservations about implementing AI, if we are intentional and thoughtful about how we shape the tool we’re creating, AI doesn’t replace us but collaborates with us to help solve problems we couldn’t on our own. AI has already begun to redefine how airlines handle disruptions, offering data-driven insights that were once unimaginable. While this holiday season may still face record-breaking travel challenges, the progress made with AI-enabled tools signals a shift toward more resilient and responsive operations. As adoption continues, these technologies will help airlines move beyond reactive problem-solving to proactive management, creating a smoother and more seamless experience for travelers and crews alike.
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