ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on some aspects relating to re-defining the customer experience and customer expectations. It also focuses on four insight-providing businesses such as: Mercedes-Benz, Uber, USAA, and Westpac. In the new environment, an airline must change its focus from managing physical assets to managing for value, both for customers and the airline, and from the use both of existing physical assets and of digital assets. Major airlines in the US have been transforming their loyalty programs both in terms of how loyalty is rewarded as well as in terms of monetization. Airlines have aggressively been promoting the development and sale of co-branded credit-cards with banks. Disruptions in operations, referred to as irregular operations (IROPS), have an enormous impact on both the operating costs of an airline and the airline customers' experience. Typical problems relate to inclement weather, aircraft maintenance issues, constrained infrastructure relating to the capacity of the airports and air traffic systems, and breakdowns of computer systems.
