This is cool! United is now sending live radar maps to keep passengers informed during weather delays. This is done using Artificial Intelligence, as per United.
United Airlines now sending live radar maps to passengers
United Airlines now sends passengers links to local, live radar maps during weather delays, “as part of its industry-leading effort to give travelers as much real-time information as possible about their trip, especially if things don’t go as planned”. For the past few years, the airline has used dedicated teams to write and send text messages to customers that give near-instantaneous details about a given flight – everything from gate changes and boarding times to more specifics regarding aircraft swaps, crew rescheduling and weather events – and the teams now use generative artificial intelligence (gen AI) tools to assist in giving more travelers real-time updates during flight delays.
The real time radar maps can help passengers understand how inclement weather in one part of the country can impact a flight elsewhere. The airline says it is the first and only U.S. airline currently providing passengers these kinds of specific messages, and the airline is sending them with assistance from gen AI tools.
With more people traveling this summer than ever, we wanted to give our customers an easier way to stay connected to real-time information about their flight and texting was the simplest solution. We know customers appreciate transparency and by combining innovative technology-enabled tools with people power, we can give more people, even more in-the-moment details about their flight.
Jason Birnbaum, Chief Information Officer, United said.
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How does this work?
United explains the working of this technology as below:
- “Specialized customer service teams” sit in the network operations center alongside the flight operations teams and tap gen AI to review flight data and write customer messages that tells the complete story of a flight change. These messages are sent to customers through text or email in an effort to provide more helpful and relevant information about why flight plans are changing.
- During weather events, messages will include links to local, live radar maps showing weather details across flight paths. This helps customers stay informed on weather-related delays, including showing how weather in one part of the country can impact a flight elsewhere. Plus, customers on all flights can access links to weather maps in the United app under flight status updates, and United displays radar maps in the gate area when a flight has been delayed due to weather.
Featured image by United
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