Fast fireplace with Olaf Backofen of Lufthansa Crew

As we depend right down to Phocuswright Europe, going down in Barcelona from June 10 thru June 12, PhocusWire is shining the highlight on a few of convention audio system in a chain of quick Q&As.

Olaf Backofen, head of retail partnerships for Lufthansa Crew, is scheduled to participate in an govt panel “Tech & Transformation in Aviation” on June 12 as a part of the Heart Degree program. The panel will center of attention at the airline trade’s technology-fueled transformation, starting from data-driven choice making to retailing methods to operations.

Right here’s a have a look at the demanding situations Backofen faces in his function, what excites him and his perspectives at the wider trade in a brief Q&A.

Do you consider the trip trade is cutting edge?

Completely. The trip trade is extremely cutting edge, particularly in its use of expertise to beef up each plane efficiency and the buyer revel in. For instance, the advent of sharkskin expertise on plane wings improves gas potency, whilst AI [artificial intelligence] is getting used to boost up processes like declare dealing with. Moreover, the upward push of sensible airports—with options like biometric check-ins and automatic baggage dealing with—along inventions such because the LH Crew App being voted absolute best airline app, highlights the trade’s ongoing efforts to make trip smoother and extra environment friendly.

What are your priorities this 12 months?

A key precedence is to additional beef up buyer pride and revel in. This comprises leveraging AI to ship extra personalised trip choices, creating apps that offer real-time updates and enabling seamless, contactless trips. In my function overseeing retail partnerships for Lufthansa Crew, a significant center of attention is using innovation collaboratively with our companions to make stronger this broader purpose.

If you want to alternate something about your small business or the trade in a single day, what wouldn’t it be?

I’d dramatically beef up the extent of personalization in buyer interactions. Consider an AI-powered trip assistant that understands a traveler’s personal tastes, previous behaviors and real-time context to supply adapted ideas—whether or not for lodging, actions or eating. Such personalization would considerably lift buyer pride through developing reviews that really feel actually person.

What are the best demanding situations you presently face

One of the most largest demanding situations is assembly the ever-rising expectancies of digitally savvy shoppers. With services and products like Uber and Google Maps surroundings new requirements for comfort, vacationers now be expecting that very same degree of ease and responsiveness all the way through their adventure. Maintaining with the ones expectancies whilst managing the complexities of recent applied sciences is hard. Handing over real-time, hyper-relevant make stronger—thru each chatbots and human brokers—isn’t just a problem but additionally an amazing alternative for innovation.

What are you operating on lately that excites you?

In conjunction with our companions, we’re using a number of projects inquisitive about improving the buyer revel in. A key space of exploration is how we will additional leverage AI to permit seamless, personalised trip trips. Those initiatives lie on the intersection of innovation, expertise and buyer revel in—an area I’m actually keen about.

As we depend right down to Phocuswright Europe, going down in Barcelona from June 10 thru June 12, PhocusWire is shining the highlight on a few of convention audio system in a chain of quick Q&As.

Olaf Backofen, head of retail partnerships for Lufthansa Crew, is scheduled to participate in an govt panel “Tech & Transformation in Aviation” on June 12 as a part of the Heart Degree program. The panel will center of attention at the airline trade’s technology-fueled transformation, starting from data-driven choice making to retailing methods to operations.

Right here’s a have a look at the demanding situations Backofen faces in his function, what excites him and his perspectives at the wider trade in a brief Q&A.

Do you consider the trip trade is cutting edge?

Completely. The trip trade is extremely cutting edge, particularly in its use of expertise to beef up each plane efficiency and the buyer revel in. For instance, the advent of sharkskin expertise on plane wings improves gas potency, whilst AI [artificial intelligence] is getting used to boost up processes like declare dealing with. Moreover, the upward push of sensible airports—with options like biometric check-ins and automatic baggage dealing with—along inventions such because the LH Crew App being voted absolute best airline app, highlights the trade’s ongoing efforts to make trip smoother and extra environment friendly.

What are your priorities this 12 months?

A key precedence is to additional beef up buyer pride and revel in. This comprises leveraging AI to ship extra personalised trip choices, creating apps that offer real-time updates and enabling seamless, contactless trips. In my function overseeing retail partnerships for Lufthansa Crew, a significant center of attention is using innovation collaboratively with our companions to make stronger this broader purpose.

If you want to alternate something about your small business or the trade in a single day, what wouldn’t it be?

I’d dramatically beef up the extent of personalization in buyer interactions. Consider an AI-powered trip assistant that understands a traveler’s personal tastes, previous behaviors and real-time context to supply adapted ideas—whether or not for lodging, actions or eating. Such personalization would considerably lift buyer pride through developing reviews that really feel actually person.

What are the best demanding situations you presently face

One of the most largest demanding situations is assembly the ever-rising expectancies of digitally savvy shoppers. With services and products like Uber and Google Maps surroundings new requirements for comfort, vacationers now be expecting that very same degree of ease and responsiveness all the way through their adventure. Maintaining with the ones expectancies whilst managing the complexities of recent applied sciences is hard. Handing over real-time, hyper-relevant make stronger—thru each chatbots and human brokers—isn’t just a problem but additionally an amazing alternative for innovation.

What are you operating on lately that excites you?

In conjunction with our companions, we’re using a number of projects inquisitive about improving the buyer revel in. A key space of exploration is how we will additional leverage AI to permit seamless, personalised trip trips. Those initiatives lie on the intersection of innovation, expertise and buyer revel in—an area I’m actually keen about.