How Proactive AI Is Changing the Airline Customer Experience

The Decision Brief SKIFT AVIATION FORUM Erik Zahnlecker, Industry Lead, Travel, Sierra Moderated by Alison McCarthy, Content Director, Skift Studio Sponsored by Sierra THE TAKEAWAY Passengers remember a well-handled disruption far more than an on-time flight, Sierra’s Erik Zahnlecker said, and AI agents can now give every traveler an immediate response. The same agents can use what they learn from passenger interactions to build relationships between trips and drive bookings, upgrades, and ancillary revenue that traditional marketing can’t match. PATHS FORWARD Start with high-volume service requests. Zahnlecker recommended beginning with narrowly defined inbound tasks, such as changing or canceling flights, with enough volume to prove value. Airlines can then scale from a small share of traffic toward full deployment and add use cases as results come in. Connect customer data across systems. Zahnlecker said airlines hold customer information in reservation systems, loyalty programs, contact centers, and app data. A single agent drawing on all of it can retain context across interactions and write what it learns back for the next one. Plan for the hard parts. Zahnlecker cited legacy reservation systems without open APIs, keeping agent behavior within policy, and aligning security, privacy, and AI governance teams. He said building trust with technical and non-technical teams comes before proactive, revenue-generating uses. WHAT TO WATCH How quickly proactive disruption outreach takes hold. Zahnlecker said agents can contact passengers before they seek help, work through options with them, and take action across chat, voice, email, and WhatsApp. He described airlines adding this after building trust with inbound service, which makes 2027 planning a likely starting point. Whether personalized outreach produces measurable revenue. Zahnlecker pointed to repeat bookings, abandoned-booking recovery, and pre-travel upgrades as opportunities for agents to add revenue. He said the outreach has to offer real value to the traveler, so loyalty, bookings, and ancillary sales are the results to track. Access all the Skift Takeaways from this event, as well as full session videos, presentation documents, and more editorial coverage at our Skift Aviation Forum attendees hub.