United Airlines is turning to data and algorithms to make sure passengers don't arrive too late for connecting flights.
The takeoff of a United Airlines flight from Chicago to Vancouver was delayed for a few minutes at the end of July not because of a mechanical problem or a staffing mishap but to ensure that passengers arriving late from another flight didn’t miss the connection to Vancouver.
United Airlines hopes plenty of passengers are as accommodating as Jacobson. The Chicago-based carrier is expanding use of a new computer program that can automatically delay the takeoff of some flights — if only briefly —to ensure that passengers on connecting flights don’t get stranded. The program will be deployed at all of United’s major airports by October.
The United Airlines program gives that power to a computer, allowing only supervisors from United operation centers the authority to override the decision.At Delta Air Lines, “it’s a human decision whether to delay that flight, but it’s a mix of software and [artificial intelligence] to back that up,” said Michael Thomas, a spokesman for the Atlanta-based carrier.
“That has been the approach airlines have been taking for years, but with the data we have access to, it’s possible to say, ‘Wait a minute, maybe we can refine that policy some more,’” he said.
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