Aeromexico - Aerobot

Aeromexico - Aerobot

Mexican airline AeroMexico is the latest airline to introduce a chatbot as a customer service tool.

In a press release the airline announced that travellers can now use “Aerobot” to search for AeroMexico and partner flights, and to get flight schedules and pricing. Bookings then have to be done via AeroMexico’s new mobile friendly website.

‘Aerobot’ integrates with Facebook Messenger, with AeroMexico claiming that 73% of Mexican Facebook users visit brand and company pages.

AeroMexico says that it is the first airline in the Americas to have such a tool. However other airlines in the Americas have experimented with virtual assistants, even though they are not integrated into Facebook Messenger as Aerobot is.

For example, Alaska Airlines has a virtual personal assistant called “Jenn”, which can help with flight reservations.

Meanwhile Panamanian flag carrier Copa has a web-based chatbot called ‘Ana’ , though the blog 30 seconds to Fly points out that it is fairly rudimentary in that it doesn’t direct users to the relevant web pages where they can find out more information about their query.

The introduction of Aerobot is part of a revamp of AeroMexico’s online properties. This includes the launch of a new website and the introduction of new self-service checkin kiosks.

The first airline worldwide to introduce a Facebook Messenger bot was KLM . Launched in March, KLM’s bot allows you to receive info via Messenger when you book tickets through the airline’s website. Once you do, the bot can send you your itinerary, boarding pass, check-in confirmation and even delay notifications through the app.

Though as a technology, Chatbots are still at an early stage, analysts agree that they could potentially revolutionise customer services for airlines.

For example, technology publication Venture Beat claimed that Delta could have dealt with its August computer outage, which left passengers stranded with delayed flights and cancellations, more effectively had it had a chatbot.

Venture Beat quotes Dave O’Flanagan from Dublin-based AI development company Boxever, in saying that when a major issue hits, airlines could use bots to deal with the first influx of queries.

This then in turn reduces the load on call centres and frees up customer services agents to deal with only those queries that can’t be instantly answered, and which need to be escalated upwards.