Digital innovation in the airline industry

Last week, Mark Powers, CFO of JetBlue, came to speak in my Integrated Marketing Class. He spoke about the extremely, almost inimitably, high complexity of the airline industry and the difficulty of developing any sort of competitive advantage in such a high capital cost/long lead time business. Coming across this article on Mashable, I realized that digital innovations are adding yet another layer of difficulty for airlines. While apps mentioned in the article, such as My TSA, and emerging technologies such as RFID tagging are undoubtedly improving the customer experience for flyers, airlines still must compete on how they integrate these technological advances into their systems, how they communicate them to customers and how they deliver on the experience of the app while still maintaining the integrity of their own brand. Some of the interesting technologies mentioned in the article, and currently being adopted by major airlines, include:

• Mobile and NFC/RFID Boarding - Delta & United have embraced these technologies by letting passengers check in via smartphone and using a digital code instead of a physical ticket.
• Mobile Concierge - Southwest and JetBlue are just a few of the major American airlines using the benefits of mobile concierge to make the end-to-end flight experience a pleasant one for their travelers. 
• FlightTrack Pro - More of a useful tool than an emerging technology, this app sends flyers push notifications in the event of a flight delay or gate change rather than requiring the user to proactively search through this information. Definitely something an airline could potentially investigate as a proprietary, branded tool to engage and inform customers. 

At the end of the day, I go back to something Mark Powers mentioned towards the end of his lecture; and that is that it's not what airlines do with the hand they've been dealt but how they do it that will differentiate them from the competition. With emerging developments in the digital space, I think it comes down to the true innovators and risk-takers who are able to realize a first-mover advantage will come out on top.