航空业：大数据有大作为

    “只有极少的公司真正利用了大数据”

    不过弗拉纳根还指出，虽然大数据的这些好处令人兴奋，但是大数据的更多潜能仍然没有得到挖掘。“令人惊讶的是，目前只有极少的航空公司真正利用了大数据。”

    差旅软件公司Eastman集团创始人兼董事长理查德•伊斯曼也认同这个观点。他说：“我还没见过任何一家主流航空公司出台了完整成的‘大数据’业务解决方案，也没有任何一家航空公司有整合这样一个方案的计划。”

    不过这还得取决于一家公司怎样定义“大数据”。伊斯曼说：“不少航空公司可能会告诉你，他们‘该有的都有了’，但事实上他们并不了解‘大数据’究竟是什么。各大航空公司的管理层仍然非常重视通过现有的库存管理系统销售机票，因此可能忽视了消费者的需求信息，以及那些能够帮助他们满足消费者与旅客需求的工具，更不用说在决策层面去接近消费者了。”

    弗拉纳根表示，营销、航班操作与机组人员操作等领域也蕴含着大数据的大量机会。

    他说：“我认为，在营销和旅客体验等领域，仍然有大量的需求没有得到满足。像谷歌（Google）等公司正在通过Google Now等工具，试图成为航空业的终极助手。我认为如果航空公司构建一个有用的差旅助手，通过将数据与移动整合到一起，能够提前知道我的需求的话，这对航空公司来说将是一个巨大的机会。另外，它也能在从出发地到目的地的整段旅程为人们提供帮助。”

    “想象一下，如果有这样一款旅行应用，能够知道我在哪，知道我要和家人一起旅游，知道我们要去的海滨城市正好天气很糟糕，而且它可以为我们提供一个替代行程，既适合全家人旅游，又不那么依赖于天气。一家航空公司如果能够有效利用大数据，考虑到我的旅行体验和环境因素，替我把所有的点连在一起，那么它对我来说的确会非常有价值。”（财富中文网）

    译者：朴成奎

    ‘Few companies are really leveraging big data’

    Exciting though those benefits may be, there’s an even bigger pool of potential payoffs remaining untouched. “Surprisingly few [airline] companies are really leveraging big data today,” O’Flanagan said.

    Indeed, “I’ve not seen a single major airline with an integrated ‘big data’ business solution, nor an airline with a plan to integrate such a program,” said Richard Eastman, founder and president of The Eastman Group, which builds travel software.

    That depends on how one defines big data, however. “The airlines will tell you they ‘have it all’ without really knowing or understanding what ‘big data’ really is,” Eastman said. “Airline managements remain so focused on selling seats with their existing inventory systems that they have ignored buyer information needs as well as the tools that would enable them to reach out to buyers and travelers to serve those needs—let alone, reach buyers at decision-making moments.”

    Marketing, flight operations and crew operations are all areas of rich opportunity, O’Flanagan said.

    “I think there’s still a huge unmet need in the marketing and customer experience area,” he said. “Companies like Google are trying to be the ultimate assistant with technologies like Google Now. I think there’s a huge opportunity for airlines to create a helpful travel assistant that knows what I need before I do by combining data with mobile—helping people through airports, in-destination, right throughout the whole travel journey.

    “Imagine a travel application that knows where I am, that I’m traveling with my family and that the weather is bad on our beach holiday. It could start to offer alternative itineraries close by that are family-friendly and not weather-dependent. These are truly valuable things an airline could do for me if they could use big data effectively and join the dots between me, my travel experience and environmental factors affecting that.”