BUSINESS
PAL taps AI for customer services
The Lucio Tan-led air carrier is aiming at beefing up its services to customers, who are the lifeline of the company.
Flag-carrier Philippine Airlines or PAL is looking into tapping the powers of artificial intelligence or AI to improve customer services as it guns to become a world-class leader in the aviation industry.
PAL president and chief operating officer Capt. Stanley K. Ng, over the Daily Tribune's online program, Straight Talk on Wednesday said the Lucio Tan-led air carrier targets to beef up its services to customers, who are the lifeline of the company.
"Using our financial success last year, and this year, of course, we invested in a lot of products that will help us transform the airline. One of those is the back-end system. We're migrating already to a better system that all the systems can be integrated. We launched it this month," Ng said.
Inter-enterprise management system
"Everything will be in one system. That's the inter-enterprise management system. And second is, we're excited about this. It's a CRM, customer relationship management system, which is very important," he added.
The new system will store the customer's data that will tailor fit to their needs and in turn, help the company respond to passenger issues.
Apart from this, PAL has also opened an international lounge — designed by Atelier Almario — which has a floor area of 1,200 square meters and a seating capacity of 294.
Business class passengers, Elite/Premier Elite frequent flyers, and Million Milers taking our international flights may now experience the comfort and convenience of this elegant and well-curated structure.
The Lounge
The Lounge has a Seating area, an Exclusive room for Million Milers, a Quiet area, and a Bar, among others.
Plane spotters may position themselves in a designated area providing a good view of the ramp and skyline.
"Our lounge's cozy ambiance, modern amenities, and the warmth and hospitality of our lounge team make waiting for one's flight a truly delightful experience," Ng said.
The continuing passenger travel growth has significantly helped flag carrier Philippine Airlines or PAL to rake in P19.2 billion of net income in the first nine months of the year, up 166 percent from P7.2 billion last year.
Income
PAL's operating income also ballooned to P24.6 billion from January to September from only P11.5 billion in 2022.
As of the end of September, PAL flew 11 million passengers, which represented an improvement of 6.4 million in the same period last year.
With this, passenger revenues for the period also surged to P120.1 billion from P79.5 billion last year.