Airlines are really good at some things - like people movement, aircraft maintenance, and keeping passengers safe. They're also experts at collecting vast mountains of customer data, including what sorts of credit cards and computers you use, how often you fly, and where and how much you spend on all the extras. If you're stressing over a tight connection, flight attendants can usually tell you which gate to run toward, how much time you have, and whether your next flight is on time. But they may also know if you were stuck in Buffalo for six hours last week because of a delay, and offer a personal apology. The swankiest hotels have long employed this strategy: If you feel special and loved, maybe you'll come back. Now the airlines have jumped on the bandwagon. The industry has long envisioned a day when it could make use of all the information it's accumulated on you. That data has traditionally been segregated in various IT systems, but now many airlines are gradually funnelling it into a customer service strategy-with flight attendants becoming the face of hyper-personalised service. "We have enough data about who you are, where you fly, and more importantly, over the last period of time when we've delayed you, canceled you, made you change your seat, spilled coffee on you-we have the points of failure and the points of success," Oscar Munoz, CE of United Continental Holdings, said Nov. 9 at a conference. "I think our customers need better service and better personalisation today. And that's what we're focusing on." But as they probe these new capabilities, some carriers are confronting a nettlesome question: How much personal data can be used to enhance customer service before slipping into the "too much information" realm, where a traveller may feel uncomfortable?<br/>
general
US officials are investigating two more incidents at San Francisco International Airport where planes could have wound up on the same runway, the NTSB said Monday. The incidents include an event in December 2016 when a SkyWest plane crossed a painted runway line it was supposed to stay behind while another plane was taking off, according to a safety board preliminary report. The safety board report also revealed that a Compass Airlines plane in February was forced to abort a landing because a Virgin America jet was lined up and waiting to take off on the same runway. Air traffic controllers received a warning about the potential conflict from an automated system and were able to redirect the Compass plane in time. Both incidents happened at night, and there were no injuries in either case. News of the investigations emerged a month after an Air Canada jet ignored or did not receive instructions to abort a landing.<br/>
Russia’s new Platov International Airport, which will serve Rostov-on-Don, welcomed its first flights from Azimuth Airline and Rossiya Airlines Nov. 18, ahead of its official opening Nov. 27. Azimuth operated the flight from the old Rostov-on-Don airport, while Rossiya Airlines operated an Airbus A319 flight from Moscow. A Renova Group subsidiary is leading the construction. Platov will have a 50,600 square-metre passenger terminal, a 3,600m runway and 45 aircraft parking places. It will be able to handle up to 1,791 passengers per hour, 8m passengers a year, and handle 20,000 tonnes of cargo annually. It will be able to handle aircraft types up to a Boeing 777-300ER.<br/>
The Department of Airports (DOA) will propose handing over the rights to manage Tak and Udon Thani airports to the Airports of Thailand (AOT) in a bid to step up efficiency, DOA director Darun Sangchai said Monday. As the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has recently lifted its red flag on the country signifying ebbing safety concerns with Thai aviation, the DOA will be able to offer more opportunities to local enterprises and start-ups to use commercialised areas of the airports, he said. The DOA controls 28 airports while the AOT manages six, Bangkok Airways privately owns three and the military owns one for public use. <br/>