FLYR Labs, maker of airline software, raises $150m

FLYR Labs, maker of software that uses artificial intelligence to help airlines price and plan flights, said on Wednesday it raised $150m in equity financing. FLYR CEO Alex Mans said the software uses available commercial and event information among other data points to make pricing and scheduling suggestions. Most airlines still rely heavily on human analysts for this work, he said. According to FLYR, for example, scheduled flights from the northeastern United States to Florida and Latin America will not meet demand in the upcoming holiday season, especially morning and afternoon flights during the week of Dec. 13. Airlines can use that information to add more flights or make other changes. The San Francisco startup said it has over half a dozen airline customers including Air New Zealand and by the end of the year will have more than 10. “By the end of this year, we’re on track to manage approximately $14b worth of airlines’ revenues,” Mans said, adding that the global revenue for the airline industry in 2019 was about $800b. “Our target is $100b dollars of revenue under management by the end of 2023.” Mans said eventually FLYR will extend its service to rental cars, entertainment events, cargo and railways.<br/>