At PTE World 2025, Amadeus has released a report on airline delivery management technology, which reveals that the travel experience is set to become simpler as travelers no longer need to check in for flights in many parts of the world and will be instantly recognized at the airport, car rental, hotel and other stages of the trip, using a single identifier rather than multiple documents.
The new report, From DCS to Delivery: fulfilling the retailing promise with traveler-centric journeys and better operations, is informed by insights from Amadeus’s Delivery Management Champions Group, a collective of more than 30 airlines, ground handlers and airports that are working collaboratively to design the next generation of airline delivery management technology. The report is now available for download.
At the show, Valérie Viale, director of product marketing management at Amadeus, said, “The report is about how the airlines are transforming from DCS to delivery management –in their whole retail transformation, they want to have offer management to build dynamic offers that are more personalized. In this model, order management is the central source of truth, and it keeps what their passengers have purchased, and then the delivery management, all in one place. This helps to deliver and make sure that they fulfill of all those items in the order.
“For example, we know Amazon has a reputation as a great online experience with impeccable delivery. As a retailer, they’re known for customer-centricity. You know that when you order, you’re going to get your parcel, or if you don’t get your parcel, everything will have been managed for you, even without you doing anything. So that’s what the airlines are aiming for with those delivery management systems. They’re making sure they can track what their travelers have purchased and ensure the delivery of this.
“Today, without this technology, airports are sometimes a bit blind to what is happening. If I buy a flight and a special meal and something happens that means the airlines cannot give me my special meal, they don’t even know about it unless I complain. Tomorrow, with delivery management systems, airlines and airports will be able to track through their agents and apps that I didn’t get my special meal. This will enable them to be proactive about it, which means they can send me an apology email and promise a voucher to deliver that special meal another time.
“We decided to release the report at PTE World because the expo perfectly demonstrates the industry transformation of airlines and airports as they strive for the seamless travel experience. It brings the two together, so that’s why we want to bring these insights to PTE World.”
According to the report, the airline industry has already begun a major technology transformation that is seeing airlines transition to a new generation of technology for offer, order and delivery as they retire traditional industry standards to make air travel more personalized and traveler centric. Delivery management is reportedly the final component in this transformation, with Amadeus engineers currently collaborating with airlines, ground handlers and airports to design and build the new system.
The report also highlights that delivery management systems (DMS) will gradually replace today’s departure control systems (DCS) to provide an entirely new generation of open and agile technology that better connects an airline’s own systems to those of its partners, including airports, ground handlers and third-party suppliers.
The researchers assert that the switch will help free airlines from legacy common-use systems at the airport and from a reliance on costly teletype messages that were introduced in the 1940s. Frontline agents at the airport will be free to roam the terminal, providing services to passengers from mobile devices.
Arrive at the airport ‘ready to fly’ with no need to check in
One of the key findings is that in many parts of the world, check-in is likely to disappear because travelers will arrive at the airport ‘ready to fly’, with any visa or border control checks having been completed digitally in advance. Instead of queuing at check-in desks, travelers will simply drop their bags and proceed to airport security. The report predicts that removing traditional processes like check-in will result in more pleasant terminals designed around leisure activities, where agents can roam and serve passengers from tablet devices.
Travelers to be instantly recognized across the entire journey
Rather than passengers having to carry multiple paper and digital documents, their entitlements across the entire journey are projected to be linked so the traveler and what they’ve ordered can be easily understood in an instant as they progress through the journey e.g. car rental or the hotel front desk. With the option to pair this information with a chosen identifier (such as biometrics or a passport), it will no longer be necessary for travelers to continually explain who they are or provide documentation proving what they have ordered. This information will be dynamic, so if a gate changes, the traveler will be automatically informed. Privacy by design ensures that only the information of relevance to each provider is made available when the traveler chooses to authenticate, with enhanced security measures.
Faster, personalized, multimodal service recovery
When disruption occurs, passengers will quickly receive a single notification that explains the airline’s recommended alternative travel option, which can be accepted or rejected digitally on the phone. Recovery options will factor in the entire journey, leading to better outcomes for travelers while ensuring the needs of each passenger and their entitlements are understood across partner airlines. Ease of integration means airlines will also be able to offer multimodal options, using rail and ground transportation to provide the optimal choice for the traveler.
PTE World 2025 is taking place April 8, 9 & 10 at IFEMA in Madrid. Click here for more PTE World news and click the logo below to register for the conference and your FREE expo pass.
