????“只有極少的公司真正利用了大數據”

????不過弗拉納根還指出，雖然大數據的這些好處令人興奮，但是大數據的更多潛能仍然沒有得到挖掘。“令人驚訝的是，目前只有極少的航空公司真正利用了大數據。”

????差旅軟件公司Eastman集團創始人兼董事長理查德?伊斯曼也認同這個觀點。他說：“我還沒見過任何一家主流航空公司出臺了完整成的‘大數據’業務解決方案，也沒有任何一家航空公司有整合這樣一個方案的計劃。”

????不過這還得取決于一家公司怎樣定義“大數據”。伊斯曼說：“不少航空公司可能會告訴你，他們‘該有的都有了’，但事實上他們并不了解‘大數據’究竟是什么。各大航空公司的管理層仍然非常重視通過現有的庫存管理系統銷售機票，因此可能忽視了消費者的需求信息，以及那些能夠幫助他們滿足消費者與旅客需求的工具，更不用說在決策層面去接近消費者了。”

????弗拉納根表示，營銷、航班操作與機組人員操作等領域也蘊含著大數據的大量機會。

????他說：“我認為，在營銷和旅客體驗等領域，仍然有大量的需求沒有得到滿足。像谷歌（Google）等公司正在通過Google Now等工具，試圖成為航空業的終極助手。我認為如果航空公司構建一個有用的差旅助手，通過將數據與移動整合到一起，能夠提前知道我的需求的話，這對航空公司來說將是一個巨大的機會。另外，它也能在從出發地到目的地的整段旅程為人們提供幫助。”

????“想象一下，如果有這樣一款旅行應用，能夠知道我在哪，知道我要和家人一起旅游，知道我們要去的海濱城市正好天氣很糟糕，而且它可以為我們提供一個替代行程，既適合全家人旅游，又不那么依賴于天氣。一家航空公司如果能夠有效利用大數據，考慮到我的旅行體驗和環境因素，替我把所有的點連在一起，那么它對我來說的確會非常有價值。”（財富中文網）

????譯者：樸成奎

????‘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.”