Latest news with #NikhilRavishankar
Otago Daily Times
5 hours ago
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Air NZ sees AI use as 'force for good'
Air New Zealand is working with the organisation behind ChatGPT to expand the use of artificial intelligence to help the airline avoid flight delays. The national carrier was part of a select group around the world given the opportunity to partner with OpenAI, in a first of its kind collaboration in New Zealand. Air New Zealand chief digital officer Nikhil Ravishankar told RNZ's Morning Report programme today the partnership enabled Air New Zealand to roll companion AI out to its corporate workers at pace. It also allowed the airline to "co-create" solutions, Ravishankar said. "So we already have about 1500, what we call, custom GPTs in the organisation. Think of them as sort of rudimentary agents and what Open AI partnership allows us to do is work with their engineering teams and product teams to develop these solutions to solve airline problems, not just for Air New Zealand. "We're hoping that the solutions are also applicable around the world." It also allowed Air New Zealand to become a "test bed" for some of Open AI's more cutting-edge solutions, he said. "So we get first access, early access to some of these tools as they emerge and some of these tools are turning up on almost a weekly basis." The aim was to make Air New Zealand a better airline. Ravishankar said the airline expected to see improvements in on-time performance, integrated planning and how the airline scheduled the network it flies, and service experience for customers including product design in-flight and on the ground. "So almost every aspect of the customer's experience with the airline will be impacted by AI and this partnership going forward." Asked about pricing, Ravishankar said Air New Zealand was already using AI to deal with the cost of flying, which he said was complex. "The hope really is we want it to be a force for good so we are looking at utilising AI to drive more, fairer value-centric outcomes as much as anything else." Asked what this meant, Ravishankar said AI allowed the airline to take into account "a lot more things as we think about how we price an airline seat". "For our regional network for example where we are a lifeline service, we could think of pricing approaches that fulfil that role that we play, versus what we might be doing in say the US market where we're trying to attract premium leisure tourists into the country."
RNZ News
10 hours ago
- Business
- RNZ News
Air New Zealand partners with OpenAI in bid to help avoid flight delays
The aim was to make Air New Zealand a better airline. (File photo) Photo: Supplied/ Air NZ Air New Zealand is working with the organisation behind ChatGPT to expand the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to help the airline avoid flight delays. The airline was part of a select group around the world that has been given the opportunity to partner with OpenAI, in a first of its kind collaboration in New Zealand. Air New Zealand chief digital officer Nikhil Ravishankar told Morning Report the partnership enabled Air New Zealand to roll companion AI out to its corporate workers at pace. It also allowed the airline to "co-create" solutions, Ravishankar said. "So we already have about 1500, what we call, custom GPTs in the organisation. Think of them as sort of rudimentary agents and what Open AI partnership allows us to do is work with their engineering teams, and product teams to develop these solutions to solve airline problems, not just for Air New Zealand "We're hoping that the solutions are also applicable around the world." He said it also allowed Air New Zealand to become a "test bed" for some of Open AI's more cutting-edge solutions. Open AI is the organisation behind ChatGPT. (File photo) Photo: Jean-Marc Barrere / Hans Lucas via AFP "So we get first access, early access to some of these tools as they emerge and some of these tools are turning up on almost a weekly basis." The aim was to make Air New Zealand a better airline. Ravishankar said the airline expected to see improvements in on-time performance, integrated planning and how the airline scheduled the network it flies, and service experience for customers including product design in-flight and on the ground. "So almost every aspect of the customer's experience with the airline will be impacted by AI and this partnership going forward." Asked about pricing, Ravishankar said Air New Zealand was already using AI to deal with the cost of flying, which he said was complex. "The hope really is we want it to be a force for good so we are looking at utilising AI to drive more, fairer value-centric outcomes as much as anything else." Asked what this meant, Ravishankar said AI allowed the airline to take into account "a lot more things as we think about how we price an airline seat". "For our regional network for example where we are a lifeline service, we could think of pricing approaches that fulfil that role that we play, versus what we might be doing in say the US market where we're trying to attract premium leisure tourists into the country." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Scoop
a day ago
- Business
- Scoop
Air New Zealand Enters New Era Of AI Adoption With OpenAI In A New Zealand First
Air New Zealand is working with OpenAI in a first-of-its-kind collaboration in Aotearoa to expand the use of artificial intelligence (AI) across the airline, aiming to boost efficiency and enhance customer outcomes. The national carrier is part of a group of early OpenAI customers in Asia Pacific that will collaborate with the AI leader at the forefront of enterprise AI adoption. As part of the collaboration, Air New Zealand will gain direct access to OpenAI technologies to develop and apply use cases, and equip its people across corporate roles with secure, enterprise-grade AI tools. Early areas of exploration include improving customer self-service experiences and enabling safe, responsible integrated planning across airline maintenance and operations. Air New Zealand is also looking into how data-driven insights can help employees make more informed operational decisions. The agreement gives Companion AI – Air New Zealand's deployment of ChatGPT Enterprise – to all 3,500 corporate team members across the airline. Additionally, Air New Zealand will also invest in developing innovative new solutions using OpenAI APIs to enhance both customer and employee experiences with Generative AI. Implementation of OpenAI's technology is already underway, driving smarter, faster decisions and creating lasting value for the Air New Zealand team and its customers. Air New Zealand Chief Digital Officer Nikhil Ravishankar says the collaboration marks a major milestone in the airline's digital journey. 'We see AI as an opportunity for our team at Air New Zealand and a way to improve experiences for our customers. It helps us solve problems faster, serve our customers better, and reimagine how work gets done. By working directly with OpenAI, we not only access leading-edge technology but we also shape how it's used in the real world. 'This collaboration represents more than just access to new tools – it's a commitment to staying at the forefront of innovation and giving our people the best technology to thrive. We're excited to see how AI will transform the way we work.' 'Air New Zealand is taking meaningful steps to bring AI across key parts of its business using OpenAI's technology. We have been particularly impressed with how quickly they have built over 1,500 Custom GPTs to introduce efficiencies to internal focus on innovation and responsibility shows how the aviation sector can adopt advanced tools in practical ways that deliver value for both employees and customers', Oliver Jay, Managing Director of International at OpenAI, added. A Custom GPT in ChatGPT allows anyone – developers, teams, or enterprises – to create tailored AI assistants using GPT models. It enables users to define the AI's personality, tone, and specialised knowledge base, and integrate proprietary data or workflows. This makes it possible to build AI solutions for specific industries, company needs, or creative applications without requiring advanced coding expertise. Throughout this journey, Air New Zealand remains deeply committed to the responsible and ethical use of AI, ensuring that innovation is aligned with strong governance, transparency, and care for customers and employees.
West Australian
21-06-2025
- Business
- West Australian
Air New Zealand switches on Starlink in domestic trial
Air New Zealand has launched its trial of Starlink high-speed in-flight wi-fi, switching on the service onboard an Airbus A320 (ZK-OXE) operating domestic services, with an ATR turboprop to join the trial later this month. In-flight wi-fi is being offered free of charge during the trial, with the airline keen to assess how the service performs in real-world conditions and customer feedback before it makes any decision on a domestic fleet rollout. 'We look forward to hearing from our customers as they test out onboard wi-fi. Their feedback will help guide our decision-making as we consider connectivity options for our domestic fleet,' says Air New Zealand chief digital officer Nikhil Ravishankar. The airline will be the first to test Starlink on a turboprop aircraft when the ATR joins the trial. Air New Zealand currently has in-flight connectivity services provided by Viasat on its international fleet, which the airline has previously said could come under review if the domestic Starlink trial proves successful. SpaceX's Starlink has taken the in-flight connectivity world by storm since Hawaiian Airlines became the first major commercial airline to offer the service in early 2024. Unlike earlier in-flight connectivity solutions using geostationary Earth orbit (GEO) satellite constellations, Starlink's constellation is closer to Earth, in low Earth orbit (LEO), delivering high-speed and low-latency service, supporting in-flight live video streaming, live TV, social media, gaming and shopping. Airlines already offering or committing to Starlink service include Air Baltic, Air France, Hawaiian Airlines, KLM, Qatar Airways, Scandinavian Airlines, United Airlines and Zip Air. United Airlines recently started offering Starlink service onboard its regional jets as part of a fleet rollout but switched off the service this month to address an interference issue with pilot communications.
Otago Daily Times
10-06-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Air NZ trialling Starlink internet on domestic flights
Air NZ's Airbus 320 domestic aircraft. Air New Zealand has started trialling wireless internet on a domestic plane using Starlink satellites. The airline said from today, passengers flying on ZK OXE, one of its A320 domestic aircraft, would be able to access high-speed, low-latency internet, with an ATR-72 turboprop joining the trial later this month - a world first. It said Wi-Fi would be provided free of charge during the trial, with passengers able to browse, access social media, stream or play games. Starlink - owned by billionaire Elon Musk's company SpaceX - uses low Earth orbit satellites to provide internet coverage across the world. "Being the first airline in the world to trial Wi-Fi on a turboprop aircraft is a proud moment for us, Air New Zealand chief digital officer Nikhil Ravishankar said. "Our goal is to explore the potential of this technology and understand how it can enhance customer journeys." Air New Zealand said it was in the testing phase of Starlink's onboard connectivity and sought to understand how it performed in real-world conditions, while gathering customer feedback. "[Customer] feedback will help guide our decision-making as we consider connectivity options for our domestic fleet," Ravishankar said.
