Atlanta airport outage highlights need for tech adoption, IT firm says

The past weekend’s power outage at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport (ATL) was unavoidable for companies operating at the world’s busiest airport. But according to Intelenet Global Services CEO Bhupender Singh, the way carriers and other airport operators handle situations like the outage could be improved by more widespread adoption of emerging technologies in the airfreight and air transport industry.

According to Singh, automation and artificial intelligence have the potential to improve the way companies respond to flight disruptions, especially during high-profile interruptions that require effective customer service options.

Aside from the type of widespread outages experienced at ATL, caused by a small electrical fire that took place on Sunday and knocked out both primary and backup electrical systems, greater digitalization and reliance on IT systems means errors and power cuts are increasingly likely to occur, which enhances the necessity for quick responses from IT companies.

“The biggest threat that airlines face is the ability to handle flight disruptions, rather than disruption itself,” said Singh. “But automating back-end systems enables airlines to be more proactive when IT outages occur, enhancing the speed and accuracy of compensation for passengers.”