Airline replaces all call centres with chatbots
In a victory for automation over the human touch, budget airline AirAsia has closed its voice call centres in favour of going all-in on AI chatbots.
The airline’s chief customer happiness officer Adam Geneave admitted the move was ‘controversial’ but says the future of customer service is messaging and voice artificial intelligence.
The company has full confidence in its Ava chatbot.
"We’re so proud of Ava. She’s done some amazing work for our guests. We weren’t the first airline to launch a chatbot but we really believe we’ve launched one of the best and through Ava you can book a flight, you can add things to your booking, you can change details, she can answer hundreds of questions," Geneave said.
Ava is part of the airline’s Salesforce platform and when the bot cannot provide an answer it switches to Salesforce live chat.
"We had nine different call centres, we had different systems managing our call centres and our live chat and our social media, and we’ve been able to bring all those things together into that omni-channel environment," he said.
"Nobody wants to sit on hold to a voice call centre anymore. Life is about messaging,"
TravelMole Editorial Team
Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
Vegas’s Billion-Dollar Secrets – What They Don’t Want Tourists to Know
Visit Florida’s New CEO Bryan Griffin Shares His Vision for State Tourism with Graham
Chicago’s Tourism Renaissance: Graham Interviews Kristin Reynolds of Choose Chicago
Graham Talks with Cassandra McCauley of MMGY NextFactor About the Latest Industry Research
Destination International’s Andreas Weissenborn: Research, Advocacy, and Destination Impact
Graham and Don Welsh Discuss the Success of Destinations International’s Annual Conference
Graham and CEO Andre Kiwitz on Ventura Travel’s UK Move and Recruitment for the Role
Brett Laiken and Graham Discuss Florida’s Tourism Momentum and Global Appeal
Graham and Elliot Ferguson on Positioning DC as a Cultural and Inclusive Global Destination
Graham Talks to Fraser Last About His England-to-Ireland Trek for Mental Health Awareness
Kathy Nelson Tells Graham About the Honour of Hosting the World Cup and Kansas City’s Future
Graham McKenzie on Sir Richie Richardson’s Dual Passion for Golf and His Homeland, Antigua
ADS PRO 
Phocuswright reveals the world's largest travel markets in volume in 2025
Cyclone in Sri Lanka had limited effect on tourism in contrary to media reports
Higher departure tax and visa cost, e-arrival card: Japan unleashes the fiscal weapon against tourists
Singapore to forbid entry to undesirable travelers with new no-boarding directive
In Italy, the Meloni government congratulates itself for its tourism achievements