Easing Customer Anxieties

Few things have the potential to spike the blood pressure quite like air travel. Whether it's the mysterious disappearance of gate agents when flights are delayed, a missed connection, a cryptic delay notification, or standing in a queue that defies the laws of physics – for many travellers, what’s meant to be the start of an adventure or a long-awaited reunion can become a source of real stress.

But lately, that stress has become a little less funny and a lot more chronic. Travellers are no longer just anxious about legroom – they’re anxious about whether they’ll get home at all.

And yet, while we all love to grumble about airports and airline meals, the expectations we place on the travel experience have never been higher. Today’s travellers want seamless journeys, instant updates, and proactive solutions – and they want them delivered with the same polish and immediacy as a ride-hailing app. And while airlines grapple with weather, IT outages, and a revolving door of regulations, travellers just want one thing: a sense that someone – somewhere – has their back.

On the other hand, airlines and travel tech companies are battling a very different reality – one shaped by weather volatility, system failures, shifting regulations, and global uncertainty. Delays and cancellations have become more frequent, more complex, and harder to predict.

So, how do we ease customer anxieties in this climate? Can innovation and AI help bridge the growing trust gap between travellers and the travel industry? And can technology — sometimes blamed for the depersonalisation of service – actually become the invisible safety net that quietly protects the customer when things go wrong?

Oliver Dlouhý, CEO of Kiwi.com, took to the stage at the CAPA Airline Leader Summit - Asia in Singapore in Oct-2025 to discuss the subject, addressing this issue through innovative product design and how AI integration can be the invisible architecture protecting customers and simplifying life for airlines.