Future researcher Matthias Horx: Corona will never be over

Matthias Horx, trend and future researcher (www.horx.com), Photo: Klaus Vyhnalek

He is often asked when Corona will be over and everything will return to normal. His answer: “Never. There are historical moments when the future changes direction. We call them bifurcations. Or deep crises. These times are now.”

The world as we know it is just dissolving. But behind it, a new world is Continue reading “Future researcher Matthias Horx: Corona will never be over”

Current situation of global air traffic

Global Aviation Monitor (GAM) of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) shows decline in air traffic/photo: tagesschau.de

 

After many years of growth in global air traffic with increasing flights, passengers and flight connections, a slowdown in development is currently becoming apparent. Global passenger flight movements increased by only 1.5 percent in June, from 3.3 million in June 2018 to just under 3.4 million in June of this year. Continue reading “Current situation of global air traffic”

Economic Summit Germany 2018 – a day of critical self-reflection

The “Economic Summit Germany 2018” on 22 September in Frankfurt am Main was a day of critical self-reflection. It was under the provocative question: “Germany at a standstill?” What catching-up needs Germany in the global comparison in the field of digitization? Representatives from business, research and politics, but also young startup entrepreneurs, such as Christoph Bornschein, CEO of Torben, Lucie and the yellow danger, or André Schwämmlein, co-founder and CEO of Flixbus, made a rendezvous and were quite unanimous: Germany has to catch up in order not to be controlled from the outside someday!

The question of whether Germany is also at a standstill Continue reading “Economic Summit Germany 2018 – a day of critical self-reflection”

Digitalisation in aviation – new challenges that must be understood

‘digitisation’,‘digitalisation’ (a two-letter difference!) and ‘digital transformation’ are often confused/Photo; aviation-insider.com

“The progress of digitalisation is already showing its tremendous impact on civil aviation today. While being one of the most advanced sector in the

process, is yet to face further developments resulting from this deep transformation. New technologies are crafting new opportunities for all those involved in air travel but also creating new challenges that
must be understood”, says Salvatore Sciacchitano, Director General Transport European Commission/ Executive Secretary European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC).
Operators, as well as regulators, would need to keep pace with the fast transformation driven by innovation and digitalisation.

Continue reading “Digitalisation in aviation – new challenges that must be understood”

Women will no longer be a minority in the cockpit

Virgin Australia: every second participant in the 2019 training cycle must be a woman/photo: Depositphotos

Only every twentieth pilot in the world is female. That’s what Virgin Australia wants to change now with a women’s quota of training. The airline has set a quota of 50:50 when recruiting new pilots. In other words, every second participant in the 2019 training cycle must be a woman. Lufthansa does not want to go that far.

The reasons sound ridiculous today. Cockpit women are a risk because they Continue reading “Women will no longer be a minority in the cockpit”

Travel industry needs both: Artificial intelligence and human creativity

Foto: jürgen-marks.de

In the travel industry, Artificial Intelligence, or AI for short, and human creativity are inextricably linked. This is one of the conclusions of this years Travel Technology Symposium of the Travel Technology Club with around 120 participants from the digital and travel industries in Kronberg / Taunus at the end of January.

The ,Age’ of Assistants´, has long been there, says Google Manager Julia Leonhard. It describes how KI has long since redefined the connection between man and machine, company and customer. “The interaction with machines has changed completely,” says Leonhard, “today’s machines are adapting to people. Communication is becoming more intuitive. “ Continue reading “Travel industry needs both: Artificial intelligence and human creativity”

Wanted: Sparkling Idea for Personalized Travel Information

Aviation Managers provide sights into the current digital practice of their companies at the Aviation Symposium in Frankfurt, November 2017/Photos: jwm

Airline managers see significant changes as well as opportunities for their companies through digitization. It is undisputed: the expectations are high. Leading airlines have long invested considerable sums in digital initiatives, but the very individual passenger information for the journey from A to B is still coming.
At the Aviation Symposium in Frankfurt at the end of November, Heike Birlenbach, Senior Vice President Sales Hub Airlines of the Lufthansa Group, Joerg Tuensmeyer, Sales Director of British Airways for Europe, Africa and Latin America, as well as Dr. Ing. Pierre Dominique Prümm, responsible for flight operations and terminal management at Fraport, provided insights into the current digital practice of their companies.
The Lufthansa Group has Continue reading “Wanted: Sparkling Idea for Personalized Travel Information”

Europe’s aviation business models on the test bench

Tourism, low cost, regional flights – everyone wants to grow. Panel discussion in Frankfurt (from left: moderator Timo Kotowski / FAZ, Roland Keppler, Oliver Wagner and Jochen-Schadt) / Photo: Messe Frankfurt

Germany and Europe’s aviation business models are on the ,test bench´ after the bankruptcies of Air Berlin, Monarch Air and Alitalia. According to experts, further bankruptcies will follow, as consolidation in Europe is in full swing. In Frankfurt at the end of November this item was heatedly debated on this year’s Aviation Symposium und business models were presented.

For Eurowings sales chief and Chief Commercial Officer Oliver Wagner Lowcost is still one of the main trends, especially Continue reading “Europe’s aviation business models on the test bench”

Will Industry 4.0 drive the pilots out of the cockpits?

Future control of commercial aircraft from the ground? / Image: Psibemetix.Inc.

With the fourth industrial revolution – the industry 4.0 – the interplay of man and machine changes dramatically. The symposium of the Research Network for Pilot Training (FHP), of the Technical University of Darmstadt, this year focussed on this topic.

Can, or will, the artificial intelligence drive the pilots out of the cockpits? How will Industry 4.0 affect the training of pilots and air traffic controllers and change their requirements profile? What about the security risks caused by digital automation, hardware and software failures, the effects of hacking and viruses, the automation scenarios and the cockpit constellations in the future? The following is an excerpt from the report about a two and a half day symposium in the Rheingau with scientists, pilots and training officers of airlines and the German air traffic control, who tried to find answers. Continue reading “Will Industry 4.0 drive the pilots out of the cockpits?”

About the perfect storm in a new working world

Sees the perfect storm: Thomas Vollmoeller, CEO Xing AG at the economic summit on July 1st in Seeheim/Foto: Gregor Schläger

“In five years, virtual systems will be more important than mobile devices, similar to mobile devices have overtaken the PCs. The power in this new working world will have new talents with their new ideas,” says Thomas Vollmoeller, CEO Xing AG, about the change in the working world. Jobs would be completely redefined by new technologies, the use of robots, Internet of Everything and virtual and augmented reality. It will be the perfect storm.

The global network will create a huge added value and many new jobs. Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality generated new techniques with new opportunities. However, the new structure of the working world with Continue reading “About the perfect storm in a new working world”