The world’s best airline has a careful approach to innovation

The airline industry tends to take its sweet time when it comes to adopting certain technologies, but there’s a reason for that. Take Singapore Airlines (SIA), for example: considered by many to be the world’s best airline, it doesn’t want to alienate its customers by going all out.

After all, when you’re paying a premium over its peers, you expect the best. That means impeccable service and a personal touch, at a time when airlines are grappling with high fuel costs.

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As a result, the 71-year-old airline is mindful about the technology it rolls out, said Jerome Thil, SIA’s vice president of digital innovation, in an interview with Tech in Asia.

While it may seem like a bureaucratic slog, upper management will always have the final say in approving SIA’s technology projects.

“We spend more money and time, I think two or three times more than other airlines when it comes to training our crew and our ground staff,” says Thil. The airline’s view is that technology is meant to enhance customer service, not replace it.

“It is easy to say, but to do, it is a lot of alignment in the company, listening to those who have built this company so far […] they might not be digitally savvy but they understand the customers,” he adds.

SIA announced in late January its Digital Innovation Blueprint, an ongoing initiative to boost the airline’s digital capabilities.

Just four months into his new role, Thil – who is the former vice president of product and marketing at travel tech solutions provider Sabre Corp (Asia Pacific) – now heads KrisLab.

The Lab is SIA’s dedicated digital innovation center and can be found at an unlikely location: the SIA Sports Club, the airline’s recreational facility off Upper Changi Road East.

Jerome Thil

Thil leads a team of 10 full-time developers and engineers, most of them poached from major players in Singapore’s startup scene. Some are fresh out of university.

KrisLab, which will host startups, is due to open at the end of January 2019. Things evolve quickly at the lab, says Thil, the self-confessed “oldest one of the group.” He estimates about one in five of KrisLab’s pitches become prototypes.

KrisPay, and SIA’s API

A longer wingspan