An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
The pandemic created a need to deliver health-related information to customers. Health concerns will remain a consumer concern. Travelers will need information delivered in a way that they can easily understand and ensure they have all valuable data points to make informed travel decisions that are right for them.
As part of our series about “The Future Of Air Travel”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Alex Zoghlin, President and CEO, ATPCO.
A lifelong entrepreneur and innovator, Alex brings more than 30 years of knowledge and experience in technology, airline distribution, and travel to ATPCO. He founded six startups, including Orbitz and G2Switchworks, before serving as Executive Vice President, Global Head of Strategy, Innovation, and Technology at Hyatt Hotels Corporation. He applies his business acumen and experiences from the hospitality world to concepts the airline industry can use, such as addressing digital booking flows, digital display, unstructured datasets, and dynamic pricing.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
I have travel in my DNA. My mother was a travel agent for many years and as a young child I would see the airline tariff books ATPCO used to publish in my mother’s office. I never would have thought that decades later I would be here as President and CEO. Straight out of school I joined the navy and then went to college. But I actually dropped out, and I am proud to say I did so to start a business that I ended up selling. I then went on to found Orbitz in the late 90s. I’m a life-long learner, and an innovator, but truly believe that no one path of learning is the right one. My career has been mostly in the travel/airline/hotel space, but I’ve also stepped into logistics, real estate, artificial intelligence and more. My hope is that my career path continues to evolve and bring more challenges.
I see my time at ATPCO as a unique opportunity at a unique time to really help move the airline industry into a more modern retailing environment. This is something I dreamed about doing over 20 years ago, but never could because the industry standards didn’t support it, and technology and data capabilities were just not sophisticated enough.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?
Wow, there are so many fun and interesting stories I can tell, and so many of them happened when traveling for business. One really interesting story happened at an earlier stage in my career when I had to travel to Korea for a really big deal we were hoping to sign. I’m probably dating myself but it was with LG, which at the time was known as Lucky Goldstar. My mom and my pregnant sister found out about the trip, and as I had a “free” hotel room, pretty much invited themselves to join me on the trip because neither had ever been to Korea. I begrudgingly said they could join but that I would be working. I can’t remember exactly how it happened but a lot of deals in Korea are closed in karaoke bars with a lot of beverages, and somehow the Chairman of Lucky Goldstar found out that my mom and sister were there and insisted they come to the karaoke bar with us. Of course, I politely said they certainly don’t need to be there, but he insisted, and long story short, we ended up signing this big deal, but only after my mother sang “You’ve got that loving feeling” on stage with the Chairman of LG at the time. It always brings a smile to my face when remembering that story and their hospitality. My mom also never thought she would end up helping to sign my deal!
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
If you’re not making mistakes, you are not trying hard enough — so I have plenty of stories to choose from! The first company I started in college was originally named Web Mart. I was convinced I should be building the equivalent of a shopping mall online. Potential customers, however, had other ideas. They were not interested in being in my shopping mall, but they were very interested in me helping them build their own presence online. I was able to pivot very quickly from a shopping mall concept to a direct developer to assist these companies in building their own online store. I changed the name of the company to Neoglyphics, and we quickly grew the company, amassing an impressive global customer list including Walmart, Walgreens, GM, Volvo, ABN Amro, Sears, Singapore Government, Playboy, Ford, John Deere, etc. before being acquired by a much larger company. The key lesson I learned very early here was always listen to your customers and be prepared to pivot to meet their needs.
Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”? Can you share a story about that?
The role of the entrepreneur evolves over time, especially when at the helm of a well-established business. This requires a willingness to step out of your comfort zone and take on a different mindset and persona. But burnout is real, especially in this pandemic world we are all still living in. Overnight our decades and even life-long work habits were changed, people had kids, families, elderly parents, full-time work, and all came “in-house” at the drop of a hat. That naturally created people feeling burned out due to not being able to switch off and having to take on more roles from home while working full time. For us at ATPCO, I think it was important to first recognize this and let employees know that we were aware of some people feeling like they were burned out and then implementing ways to try to combat this. There were a few things in 2021 and 2022 that worked for us:
- We implemented a company-wide “Take what you need” leave policy so employees could take the time they needed for family, rest, relaxation, and to recharge.
- Promoted our 24/7 EAP program where all staff had access to mental health care and different wellness programs they could do at a time that suited them.
- Enabling departments to choose “No meetings Fridays.” Doing our best to cut out or severely limit meetings on Fridays gives staff a day to catch up on work/emails and ease into their weekends.
Are these all the answers to solving burnout? No, but they are real, actionable steps that can help staff feel more supported and more heard, and hopefully reduce some of the burnout they were feeling at the start of the pandemic. Finally, as a manager, I try to recognize the signs of burnout in those that report directly to me and support open and honest dialog on the subject.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?
I have been blessed with many mentors along the way, starting with my father who was an entrepreneur most of his life. I had an aunt that headed up the local ACLU and was one of the most tenacious people I have ever met. During my military service, I had a chief early in my career who really saw my potential and helped me adapt and succeed in a very different environment. I’ve considered many of my previous customers, colleagues, and bosses as mentors. I’ve found the key is to really know yourself, i.e., your skills, weaknesses, etc. and seek out others that can complement you, and whom you can learn from — even employees who work for you can be mentors if you keep your ego in check!
Can you share with our readers how you have used your success to bring goodness to the world?
First and probably most importantly as a CEO, you can’t control society, but you can ensure that the company you are running has an operating environment and culture that allows people to come to work as they are, and not force them to leave parts of themselves at home. Creating that culture with my leadership team is something I take very seriously and that we openly work toward each day at ATPCO. Everyone should feel comfortable being themselves and this should be embraced in all organizations. For example, the first company I started almost 30 years ago, Neoglyphics, had HR policies that were very open for their time. I remember I was interviewing someone to head up our consulting practice and on his résumé, he had prominently displayed that he was the captain of the gay men’s swimming club. I happened to ask him in the interview why that was so important to him and why it was so prominent on his résumé. He stated that since Neoglyphics was well known for being accommodating to all he thought this would give him a hiring advantage. What was interesting is that honestly, as CEO, I didn’t even realize that. He was the one to then tell me that Neoglyphics was well known as a gay and lesbian friendly environment, it turned out the LGBTQ population represented at least 30% of our workforce, and it made me want to strive even more to be as inclusive as we could for not just that community in the workforce, but also others.
Thank you for that. Let’s jump to the core of our discussion. Can you share with our readers about the innovations that you are bringing to the Aviation and Air Travel industries?
ATPCO has been providing the world’s leading pricing and shopping data to airlines, global distribution systems, travel agencies, and tech companies for decades. We’re owned by airlines and we make the airline ecosystem more efficient by combining our data with strong standards, governance, and technology. We create value for everyone economically: our operations are funded by just $1 of every $7,500 in passenger revenue.
That’s where we are, and we are always looking forward. We are working with many other industry companies to build structures for new ways to better connect consumers with the flights they’re looking for, like dynamic pricing and better searching based on flight attributes.
A great example of innovating so we can help airlines serve consumers better happened during the pandemic. Worldwide flights were suddenly grounded, long-term, and airlines wanted to allow tickets people bought months in advance of the pandemic to be able to be changed, canceled, or refunded, which was different from the original conditions of the ticket they had purchased before the crisis hit. Normally you can’t do this because it’s a retroactive change after the sale, so there was no way to handle this without making a manual change on each ticket. Our team at ATPCO quickly analyzed several ideas to design a solution to automate how airlines could deal with this issue. The solution had to be simple and fast, and it had to meet the needs of every airline that wanted to use it. Implementing a change like this would usually take a year or more, but working closely with individual airlines, Global Distribution Systems (GDS), and channel partners, we launched a solution we called Emergency Flexibility in just a little over two months, that enabled airlines and systems to automate changes for millions of tickets.
Today, however, our biggest and most difficult problem to solve is what we call dynamic offers. The vast majority of information you see related to fares and pricing in the airline industry is all pre-calculated. In other words, airlines pre-build the entire offer. We are helping the industry move from that static prebuilt offer to a world in which an airline can dynamically create an offer in real time specifically for you. We are looking to provide data to inform the right price, with the right amenities at the right time that makes it valuable for both the traveler and the seller.
Which “pain point” are you trying to address by introducing these innovations?
ATPCO, which sits at the center of airline distribution, powers global flight shopping by hosting more than 300 million fares in our database for over 400 airlines. This pricing and retailing content serves as the foundation of global flight shopping, distributed through every major distribution channel.
The volume of flight shopping is enormous, and it’s growing very quickly–in fact, we saw our highest numbers ever during the pandemic. New methods for creating airline offers, which people can purchase, like dynamic offers, will only keep those volumes increasing. What we’re trying to solve is how to reduce the complexity of managing all this data for airlines, while at the same time improving retailing so it’s easier for consumers to find the flights and options they want.
How do you envision that this might disrupt the status quo?
Dynamic offers have the ability to provide both the seller and the traveler with more value than the “static status quo” can today.
For example, this will lead travelers to search in entirely new ways. I’m currently in Europe on business and would love to have been able to easily look for all of the airline options that could get me to Amsterdam in a fully flat seat with Wi-Fi. To get to that answer today I would first have to choose a date then it would show me prices and it would then need to be filtered for those specific options. What if those options became the first search criteria instead of the date? Then, what if the airline, knowing I was looking for something very specific, could dynamically construct an offer that met my exact needs? This is available in many other industries and this is what we at ATPCO are looking to help airlines and the air travel industry create.
Are there exciting new technologies that are coming out in the next few years that will improve the Air Travel experience? We’d love to learn about what you have heard.
For me, it’s really what I’ve spoken about here. Dynamic offers, if done well, will change how consumers shop and book flights as they will be getting a far better, more personalized experience and an offer that is right for them. It isn’t something that will happen overnight and I truly believe that ATPCO will be at the forefront of this new technology and be a key player in leveraging the amount of data needed to create these offers in real time.
As you know, the Pandemic changed the world as we know it. For the benefit of our readers, can you help spell out a few examples of how the Pandemic has specifically impacted Air Travel?
The most powerful catalyst for customer-centricity in the airline industry came from the most devastating event in the history of commercial aviation. The massive disruptions of 2020 exposed infrastructure challenges that prevented people in the airline industry from responding to their customers as nimbly as they might have wished.
The COVID-19 pandemic depressed the demand for air travel in ways never experienced before by the industry. Demand was down 65.9 percent compared to 2019, with losses totaling US$118 billion. By May 2020, revenue by passenger kilometer (RPK) was down more than 90 percent. Even the effects of the terrorist attacks of 9/11 pale in comparison to the pandemic. After the World Trade Center towers came down, air travel demand dropped 30 percent in the United States, and it took the airline industry six years to recover its capacity. Using those metrics, the current crisis is at least twice the threat and is much longer lasting. Despite encouraging progress on the vaccination front, a return to a “normal” demand level is still a ways off.
During normal market conditions, all travel processes are predictable. Travelers know they can change or cancel their tickets according to the airline’s policies. Travelers also know the applicable conditions in case of involuntary changes like delays or cancellations. Airlines use ATPCO to easily transmit these policies and conditions to customer-facing sales channels and large technology providers. In the case of a flight cancellation, an automated re-accommodation on a new flight is performed by the airline. The sales channel is informed of the change and can interact with the traveler to decide on the most appropriate remedy. This can be the replacement flight closest to the original schedule, a different flight, or in some situations such as a lengthy delay, the traveler can request a refund.
The COVID-19 pandemic totally overturned this predictable structure. Travelers were faced with complete uncertainty — will it be safe to fly, what will happen if the location they plan to travel to is in sudden lockdown, what if the flight itself does not operate, what if they are not able to travel because of illness or local restrictions? Then on top of this, much of the industry forecasting and flight optimizations are based on algorithms derived from past performance — and the world was suddenly in a state where that historical data was almost useless for future planning purposes.
The pandemic created a need to deliver health-related information to customers. Travelers suddenly were more concerned about the measures that airlines were taking to protect their health during flights. Airlines were already using ATPCO Premium UPAs (Universal Product Attributes) to differentiate their flight and service offerings. But we found a way to repurpose UPAs for health information. Just three weeks after the pandemic struck, we used our Routehappy Content to create Reassurance UPAs and provided them at no cost to the industry.
Our Customer Care Council (which is composed of executives from several airlines) applied the lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, including the industry need for a fully automated and flexible method of servicing passengers. They have set a goal of 100% automation of all changes so airlines can better articulate their change and refund policies, agencies can better serve their customers, and consumers can have more certainty on what happens when changes to their travel schedule occur.
Can you share some examples of how the Air Travel experience might change over the next few years to address the new realities brought by the Pandemic? If you can, please give an example for each.
There is a clear and urgent need to centralize airline crisis rules via a common platform accessible by sales channels. They should have real-time access to each airline policy and know in advance which automated tools could be used to perform the different operations according to the rules defined (such as for ticket change or refund, or unused or partially flown tickets). It should not require a crisis for all ecosystem players to collaborate in this manner. With these rules defined in advance, providers can offer more customer-centric services, and the airline industry will start to regain the consumer trust lost during the pandemic.
We don’t need another crisis to drive home the importance of anticipating and answering consumer needs. We know that our industry infrastructure for both standards and data must be flexible enough to deal with change quickly and effectively.
The pandemic created a need to deliver health-related information to customers. Health concerns will remain a consumer concern. Travelers will need information delivered in a way that they can easily understand and ensure they have all valuable data points to make informed travel decisions that are right for them.
The search for flight information has long been driven by multiple customer criteria, such as price, convenience, preferred airline, or additional services. The COVID-19 pandemic made it clear that a critical category of flight information needed to be added to that information flow: how rules would apply in the case of a major crisis. These rules should be defined in advance to let the traveler book a flight with full transparency of the conditions that would apply in a crisis situation. The airlines have several options: offer a voucher for future travel, change without penalty, or a full refund. Airlines could also predefine their rules with templates addressing different types of crises with corresponding policies.
You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
As a society over the last half century, we have become significantly more tolerant of many things around us like the LGBTQ+ community and sexuality as a whole. Of course, there is more work to do in that particular space, but something I care deeply about is bringing more understanding and tolerance to mental health in similar ways. I find our society is still quite closed-minded to the struggles of those with mental health issues and the stigma that follows many who are brave enough to speak about their mental health journey. For me, I would want to get involved in a movement of de-stigmatizing mental health. I would love to be a part of making a change for good in this space. We don’t stigmatize other diseases like cancers or diabetes (as we shouldn’t!) and I believe that any and all mental health issues should be spoken about and accepted on a similar level. It’s something I am super passionate about.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
You can find me on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexzoghlin and if you are looking for a new opportunity, check out our careers page: https://www.atpco.net/careers/open-positions
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
Alex Zoghlin of ATPCO: The Future of Travel in The Post Covid World was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.