As airlines across Asia race to modernise ageing systems and meet rising customer expectations, digital transformation is becoming less about introducing new technology and more about rethinking how airlines operate, communicate and recover during disruptions.
Speaking with iTNews Asia, both Mark Anthony Munsayac, Vice President for Customer Experience at Philippine Airlines (PAL), alongside Robert Woolfrey, Vice President of Sales, APJ from Twilio, discussed how the airline is balancing operational resilience, while modernising its core systems and leveraging AI.
For PAL, the transformation journey accelerated during the pandemic, when the airline saw an opportunity to redesign customer service operations while optimising costs. Over the last five years, the airline has moved from on-premise contact centre infrastructure to cloud-based systems, enabling omnichannel support and greater operational flexibility.
According to Munsayac, the decision to replace legacy systems is rarely triggered by technology alone. Instead, the tipping point comes when outdated platforms begin affecting customer experience, operational agility and business costs simultaneously.
“If the cost of maintaining a system keeps increasing, if it delays issue resolution and affects passenger experience, then it becomes a reminder to reassess whether we should already replace the technology,” he said.
Phased migration and rollback capabilities reduce operational risk
One of the strongest lessons from Philippine Airlines’ transformation journey has been the importance of minimising disruption during modernisation.
Munsayac acknowledged that replacing long-standing systems is rarely simple, particularly for an airline with decades of operational history. Rather than executing large-scale system replacements overnight, the airline adopted phased migration strategies, parallel system operations and rollback mechanisms.
“Customer experience is a non-negotiable constraint,” Munsayac said. “We are willing to delay timelines if needed rather than compromise passenger experience.”
He revealed that every modernisation initiative included rollback planning before deployment. This cautious rollout strategy has helped the airline modernise without compromising operational continuity during peak travel periods.
AI initiatives must begin with real business problems
Both executives emphasised that AI projects succeed only when tied to measurable operational or customer outcomes.
Munsayac said PAL began transformation initiatives by identifying specific customer or operational pain points first. The airline initially deployed generative AI for FAQ support but has gradually expanded capabilities to include booking retrieval, refund case creation, baggage information and personalised passenger assistance.
According to Twilio, one of the largest barriers preventing airlines from delivering personalised AI experiences is fragmented customer data.
Woolfrey explained that airline data is often spread across loyalty systems, booking engines, operational platforms and customer service tools, making it difficult to build unified customer profiles. “If you don’t have your data in order, you ultimately end up with very generic responses from AI,” Woolfrey said.
He stressed that personalisation at scale depends on real-time data access and centralised customer visibility.
“Creating a single view of the customer is foundational before airlines can successfully scale AI initiatives,” Woolfrey said.
Without that foundation, he said airlines risk delivering disconnected experiences across channels.
AI shifts from experimentation to operational automation
While generative AI tools are gaining attention across the aviation sector, Munsayac believes some of the biggest near-term gains come from simpler operational automation initiatives. He pointed to examples such as AI-assisted quality monitoring, automated disruption notifications and proactive passenger support during missed connections.
“One simple example is proactively notifying passengers if they are about to miss a connecting flight because of delays,” Munsayac said. “It sounds simple, but it requires multiple systems talking to each other.”
He added that AI is allowing business teams beyond IT departments to experiment with automation and workflow improvements.
“People can now use their imagination and creativity to think of things they can automate that can provide better customer experience and more efficient operations,” he said.
Loyalty is shifting from points to experience
Woolfrey also noted that modern passengers increasingly value proactive communication and operational transparency over reward accumulation alone. He described how airlines can build loyalty through proactive engagement during stressful travel moments, such as notifying passengers about delays, gate changes or missed connections before issues escalate.
“Customers feel looked after when airlines anticipate problems before they happen,” Woolfrey said.
Munsayac agreed, noting that disruption management often defines long-term customer perception more than flawless journeys. He added that customer effort during disruptions has become one of Philippine Airlines’ most important success metrics.
Security remains a top concern in enterprise AI adoption
Despite growing AI adoption, both executives stressed that security, governance and data integrity remain major concerns for airlines.
Munsayac said PAL is actively exploring enterprise AI architectures that allow customer data to remain within internal networks rather than external systems.
Rushing AI implementations without fixing foundational data issues could lead to poor decision-making and unreliable outputs.
- Mark Anthony Munsayac, Vice President for Customer Experience, Philippine Airlines.
Looking ahead, Munsayac outlined his vision for what could become the airline industry’s next major customer experience breakthrough - an AI-powered travel companion fully integrated into airline systems.
Instead of relying on traditional apps or websites, passengers would interact conversationally with AI agents capable of booking flights, checking passengers in, managing disruptions and proactively sending reminders.
“This is not just a chatbot. It’s an AI travel companion connected to all airline back-end systems,” Munsayac said.
He described a future where passengers receive proactive notifications before check-in deadlines, automatic rebooking during disruptions and personalised travel assistance through platforms such as WhatsApp or Telegram.
Munsayac believes many of these capabilities are already technically achievable but the challenge is implementing it securely and integrating it properly into airline systems.
