The aviation and airline industry has fully recovered from the pandemic, but with the return of passenger volumes comes the return of operational strain. SITA reports that while mishandled bag rates are improving, the sheer volume of travel means millions of passengers still face disruptions. AirHelp estimates that 36.1 million bags were lost, damaged, or delayed in 2024 alone.
For years, airlines have used simple chatbots to handle low-level queries like luggage allowance or flight status. But in an era of Agentic AI, high-stakes, real-time operations, “deflecting” a customer is no longer enough.
To maintain trust and operational efficiency, airlines need to move beyond simple containment. They need Enterprise Agentic AI; intelligent AI agents capable of handling the most complex, urgent service flows: IRROPS (Irregular Operations), luggage recovery, and loyalty management.
With the launch of Teneo 8, airlines can now deploy these enterprise-grade agents to automate interactions end-to-end, without sacrificing the control, accuracy, or security required in aviation.
The Difference Between a basic Chatbot and an AI Agent
In the retail industry, a mistake might mean a returned shirt. In aviation and airline industry, a mistake means a stranded passenger or a violation of federal transportation regulations.
Legacy chatbots often fail in aviation because they lack deep integration and reasoning capabilities. A modern Airline AI Agent built on Teneo does not just answer questions; it executes tasks across your ecosystem.
- It doesn’t just say a flight is cancelled; it checks rebooking eligibility based on fare class and proactively offers alternative routes.
- It doesn’t just link to a lost bag form; it ingests the Property Irregularity Report (PIR) data, tracks the bag’s last known scan, and provides a delivery timeline.
- It doesn’t just show a point balance; it validates redemption rules and books the reward seat.
Winning Trust in Critical Service Moments
Customer trust is not won when a flight lands on time, that is expected; it is won when things go wrong and handled. Teneo supports the highest-impact service flows where passengers are most vulnerable.
1. Day of Travel & IRROPS Management
When a storm hits a hub or a strike is planned, call center wait times skyrocket. An AI Agent can scale instantly to handle the surge.
- Proactive Alerts: Notify passengers of gate changes or delays before they reach the airport.
- Reaccommodation: Guide passengers through rebooking flows, managing seat selection and boarding pass issuance in seconds.
- Connection Risk: Analyze incoming flight delays against connecting flight times to advise passengers on tight connections.
2. The Luggage Battle
Luggage is an emotional touchpoint. Passengers want immediate answers, tailored to their needs, not generic FAQs that can be found online.
- Real-time Tracking: Integrate with luggage handling systems to give passengers the exact location of their luggage.
- Claims Automation: Automate the intake of delayed/damaged luggage claims, capturing required info and policy guidance without human intervention.
3. Loyalty & High-Value Support
Your frequent flyers are your most valuable asset. They expect service that recognizes their status.
- Personalized Service: AI Agents can recognize tier status immediately and adjust the conversation flow or prioritize the queue accordingly.
- Complex Redemptions: Troubleshoot missing miles, validate eligibility for upgrades, and handle complex reward bookings.
Intelligent Automation Across the Entire Passenger Journey
Teneo goes beyond simple Q&A. It supports the highest-impact airline service flows, including disruption recovery and day-of-travel operations, ensuring a consistent experience at every touchpoint.
Pre-Trip
Pre-Trip: Seamless Planning & Adjustments Before the passenger even arrives at the airport, AI Agents handle the complexity of reservations and policies.
- Booking & Payments: Guidance on flight search, payment troubleshooting, receipt retrieval, and duplicate charge routing.
- Changes & Refunds: managing policy-aware itinerary changes, cancellation flows, refund eligibility checks, and the issuance of vouchers or credits.
Day of travel
Day of Travel: Managing the Unexpected (IRROPS) When operations are disrupted, speed is everything. AI Agents act as a real-time concierge.
- Status & Check-in: Proactive flight alerts, gate changes, online check-in guidance, and boarding pass delivery.
- Disruption Recovery: During delays or cancellations, the agent handles connection risk guidance, reaccommodation options, and instant rebooking flows.
Post-Trip
Post-Trip: Resolving Luggage & Claims The journey isn’t over until the bags arrive. AI Agents turn a frustration point into a transparent process.
- Tracking: Providing delivery timelines, status updates, and tracing guidance.
- Claims: Automating the intake for delayed, lost, or damaged luggage, including capturing required info and validating luggage fees or allowances.
Loyalty
Loyalty: Elevating High-Value Members Ensure your most frequent flyers get immediate answers regarding their status and rewards.
- Account Support: resolving points balance queries, tier benefit explanations, and missing miles tracking.
- Redemptions: Assisting with reward booking changes, eligibility checks, and troubleshooting redemption errors.
Assistance
Assistance: Care for Every Passenger AI Agents ensure that passengers with specific needs are prioritized and their requests accurately logged.
Special Services
Special Services: Coordinating PRM (Persons with Reduced Mobility) services, medical needs, unaccompanied minors, and special assistance confirmations.
Why Hybrid AI is Critical for Airlines
Airlines operate in a world of strict governance. You cannot have a Large Language Model (LLM) “hallucinating” a refund policy or inventing a flight that doesn’t exist. Teneo uses a Hybrid AI approach, combining the conversational fluency of LLMs with a deterministic intelligence layer (TLML).
This ensures:
- Accuracy & Compliance: The AI Agent respects fare rules, Conditions of Carriage, and regulatory policies 100% of the time.
- PII Protection: Airlines handle sensitive data—passports, Known Traveler Numbers, and payment details. Teneo’s enterprise-grade governance ensures PII is masked, protected, and never trained on by public LLMs.
- Orchestration: The system orchestrates between different LLMs like Google Gemini or OpenAI GPT and backend systems (like Amadeus or Sabre) to ensure the right tool is used for the right task.
Ready for Takeoff?
The next generation of airline customer service isn’t about hiring more staff for the peak season; it’s about equipping your operation with AI that can handle the complexity of modern travel.
With Teneo 8, available now, airlines can finally bridge the gap between digital efficiency and human-centric service, ensuring that even when operations are disrupted, the customer experience remains smooth.
Ramazan Gurbuz
Product Marketing Executive at Teneo.ai with a background in Conversational AI and software development. Combines technical depth and strategic marketing to lead global AI product launches, developer initiatives, and LLM-driven growth campaigns.