Philippine Airlines Tackles Tricky Customer Service Balance Between Robots and Humans

Asian carriers are no strangers to the global aviation push toward digitizing and automating customer service functions. But to serve customers that still want “human” interaction, several airlines in Southeast Asia are turning to chatbots and artificial intelligence. Take Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific Air, the latest regional carriers to push digitizing customer support services. This comes on the heels of increased online bookings through their respective web pages and mobile applications, according to separate interviews with officials of both airlines.  Cebu Pacific, the Philippines’ largest domestic carrier, will be formally rolling out its chatbot, Charlie, to assist travelers in their travel plans, last-minute arrangements, and even questions on promotions. On test mode since January, Charlie, available 24/7 on the airline’s website and Facebook page, has interacted with some 393,000 passengers. “While we still have traditional [voice] call centers over the years we’ve seen a decline in call volumes, as the mode of customer communication has shifted to social media channels," Cebu Pacific CEO Lance Gokongwei told Skift.   “This is further reduced by our digitization efforts," he added. "Some processes or customer requests such as refunds or re-bookings, which could only be done before by a