GuestLogix's new onboard store platform can support real-time credit card transactions in-flight, but the firm says it hasn't yet seen a rush of carriers requesting the service.
Best known for its point-of-sale (POS) handheld devices, which support airlines' cashless cabin and ancillary revenue initiatives, GuestLogix developed its latest devices so that they could facilitate at-the-gate transactions, real-time in-flight transactions - over basic connectivity such as ACARS or a dedicated pipe for the cabin - and combinations thereof.
Company executive vice president of global sales and client support Brett Proud says one undisclosed customer is already conducting real-time, in-flight transactions off aircraft in an environment where there is "no consumer access to the Internet".
Even though a growing number of carriers are bringing cabin connectivity to their aircraft, Proud believes that significant take-up of real-time credit card authorizations is still a few years away.
"Where you want to do real-time credit depends on what you're selling on board. If it's food and beverage, with an average $10 to $12 [expenditure per passenger], that's underneath the card association's QSR [quick sale retail] platform so the airline doesn't have risk on those transactions anyway. If you're talking about selling items of higher value, then of course real-time credit becomes more important," says Proud.
GuestLogix customer Delta Air Lines, for example, has fitted its domestic fleet with Aircell's Gogo Internet solution, but the carrier is still determining "how does the onboard store look differently" in light of connectivity.
Should Delta give GuestLogix the green light, however, "it wouldn't take a lot of work" to support real-time transactions on the carrier's domestic fleet, says Proud.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
