Blockchain Takes Off – How Distributed Ledger Technology Will Transform Airlines

This white paper, brought to you by the Brightline Initiative and the Blockchain Research Institute, explores the unlimited potential of blockchain as a strategic technology to improve the airline business.

Idea in brief

• The airline industry is ripe for disruption from unexpected competitors and innovative applications. Blockchain’s potential for changing the method of doing business is enormous for the modern airline, whether a newcomer to the game or an established operator.

• Executives should be examining this technology as a means of addressing regulatory requirements, customer expectations, and such external factors as the price of oil, labor costs, and even the weather, all of which affect industry performance.

• Blockchain shows promise for providing critical capability across the airline industry—not just minimizing points of pain but also allowing business model innovation.

• Blockchain can improve any airline process that requires custody and escrow, data reconciliation, identity management, provenance, settlement, and triple entry accounting. The animating power of smart contracts, distributed applications, and easy access to huge amounts of data will help to boost the bottom line.

• Airline operations could profit from targeted testing of blockchain technology to reduce costs, improve safety and security, coordinate with partners and regulators, and improve employee and customer satisfaction.