In this episode I'm talking to David Havera about "How Innovative Technologies are Protecting Airline Travelers and Employees in the wake of the Global Pandemic". This episode was derived from a soon to be launched webcast that covers why blockchain is a technology that can be leveraged for the aviation industry in crisis but also the latest GE Aviation Digital solution codenamed HealthPass. This solution leverages key capabilities of blockchain to ensure customer privacy, algorithmically driven encryption, interoperability with health and travel authorities, and simplified user experience for integration into mainstream apps.
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The COVID-19 Impacts and Opportunities
COVID-19 is 6X worse than 9/11 to US Airlines, Hotels, and Cruise companies, with an $809 billion estimated economic loss. The US revenue implications are $55B reduction of travel related tax revenue to the states. This effect will ripple through all countries across the globe (See: US Travel Association–Projected downturn 2020).
Worldwide, nearly 50M travel jobs are at risk during this crisis (World Travel and Tourism Council). This could cost airlines $113 billion worldwide in lost revenue with mass groundings (see: International Air Transport Association (IATA)). That's staggering and a cause for major concern.
An Answer GE Aviation is Proposing
This has led to a significant downturn in activity and distress to operations of airlines, airports, ground handling companies, air navigation service providers, concessionaires and suppliers throughout the aviation supply chain. Some Governments have provided support; some companies have filed for bankruptcy, administration or insolvency. As restrictions are lifted it's vital there are solutions to aid with this pandemic. In partnership with Microsoft and TE Foods, GE Aviation has built a way to protect travelers and the employees who work to service airports and airlines.
As an example, below is one of the major processes that allows users to link their COVID-19 test results to the HealthPass app to then be shown to airline staff at an airport:
The example above is just one of many scenarios that is enabled by GE HealthPass. Think about this as an ecosystem of many different organizations all working together to create a safer travel experience for customers. Below are three of approximately 10 ecosystem participants. This shows how these three HealthPass participants can exchange value in this ecosystem on day 1.
This will extend to many different use cases in the future as more and more travelers and workers are allowed to travel.
David Havera Bio
David Havera is a problem solver with technical expertise and industry knowledge to turn data into information and information into insight. He is leveraging business acumen, leadership skills, & his educational background into blockchain and data science.
In his current role, he is the blockchain leader for GE Aviation. He has several active blockchain use cases including supply chain part origin, back to birth, and third party reconciliation.
He has been fortunate enough to have 13 years of corporate finance experience at various GE businesses. He started his career with GE on the Financial Management Program and has progressed through various leadership roles including finance manager at shops in the US and England.