Ancillary Conference Agenda
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Theme: “New Approaches for a New World”
Candid, revealing & insightful inspiration from innovation efforts around the world
We are delighted to be working with our “Ancillary Ambassador” for this event – Jay Sorensen, President – Product, Partnership and Marketing Practice at IdeaWorks, whose research and reports have made him a leading authority on frequent flyer programmes and the ancillary revenue movement. This conference will explore the most exciting ways to simultaneously enhance customer experiences and revenue opportunities at every point of the journey. Content will focus on new ancillary recommendations for a new era; commercial innovation to increase spend and enhance customer experiences both before and during the day of travel; commercial opportunities amidst the mobility revolution; and finding new business models for airlines, airports and other stakeholders to drive more passenger spend that all parties can share in.
The agenda - Subject to change
Tuesday 7th December 2021
FTE Innovation & Startup Hub activities including visit to Virgin Hyperloop Test Track (FTE Hub members only)
Part of our exclusive members-only FTE Innovation & Startup Hub agenda, which brings together the most forward-thinking corporates, startups and scaleups in the air transport industry and provides a unique platform for them to share expertise, collaborate and deliver positive change.
To learn more or to join the FTE Innovation & Startup Hub, click here: https://www.fte-hub.com/
Welcome Reception in the exhibition hall
Make the most of the vital networking opportunities provided at the FTE Global 2021 Happy Hour, where delegates can enjoy demonstrations in the exhibition and network with their peers, over a refreshing drinks and snacks.
Opening Night Mixer & Bar Games Olympics at Beerhaus - Las Vegas
After being kept apart for the last 18 months we want the renowned networking at FTE Global 2021 to go to the next level, which is why we are adding an additional social event to this year’s schedule at Beerhaus – Las Vegas which delivers a fresh take on the classic beer hall, where an artfully curated menu ensures both beer nerds and casual drinkers will find their favorites. It is located just next door to the Aria Resort in The Park between New York-New York and Park MGM. There are 28 craft beers on tap and endless entertainment including life-size Jenga, corn hole, foosball and ping pong . Grab a cold drink, play some bar games and connect with old and new friends indoors, or on the outdoor patio.
Wednesday 8th December 2021
Breakfast in the exhibition hall
Start your day by visiting the FTE Global exhibition floor and enjoying a morning coffee and breakfast pastry. Take this opportunity to chat with our incredible selection of suppliers showcasing their solutions, products and services to help solve your industry challenges and inspire strategical business decisions.
Opening Keynote Session for all participants
Daniel Coleman
Founder & CEO
Future Travel Experience
Rosemary A. Vassiliadis
Director of Aviation
Harry Reid International Airport
FTE Global Exclusive The Virgin view of the future of travel, and how their efforts across air, sea, land and space could interconnect and help forge new industry approaches.
Patrice Gordon
Commercial Strategy Development Director
Virgin Atlantic
Mariana Fonseca Medina
VP of Digital & Loyalty
Virgin Voyages
Diana Zhou
Senior Director of Global Business Development
Virgin Hyperloop
How United Airlines is transforming the airline industry through bold commitments in areas such as urban air mobility, sustainability & supersonic travel.
Michael Leskinen
President
United Airlines Ventures & Vice President of Corporate Development and Investor Relations, United Airlines
Coffee break and networking in the exhibition hall
Opening Ancillary Conference Keynotes & Scene Setting
Following the opening keynote our Ancillary Ambassador Jay Sorensen will be joined by leading industry figures to debate key questions facing the sector on how to optimise commercial performance in a post-pandemic world.
The airline industry has changed. So has ancillary revenue. Here is my view of the future.
Jay Sorensen
President - Product, Partnership and Marketing Practice
IdeaWorks Company
Dr. Joe Leader
CEO
APEX/IFSA
Dr. Bjoern Becker
Head of Future Intercontinental Experience Program
Lufthansa
Ole Orvér
Chief Commercial Officer
Finnair
Mariana Fonseca Medina
VP of Digital & Loyalty
Virgin Voyages
Scott Kichline
Assistant Director - Aviation: Business / Commercial Development
McCarran International Airport
- What is the most important component of digital transformation for your company or customers?
- Regarding digital transformation, which a la carte services have you introduced, or will be the first for the future?
- A super-app is defined as “A mobile application providing multiple services, to include payment processing for retail activity. These are designed to be a robust self-contained commerce and communication platform, that embraces many aspects of a consumer’s personal and commercial life.” How do you see these changing retail for airlines or airports?
- Follow on question about super-aps, is there an example you admire in the travel space?
- Bags and seat assignments are the big two a la carte revenue producers worldwide. What changes might we see here?
- What opportunities exist for ancillary revenue in the cabin environment, or perhaps in the airport?
- Cryptocurrency. How has your company integrated this, or do you have a good example of another company in the travel space?
- The big loss of business traffic has taken the air out of the loyalty balloon. What will be the biggest change to loyalty programs brought by the pandemic?
- Personalization was to be enabled by frequent flyer programs. Then email messaging was supposed to enable it. Then online retail. What do you think is the biggest broken thing about personalization, and how do you fix that thing?
- But yet when personalization is done right, there’s no better feeling for the consumer. Where have you seen this done well?
- The General Data Protection Regulation, GDPR, impacts anyone selling to a European consumer. How has your company overcome the challenges?
Lunch and networking in the exhibition hall
Post-Lunch Keynote for all participants
How is Delta Air Lines advancing the bold vision the airline unveiled at CES in 2020, and what’s next as Delta continues to innovate to pull the future of flying forward?
Matt Muta
Vice President Innovation
Delta Air Lines
Matt is one of the industry’s smartest minds and has over 30 years of experience with roles in leadership, emerging technologies, and innovation. He oversees an organization within Delta that drives innovation through exploration, rapid prototyping, envisioning and the development or investment in new technology. He is a long-time friend to FTE and we are delighted to welcome him back to FTE Global to share details on where his team is focused now and his views on the future of travel.
Special Keynote
Digital business models that work: Only if technology and business model work together the true potential of digital retailing unleashed for airlines and airports alike. Hear first hand from some of the digital pioneers in our industry on how digital ancillary growth can become a driver for recovery.
Kian T. Gould
Founder & CEO
AOE & Omnevo
Third Working Session - Workshop: What will the mobility ecosystem of the future look like and how will air-transport stakeholders successfully integrate with it?
OPTION 3
Joshua Hirschheimer
Practice Lead - Aerospace, Transportation and Logistics
Porsche Consulting
Keenan Shimko
Senior Consultant, Consumer Products/Retail Strategy & Operations
Porsche Consulting
The mobility ecosystem continues to evolve as it supports population growth, urbanization, and environmental concerns. As we navigate this transformational journey, an important consideration for air transport stakeholders is identifying and building out the customer journey. Join this interactive session to learn how air-transport stakeholders can successfully design customer experiences to achieve competitive advantage in this dynamic environment.
- Learn how Porsche has created a holistic customer experience for the digital mobility age
- Gain insight into what success drivers are essential for creating winning customer ecosystems
- Learn how air transport stakeholders are collaborating to create a customer centric intermodal transportation journey
Third Working Session – Commercial innovation to increase spend and enhance customer experiences both before, and during, the day of travel
OPTION 2
Sammy Patel
Chief Executive Officer, Midway Partnership & Vice President, Commercial
Vantage Airport Group
A fast-moving panel discussion to explore progressive new approaches.
Rana Ghosh
Vice President, Omnichannel
Spirit Airlines
Stephen Tukavkin
Vice President IT & Digital
JFK International Air Terminal
Jay Sorensen
President - Product, Partnership and Marketing Practice
IdeaWorks Company
Job Heimerikx
CEO and Founder
AirFi & APEX Board Member
Effective personalisation, Super apps, E-commerce platforms, new partnerships, driving upgrades, New Payment options (including cryptocurrency), Testing and health considerations, contactless retail and queue management, Pop-up retail, Pre-Order & Concierge services, Lounge innovations, Exciting new collaborations, new vending offerings, inflight innovations, arrivals opportunities.
Coffee Break and networking in the exhibition hall
Fourth Working Session – Digital Transformation and the Future of Ecommerce
OPTION 2Joint session with the Digital & Ancillary track
Marta Dimitrova
Editor & FTE Hub Community Manager
Future Travel Experience
Spirit Airlines have further enhanced their commercial proposition this year with a big play into the loyalty space, but where will they focus next and how important will effective personalisation be to those plans?
Rana Ghosh
Vice President, Omnichannel
Spirit Airlines
What are still the big untapped commercial opportunities in travel for airports and airlines, and how is Manchester Airport Group’s digital agency MAG-O tangibly working with stakeholders to realise that potential, and what lessons can be learned from those efforts?
What do passengers want? That’s the million dollar question airlines and airports like to address. Taking queues from the retail experience and from mall operators, Transformidy explores the intersections between customer needs, brand engagement, and product mix to find untapped revenue opportunities.
Larry Leung
Principal and CXO
Transformidy
Closing Session for all participants
Maury Gallagher, Chairman and CEO, Allegiant Airlines, in conversation with Christina Cassotis, CEO of the Allegheny County Airport Authority, talks about Allegiant Airlines’ success.
Maurice J. Gallagher, Jr
Chairman and CEO
Allegiant Air
Christina Cassotis
CEO
Pittsburgh International Airport
With its unique-to-industry focus on leisure travel, providing affordable, nonstop flights to premier vacation destinations, Allegiant has evolved as an integrated travel company, increasingly offering lodging, rental cars and access to special experiences to customers. Known for a nimble air service model which can add or reduce capacity according to seasonal demand, the Las Vegas-based carrier is in a unique position of growth emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic.
FTE Global Networking Party & Awards Ceremony
Ironwood Terrace, ARIA Resort
This year’s Networking Party will take place outside on the Ironwood Terrace at the ARIA Resort. It is a unique location, and provides an unparalleled outdoor nightlife experience.
You can be assured of a fantastic view and drinks selection, and if that isn’t enough, we will bring you one of the most electrifying live acts in Vegas right now – Wonderful Crazy Night – a new Elton John Tribute which highlights the life and career of the legendary entertainer with extravagantly colorful costumes and Elton’s greatest hits including “Rocket Man,” “Bennie and the Jets,” “Tiny Dancer,” “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart,” “Pinball Wizard,” “Crocodile Rock,” “I’m Still Standing” and more. The event will be this year’s premiere industry networking event, providing a perfect opportunity to unwind and network with fellow attendees in a relaxed environment.
Thursday 9th December 2021
Breakfast, networking and showcase in the exhibition hall
Start your day by visiting the FTE Global exhibition floor and enjoying a morning coffee and breakfast pastry. Take this opportunity to chat with our incredible selection of suppliers showcasing their solutions, products and services to help solve your industry challenges and inspire strategical business decisions.
Co-Creation Breakfast Sessions
FTE Workshops, Co-Creation Forums & Jumpseat Debates
FTE aims to be an industry change catalyst and we are making every effort to facilitate actual industry collaboration at the show, as opposed to just discussing the need for it. These interactive sessions will provide a discussion platform for various stakeholders to discuss how they can work in new ways, and collaborate effectively, in key areas. Delegates will be able to choose which topic they would like to discuss and then join the relevant group to exchange thoughts, ideas, frustrations and potential ways forward.
There will be groups in different working zones, each with their own captain who will lead discussions on each table and help inspire outside-of-the-box thinking. Delegates will play an important role in forming ideas and conclusions within that group, which will be shared by the captains through the post-event report.
Workshop: Virtual queuing
Dave Wilson
Founder & CEO
The Airport Guy
Frank Barich
Principal
Barich, Inc
Co-creation: Nurturing future talent for your organisation
David Wilson
Managing Partner
daa International
Workshop: Cybersecurity mitigation strategies
Russell Roberts
Chief Information Officer and Assistant Administrator for the Office of Information Technology
Transportation Security Administration (TSA)
Workshop: Building CUSS Apps in 1 Hour or Less
Steven Tate
CTO
Blndspt.com & Elevation Software
Day 2 Keynote Session - Next Generation Customer Experience & Strategy visions
Ryan Ghee
Chief Operating Officer
Future Travel Experience
WestJet and Swoop were in the midst of aggressive business transformation, and global expansion, before the pandemic hit – how radically have all those plans changed and how do they see the future of travel now?
Charles Duncan
President, Swoop & Executive Vice President
WestJet
FTE Exclusive – How can the industry reimagine end-to-end customer experiences by taking advantage of the very latest engineering and digital advancements to deliver real choice and satisfaction at every step of the journey?
Dr. Bjoern Becker
Head of Future Intercontinental Experience Program
Lufthansa
Outside of the Industry Keynote – The Art of Collaboration and Engagement
Brian Loo
Senior Director of Operations Development
Meow Wolf
In order for the travel sector to reach greater heights we need to take industry collaboration, and engagement efforts with passengers, to the next level and we can undoubtedly learn so much from Meow Wolf in this regard, which is why we are delighted they will share their invaluable “outside of the industry” perspective with us at FTE Global. Brian is an old friend to FTE and keynoted the event a few years back when he worked for Disney Imagineering.
Coffee break in the exhibition hall
Sixth Working Session – Workshop: Advancing the FTE APEX Business Model Transformation Think Tank – Baggage revenue opportunities in travel
The key recommendations from the FTE APEX Business Model Transformation Think Tank – our most ambitious Think Tank to date (which you can see here) – were unveiled and built upon at our recent FTE APEX Virtual Expos. The forward-thinking group was led by team captain Satyaki Raghunath, Chief Strategy & Development Officer, Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL), who was joined by key industry players Javed Malik, Group COO, AirAsia; Christina Cassotis, CEO, Pittsburgh International Airport; Juha Jarvinen, CCO, Virgin Atlantic and President Emeritus, APEX; and Robert Carey, President, Wizz Air. Together they shared a vision for redefining two key areas of the travel experience: the way passengers purchase and consume food & beverage (F&B) and providing passengers with a reliable and seamless end-to-end baggage experience. In this workshop we will run a dedicated group about the commercial opportunities that are possible through baggage and the ways new approaches could be made to scale.
Andrew Price
Managing Director
Opermium
Lunch break in the exhibition hall
Post-lunch Keynote
Our Next Guest Needs No Introduction… with Joe Leader, CEO, APEX & IFSA
Alison Taylor
Chief Customer Officer
American Airlines
Dr. Joe Leader
CEO
APEX/IFSA
Seventh Working Session: Virgin Group Workshop: Enabling seamless travel across land, sea, air, and space
OPTION 4
Following their opening session on Day 1 of the conference, executives from Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Voyages, and Virgin Hyperloop will host an interactive workshop diving into the nuts and bolts of how we achieve the grand vision of seamless intermodal travel. Participants will break out into small groups to ideate end-to-end passenger solutions focused on the themes of sustainability, customer experience, and loyalty. After these speed brainstorm sessions, groups will come together to share ideas and glean insights from one another.
Mariana Fonseca Medina
VP of Digital & Loyalty
Virgin Voyages
Patrice Gordon
Commercial Strategy Development Director
Virgin Atlantic
Billy Bohan Chinique
Senior Manager, Digital Experience & Marketing Technology
Virgin Voyages
Sara Luchian
Director of Passenger Experience
Virgin Hyperloop
Coffee break in the exhibition hall
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Vital Event Information
Future Travel Experience Global 2025 is a global forum that brings together airlines, airports, government agencies, vendors, start-ups, terminal designers, architects, ground handlers, destination partners and various other travel industry stakeholders to learn, collaborate and be inspired on their next moves to transform their organisations’ passenger experience, business performance & sustainability strategies.
- Event
- Future Travel Experience Global 2025
- Date
- - September 2025
- Location
- Long Beach Convention Center, California, United States
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