American goes for the spoken word

Special technology is being harnessed by American Airlines to remove one of the stresses of travelling for foreign language-speaking passengers by becoming the first airline to introduce the Google Assistant’s interpreter mode in its airport lounges.

Google and American announced their partnership at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Chicago and the airline has already begun testing the system at its Admirals Club lounges at Los Angeles International Airport.

American says with the ability to translate in real-time, the Assistant’s interpreter mode will help premium customer service representatives to provide more personalised service to passengers.

The airline is still emphasising personal service, saying the device, which can translate 29 languages including Arabic, French, German, Japanese, Russian, and Vietnamese will be used only when a multilingual staff member is not available.

Chief information officer Maya Leibman said: “Incorporating technology like the Google Assistant’s interpreter mode will help us to break down barriers, provide a worry-free travel experience and make travel more accessible to all.”

The Google Assistant is the latest tech enhancement American has introduced to make travel easier. Other introductions include mobile passport scanning, boarding notifications and online virtual 3D aircraft tours.

www.aa.com

https://assistant.google.com

www.ces.tech

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