One of the worst experiences of traveling by air is when your flight is unexpectedly delayed. With the upcoming holidays, you're most likely to plan your vacation and most people will be taking flights to meet family, friends or simply visit a new place. Google is stepping in to make sure that experience is not ruined right from the beginning.
Google Flights is an incredible feature to help keep a track of flight timings, but most of us didn't know it existed as it involved launching a dedicated app or searching the same on the web. But Google has made it a lot easier to help travellers stay on top of things, even if that means expecting a potential delay in your next flight.
Google Assistant now gets integrated with Google Flights to give you accurate information on flight timings even before the airlines announce.
"You can ask things like, 'Hey Google, is my flight on time?' or 'Hey Google, what's the status of the American Airlines flight from Philadelphia to Denver?'" Google's Richard Holden wrote in an official blog post this week.
But how does Google know even before the airlines confirm a delay? That's the same question we asked and this is how it is done.
Google uses historical flight status data and machine learning to predict a flight delay well in advance. Since this is a feature not many are aware of, Google Assistant will proactively notify you of a potential flight delay along with the reason behind it. For instance, Google Assistant will tell you a certain flight is scheduled to depart on time, but it will also share its prediction that there is a good chance it will be delayed by a certain time due to a delayed incoming flight or other reasons.
This information will help those who arrive at the airport in the last minute and rush through check-ins and security. Getting such a notification while you're trying to rush from your home to the airport to catch a flight can help you relax a bit.
But Google is also playing it safe by telling the user to still plan to be on time. Google Flights can accurately predict flight delays 85 percent of the time, and it would be terrible to be in that "15 percent" group.
