The startup predicting flight delays

Let’s face it, flight delays suck.

They can ruin a meticulously planned holiday in a heartbeat and sometimes even add unexpected costs to your flight.

See also: Which airline is tackling overbooked flights? 

A Boston-based travel tech start-up called Lumo claims it can predict the likelihood of a flight being delayed hours or even days in advance, reports Skift.

And they’ve got a pretty impressive line-up of investors so far, including JetBlue, EasyJet and Founders Factory.

The startup has also signed up travel companies like Adelman, Flight Centre, Carlson Wagonlit and Acendas as pilot customers.

According to Skift, one travel management company testing out the system was overseeing a travel event with around 100 guests.

A winter storm hit, and Lumo was able to predict the likelihood of the event’s speakers and other VIPs having cancelled flights, which allowed the travel company to put back-up plans into action.

Consumers can also access Lumo’s predictions by providing their travel date, flight number and airline for the trip here, and the startup will provide a prediction of the chance of delay.

Lumo isn’t the first travel tech startup major airlines are getting behind, another US company called Volantio also made waves last month, attracting investors like  International Airlines Group, JetBlue Ventures and Qantas Ventures.

Volantio preventatively rejiggers inventory by offering buyouts to flexible passengers, helping airlines to avoid overbooking nightmares like last year’s Dr Dao scandal. 

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