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An essay on what digital strategy airports should adopt in order to improve the experience of flyingTRANSCRIPT
Improvingtheairportexperience
throughdigitalstrategy
AnessaybyMischaKRIENS
Source:www.caglecartoons.com
“Improvingtheairportexperiencethroughdigitalstrategy”–byMischaKRIENS 2
IntroductionAccording toBenjaminFranklin “nothing in thisworld is certain, except death
and taxes”. But he didn’t live in our century and never got to experience the
inevitableproblemsthatcomewithtryingtoboardaplaneinthe21stCentury.
Noonehaseverstatedthattheyhadanicetimeduringthecheck‐inprocessor
that the immigration procedure was pleasurable, but there are hundreds of
thousands of complaints and stories that come out every day associated with
flying.Airlineslosepeople’sbagsorpassengersmisstheirflightduetodelaysin
immigrationorsecurity.It’ssafetosaythatflyingisoneofthemostexasperating
waysoftravel,farmoresothantakingthetrainorwalking,yetthereissimplyno
fasterwaytocovervastdistances.
Itallstartsonceyou leavetherelativesafetyofyourhousefortheairport: the
first step upon arrival is finding your terminal. There are usually several
differentterminal’sthatarefarapartandit’snotalwaysclearwhereyouhaveto
go in order to check‐in. Once you have finally found the long lines of people
bookedonthesameflightasyoursthewaitingbegins.Yetonceyouhavefinally
gottentothecounterandhaveobtainedthemuch‐valuedboardingpassitisnot
over, no things have only started. Next is the security checkpoint where
everyoneisforcedtopracticallyundressbeforebeingallowedtogothroughthe
metal detector. This is where you see poor old people struggling to get their
shoesbackonwhile trying topreservesomekindofdignityoryoungmothers
gettingyelledatforbringingbabyfoodwiththemintheirbags.
Once you have escaped themenacing glares from the security people you can
breathemorefreely,youareinsidetheairport!Atthistimeyoucanexplorethe
shopsandrestaurantsthatareatyourdispositionatyourownpace.Untilthey
indicatethattheywillbeboardingyourplaneononeofthelargemonitorsand
youhave tomakea run foryourgate,which iswhenyouwill find it ison the
othersideoftheairport.Afterrunningtomakeitthereontimeyouwillusually
find that the airline personnel is running late and that there is a huge line of
passengers waiting to get onto the plane. Once the extremely disorganized
processofboardingeveryoneontheplaneisdonewithandyouareinyourseat
youcanrelax,nothinghorriblewillhappeninthenextcoupleofhours,thatisif
youdon’tcountsomeofthefoodthattheywillserveyouofcourse.
Whentheplanelandsyoucouldbelievethatthetripisalmostover,butusually
this isnot thecase.Firsteveryoneneeds togetoff theplaneand into thenext
airport,wheresignstellyouinwhichdirectiontogo.Everyoneismovingalong
fineandyoufeellikeyou’reintheclearwhenyoustumbleuponimmigrationand
the hundreds of people that are already standing in line. Getting through
immigration takes some impressive queuing skills, as they will only open a
coupleofthecountersinsteadofmanningallofthem.Whileyou’restandingin
line,patientlywaitingforyourturnyousuddenlyrealizewhattimeitisandthat
youmightmiss your connecting flight if theydon’t hurryup, even thoughyou
tookanextrahourtotransfer.Butnooneisallowedtojumpthelineandsoyou
just have to wait it out. For those lucky people that do not have to catch the
connectingflightthereisstillthelittlethrillofgoingtopickupyourbaggageand
prayingthatyoursuitcasehasnotbeenlostbytheairline.
“Improvingtheairportexperiencethroughdigitalstrategy”–byMischaKRIENS 3
SoIbelieveBenjaminFranklin’squoteshouldbeamendedtosay,“nothinginlife
iscertain,exceptdeath,taxesandairportproblems”.Yetwhyisthisthecasein
today’ssocietywheresomanynewtechnologiesandappsarebeingdeveloped
every single day?Why can’twemodify the systemor at least implement little
thingsthatwillimprovethepassenger’sexperience?Inthefollowingparagraphs
Ihavelookedateverypartoftheairportprocessandhavetriedtounderstand
whatkindofdigitalstrategywouldbeuseful in improvingit.Therearea lotof
smallthingsthatcanbedoneandthatwouldhaveahugeimpactonthebillions
ofpeoplethatflyoutofairportsallaroundtheworldeveryyear.
“Improvingtheairportexperiencethroughdigitalstrategy”–byMischaKRIENS 4
Thecheck‐inprocessChecking‐intoyourflightattheairportisonlypossibleacoupleofhoursbefore
theflightdeparts,thismeansthatallthepassengersfromoneflightwillstandin
lineat the counterat approximately the same time.Queues start formingonce
the counters open, approximately three or four hours before departure and
remainuntilaboutanhourbeforetheplaneactually leaves.Thismeansthat in
the case of a medium to large aircraft between 300‐500 passengers have to
checkintotheirflightduringa2‐3hourstimeframe.Evenifprocessingisdone
swiftlyanda lotof countersareopen, this is inevitablygoing to cause lines to
form.
The suggested solution that has been
implemented for a couple of years by
most airlines is the option to check‐in
online up until 30 hours before
departure. Passengers can then choose
to print out their boarding passes
themselves,or canopt topick themup
atspecialkiosksattheairport.Baggage
can be simply be dropped of at one of
the counters, but as most people now fly with only a carry‐on this greatly
reduces the lines. One could still streamline the process as online check‐in
requirespassengerstoindicatewhethertheyhaveanysuitcasesthatneedtobe
checked‐in, allowing the airline to estimate the number of counters that they
needtoprovidefortheflight(thiswillprobablyvarywiththedestinationsand
daysoftheflight).
Mobileapplicationshavealsobeenusedbyairlinesand insteadofprintingout
theirboardingpass,peoplecannowreceiveanemailontheirsmartphonethat
will allows themtoboard theplane.Yourphonebasicallybecomesyour ticket
andthismakesthingsalotsimplerforpassengers.
The last problem passengers encounter when checking in is looking for the
terminal they are travelling from. Most major airports have several terminals
anditisn’talwayseasytofigureoutwhereyouneedtogo.Havingliveupdates
onyourmobilethroughandairportspecificorairlinespecificapplicationwould
help people getting it right the first time, making sure they don’t lose time
transferringbetweenterminals.
This application could also provide information such as flight delays or the
estimated time needed to pass through security and get to the gate. People
alwaysmakesuretheyleaveearlyenoughfortheairporttomakesuretheydon’t
misstheirflight,justincasetherearelonglinesorthereistraffic.Havinganapp
telling you that thewait for security is extremely short or extremely long can
helppeopleplantheirtravelbetter,makingsuretheydon’twaitatthegatefor
twohoursormisstheirflights.
“Improvingtheairportexperiencethroughdigitalstrategy”–byMischaKRIENS 5
PassingthroughsecurityAll theairlinesat theairportnowinadvanceaswellas inreal‐timehowmany
passengersareflyingontheirplanesandatwhattimetheywillbeflying.Oncea
passengerarrivesattheairportandchecksintheyknowthathisnextstepwill
bethesecuritycheckpoint.Bycollectingthedataforalltheairlinesitispossible
for the airport to estimatehowmanypeoplewill be going through security at
any time.Thiswillhave tobeanestimationbasedon thereal‐timedata,yet it
canbecalculatedprettyaccuratelyby lookingatpaststatistics.Knowingthata
big flightwillbe leaving in twohoursmeans that thepassengerswillbegoing
through security and that there needs to be enough staff at the security
checkpoint.Assuchairlinescanestimatewhentheyneedtoincreasepersonnel
andwhen theywill be able to decrease the staff. Thiswould allow for amore
dynamicschedulingofsecuritypersonneldependingontheflowofpeopleatthe
airport,andwouldavoidtheusual linesandbottlenecksthatarecreatedwhen
largegroupsofpeoplearriveallatonce.
Another time‐consuming part of the security process is that people are now
requiredtotakeofftheirshoes,jacket,beltsandothermetalitemsbeforebeing
allowedtogothroughthemetaldetector.Theprocessofremovingtheclothesis
a slow one, and after being allowed through the detector people need to get
dressedagain,creatingbottlenecksforthepeoplewaitingbehindthem.Ibelieve
this process could be streamlined if security would just accept to use more
moderntechnologysuchasfullbodyscanswherepeoplenolongerhavetotake
anything off. The best solution would be to have everyone go through these
machinesand ifpossibleevenwith theircarry‐on,and thenrandomlypickout
passengers based on a computer algorithm and search these people more
thoroughly.
One recently developed
machine called the passive
millimeter wave scanner
uses extremely high
frequency radio waves in
order to perform a full‐
body scan of a passenger.
The method produces an
image that allows the
security personnel to
identifyanyforeignobjects
anditlookslikesomeoneis
virtually naked with all
foreignobject identifiedby
a darker color. The scan
takesapproximately15secondsanddoesn’trequireanyclothingtoberemoved.
There has been some concern around thesemachines as they are believed to
invade people’s privacy, but I believe that offering two different lines at the
airport,onewithtraditionalmethodsandonewiththistechnologywouldsolve
theissue.
“Improvingtheairportexperiencethroughdigitalstrategy”–byMischaKRIENS 6
WaitingtimeOntheothersideofthesecuritycheckpointthereisawholeworldofshopsand
caféswaitingforpassengers.Itispossibletobydutyfreeitemssuchasalcohol,
perfumesandgadgetsoronecanhaveanicemealatoneoftherestaurants.The
layoutofairportscanbeconfusingthough,anditishardtoknowhowfaraway
fromthegateonereally is,whichoften leadspassengerstogodirectlytotheir
gates causing them tomiss out on that extra half an hour of shopping. A very
useful tool for all passengers would be a special airport app on their mobile
phonesthatgivesthemaccesstoaninteractivemap.
Suchanappwouldbetheperfecttoolfor
theshopsandtherestaurantstopromote
themselves: they can for example give
customers coupons directly on their
phone,orinformthemaboutanyongoing
promotions. The passengers would only
have to scan their phones at the shop in
ordertousethecouponanditwouldalso
no longer be necessary to show your
boarding pass at the counter as the
informationisstoredonthephone.
Geo‐locationwithintheairportcouldbeverypreciseandwouldallowairlinesto
notifypeoplewhentheyneedtostartwalkingtowardstheirgates.Ifsomeone’s
shopping at the other side of the airport he or shewill need to start walking
earlierthensomeonethatisrightnexttothegate.Knowingthattheywillreceive
a notification will allow people to sit down for a coffee somewhere without
gettingupevery5minutestocheckoneoftheboardsoutsidetherestaurant.
Sometimesyougettotheairportatthe
lastminute andhave to hurry to your
gate; this mostly happens on early
morningflightsandmeansthatpeople
usually don’t have time to get their
much‐needed dose of caffeine. Once
they are through security passengers
rush to theirgateand thensometimes
havetowaitthereforanadditional10
minutes before being allowed aboard
theplane,timetheycouldhaveusedto
grab coffee, where it not that there usually aren’t any coffee stands near the
actual gates. The interactivemapwouldbe able to take into account that they
want to get coffee and can then show themwhich route they need to take in
ordertomakeittotheirgateontime.Iftheappisawareoftheactuallinesatthe
differentcafés itcanevencalculatehowlong itwill take forthepassengerand
can re‐program the directions if necessary or it can let them know that they
reallywon’thavetimeforcoffee.
“Improvingtheairportexperiencethroughdigitalstrategy”–byMischaKRIENS 7
Boarding
Theboardingprocessneverstartsat the time it issupposed to,buthaving the
appnotifyyouwhenyouneedtogotoyourgateallowsyoutodomoreuseful
thingsthenjustwaitingaroundtheseatingarea.Thisalsoavoidsthehugelines
thatareusually formedaround20minutesbefore theboarding issupposed to
start and that make the process very chaotic. On most commercial airlines
people actually have assigned seats and there is no reason youhave to be the
first passenger on the plane. Airlines ask people to board the plane bywaves,
startingwiththepremiumflyers(businessclassandfrequentflyercardholders)
andthenproceedtotherestofthe
passengers.Ithasbeenshownthat
boardingthelastrowsoftheplane
firstismoreefficientthenstarting
with the front, as this creates less
blockage in the aisles. As people
nowhavetheirboardingpasseson
their phones you can notify those
that are allowed to board at first
beforeyounotifythenextwave,as
such you create less of chaos and
the process will be much
smoother.
Whenyouonlyknowthattheyareboardingtheplaneyoudon’tactuallynowif
youneedtorushtothegateorifyoustillhave10minutesbeforeitisyourturn.
Anappcouldinformpassengersofwhichseatstheairlineisallowingtoboardin
real‐timeandcouldalsogiveyouinformationonhowlongthelineis.Ifthereare
still 42peoplewaiting toboard theplane itdoesn’tmake sense to run for the
gate,butifthereisnooneleft,youhadbettermakesureyougetmoving!
Anappcanalsoshowamapoftheseatsthatareontheplane,allowingpeopleto
checkwheretheyareseatedandwheretheywillneedtogo.Theycanalsocheck
where their friends are sitting and even switch seats with people if they so
desire. One could even imagine creating a sort of social network where
passengerscanposttheirmoodorideasinformsofstatusupdatesandthatwill
belinkedtotheirseat.Thiswayapassengercansharetheirseatiftheysodesire
andstart talking to thepersonsittingnext to themevenbefore theyboardthe
plane.Oriftheymeetsomeonewhilewaitingintheseatingareatheycanmakea
request to sit together. If airlines have information on thepassengers, such as
mood,hobbyandwhattheyplantodoontheplanethentheycanevensuggest
changingseatsbasedonamatchmakingalgorithm.Passengerswouldhavetoopt
intothisofcourse,andeveryoneshouldbeabletoindicatetheydon’twanttobe
bothered.Butsomeonewhowantstosleepduringtheflightwouldprobablybe
much happier to be seated next to someone doing crossword puzzles then
someonewho’sverytalkativeorakidplayingwargamesontheirGameboy.
“Improvingtheairportexperiencethroughdigitalstrategy”–byMischaKRIENS 8
UponlandingOncetheplanehasfinishedtaxiingandisatthegateeveryonedisembarksand
starts making their way to the exits and the baggage pick‐up point. In some
airportsthewayisclearlyindicatedbysignswhereasotherairportsmakeitvery
easy for people to get lost. For example at Amsterdam’s international airport,
Schiphol,passengersarriveatthemaindeparturegatesandfindthemselvesina
hugecrowdofpeopleandthesignspointingtowardtheexitsarequitehardto
spot.Itwouldbemucheasierifpassengershadaccesstoaninteractivemapof
thearrivalairport,allowingthemtofindtheirwayifevertheywanttostopand
buysomethingbeforegoingoutside.
Itwouldalsobefuntoreceiveliveupdatesonthestatusofyourbags.Thiswould
be possible by using the tags that are fixed to every piece of luggage as they
includeabarcodethatcanbedirectlyassociatedtosomeone’sboardingpass.Or
passengers could use their phone and scan the receipt that they receivewhen
they check‐in a bag. This way everyone can see where their luggage is at:
whetheritisstillontheplane,ononeoftheairportcartsorifitisalreadyonthe
conveyorbelt.Airports couldevenattachpicturesofdifferentplacesalong the
route that are shown once the bag gets there. This would also re‐assure
passengersthattheirbagissafelyontheplanewiththemandhasnotbeenlost
somewherealongtheway.
A lotofpeoplehaveconnecting flights that theyneedtocatchoncetheyget to
theairportanditcanbeveryusefultohaveaccesstothelistofconnectingflights
andthegatesthattheyareflyingoutof.Havingtheinteractivemapthenallows
passengers to estimate howmuch time they have to get to the next gate and
whethertheycanstillstopforthatcupofcoffeeontheirwaythere.
“Improvingtheairportexperiencethroughdigitalstrategy”–byMischaKRIENS 9
ImmigrationUnfortunately it isnotalwayspossible to rushof theplane,grabyourbagand
jump into a cab. When you travel outside of your country there is passport
controlandcustomsthatyouwillneedtogothrough.Rightnowyouwillneedto
showyouractualpassportbutonecanimaginethatinthefuturetherewillbean
appthatallowsyoutohandthemyourphonewithaspecialpassportapplinked
to your fingerprints (you would for example have to press your finger to the
screeninordertounlockit).Justbyscanningthephoneorbyinteractingwithit
in some otherway, officials could check your identity and verify that you are
whoyousayyouare.Havingaglobaldatabaseoftheworld’scitizenswouldbe
veryhelpfulforthis.
When you arrive in the US you
are also required to fill out a
paper custom form, this usually
veryannoyingforyouhavetogo
looking for certain information
such as you passport number,
yourflightnumberaswellasthe
address of where you will be
staying in the US. Being able to
fill out this form on your phone
directlywouldmakethisprocess
mucheasierforpassengersasall
the information isalreadystored there. Itwouldalsomake the informationon
theformsmorereadableforthecustomofficers,aswellassavingalottreesand
storagespace.
Onceyouarriveattheimmigrationpoint itwouldbeeasytogivepassengersa
number in the queue by having them tap their phone against a reader. There
couldthenbeseatswherepeoplecanwaitinsteadofhavingthemstandinline
forhours.Youwouldsimplywaituntilyournumberisbeingcalledandthengo
uptothecounter.Thismightmaketheprocessa littlesloweraspeoplewould
takelongertogettothecounter,yetthiscanberemediedbymakingsurethere
arealwaysenoughboothsopenfortheamountofwaitingpassengers.There is
noneedtooverstaffallthetime,butairportsknowhowmanypassengersarethe
arriving flights and they also have access to the proportion of foreigners to
expect real‐time. This definitely allows them to plan ahead, and schedule staff
accordingly:themorepassengersarriving,themorestaffisrequired.
Sometimespassengershaveanextremelyshortlayoverandneedtocatchtheir
connecting flight.Currentlyyouarenotallowed to jumpahead in lineand this
causesa lotofpeople tomiss their flights.Havingyourboardingpassonyour
phonewouldallowimmigrationtobeawareofyoursituationandtheycanthen
createaspeciallineforthosepassengersorcangivethemafasternumber.
“Improvingtheairportexperiencethroughdigitalstrategy”–byMischaKRIENS 10
ConclusionThere are a lot of things that can be done in order tomake the experience of
travelling by airplane a lot more pleasurable and efficient. I believe that this
essayhasexploredthedifferentoptionsadigitalstrategycanprovideandwould
encourageairportstostartthinkingaboutwhattheycandoinordertoimprove.
SomeofthethingsthatIhavesuggestedareeasytoimplement,suchascreating
anappwith an interactivemap, andwould still have tremendous influenceon
the way passengers interact with the airport. It should also be fairly easy to
obtaindatafromtheairlinesinordertostreamlineboththesecurityprocessas
wellasimmigration.IhavetoadmitIdon’tunderstandwhyithastotakesolong
to open more counters when the airport has been aware of the number of
passengers arriving for a couple of hours. Other suggestions such a digital
passport will most probably take a lotmore time to implement due to safety
considerations but also the fact that it would require several entities towork
together.
Benjamin Franklin was right after all, airport problems can be avoided, and
airportswillonlyneedtodevelopadigitalstrategyinordertodoso.
Sources:• Allcartoonscomefromthefollowingwebsite:www.caglecartoons.com
• InformationonthebodyscannerswasfoundonWikipedia
• Therestof thetextwascreatedentirely frommyownexperienceswith
airport and flights around theworld and the fair amount of frustration
thathasbeenbuildingupovertheyears.