Passenger Electronic Devices

If anyone has flown on a commercial flight in the past few years they are surely to have noticed a significant change in technology integration throughout the entire travel experience. With online booking, individual ticket kiosks, apps, and inflight Wi-Fi, the savvy traveler of today resembles more of a sweatpants wearing tech-geek than the traditional image of a suit and tie laden jetsetter of years past. Not to say this is a bad thing, but the airline industry is certainly mimicking the trends of society becoming more interlaced with personal electronic devices and incorporating this trend into their business strategies. So, with this week’s blog topic of electronic devices, we will briefly overview what is currently being employed and what might be in the near future for the commercial passenger.

Baggage tracking is a hot topic for newer technologies. With customers of shipping being able to track their packages and even people tracking the progress of their delivery pizza, it is no surprise that a traveler would want to track their bag(s). According to Kollau (2013), “On domestic flights Delta passengers can use Delta’s smartphone app to track their checked baggage with the bag tag number that they received at the time of baggage check-in. Since Delta has equipped all its domestic aircraft with GoGo’s inflight internet, passengers can check up in the air whether their bag has made it on their flight.” There would also soon be a more streamlined process of baggage dropoff including off airport storage to ease the process as well. According to a report by IATA (2013), “For a start, you will need far more storage areas to deal with multiple points of origin and multiple destinations,” says Reynolds. “This type of warehousing will probably have to be set-up off-airport because of the space requirement. The system could be fully automated but it would be a major capital investment. We are not talking about an upgrade to existing systems but a complete redesign of the baggage process.”

Once at the airport, passengers will require constant internet connectivity. Restaurants and businesses already utilize this and the general public has come to find this as the norm, simply not having this service would upset passengers and diminish their flying experience. Many travelers today come prepared with laptops and electronic books (Kindles) to overcome the inherent boredom of waiting in terminals either before or between flights. In order to utilize many of the functions of these devices, an internet connection is a necessity. This would require implementing this technology in airports not yet equipped with this amenity, but for the majority of airports that do, maintaining a strong and reliable signal strength requiring on-site maintenance and tech support. Wi-Fi is simply a must of today’s society.

While inflight, this is where an airline has the chance to become creative. But everything will have to revolve around the personal devices. Charging and storage is a well-received amenity, according to Kollau (2013), “Airlines around the world are responding to the large number of passengers carrying smartphones, notebooks, tablets and e-readers by equipping seats with power and USB ports. A number of airlines and interior suppliers are also looking at ways to integrate passengers’ own devices with the design of the seat.” Delta seems to be the current leader in the U.S. market in terms of technological integration with its generally well received “Fly Delta App”. According to Schaal (2013), “On the Fly Delta app for iPad, you view a stunning globe, with red pins as indicators for fare specials. You can spin the globe and tap on the pins to view the specials; you can also search for flights by destinations from romantic getaways to family favorites and top beaches.” Other features include, “entertainment: You can download, for a fee, top movies and music from iTunes, and top books and articles from iBookstore… [and] the Glass Bottom Jet gives information about the landmarks outside your aircraft's windows. If you select flight status as you're flying over Lexington, Ky., for example, you can tap on the map and read a Wikipedia article about Darby Dan Farm, view Panoramio photos of other area attractions, see information about Facebook friends in the area, and post updates to their Facebook timelines” (Schaal 2013).

The future of travel will no doubt hinge on the use of a passengers own electronic device. Surely there will be issues on the part of the airlines as this progression takes place, whether it be unreliable systems or simply features not found to be popular by the public. But I think the real struggle as this technology advances will be how the airlines will have to balance services between the customers who choose to utilize technology and those who do not. There will always be a select group of individuals who for various reasons will avoid this technology. But if they are paying customers, the airlines will still have to provide a smooth and streamlined process for these individuals.

References

Kirby, M. (2011, May 24). Passenger experience in the spotlight as technology advances . Retrieved from http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/passenger-experience-in-the-spotlight-as-technology-advances-357128/

Kollau, R. (2013, June 6). The in-flight passenger experience technological revolution. Retrieved from http://www.futuretravelexperience.com/2013/06/the-in-flight-passenger-experience-technological-revolution-part-one/

Schaal, D. (2013, January 30). Delta ipad app has many nifty features. Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/columnist/digitaltraveler/2013/01/29/delta-ipad-app-has-many-nifty-features/1875595/

Special report: The future face of air travel. (2013, April). Retrieved from http://www.iata.org/publications/airlines-international/april-2013/Pages/passenger-experience.aspx