No Hassle Check-in of Aircraft Customers and Baggage

With today’s airline system operating with record load factors, the consequences of traveling customers having an inconvenient experience has become a sensitive area for air carriers in maintaining a competitive advantage. Even though considerable progress has been made with self check-in procedures for customers, the procedures that airline employees have to accomplish for patrons to traverse the airport and, finally, obtain a seat on the aircraft are numerous and time consuming. At Purdue University, the Aviation Technology Graduate Operational Assessment and Improvement class developed a gap analysis of present processes and what could be obtained with existing technology and process enhancement. This analysis focused on customer and baggage check-in procedures from arrival at the airport to aircraft entry at the gate. What resulted from this study was the realization that large reductions in process times could be achieved and customer service benefits obtained with the elimination of non-value tasks through customer self-use of existing technology and task reductions, such as RFID and biometric equipment. The study also indicated that a large portion of customer check-in could be accomplished with no contact or interaction with airline customer representatives, strengthening the concept of improvement in customer satisfaction and increased service levels