As airlines such as Delta invest in their own airport kiosks, they are committing to a proprietary fleet at the same time that many airports themselves are backing a common or shared kiosk system.
With IATA's endorsement, common-use terminal equipment, (CUTE) begun in 1984 to expedite check-in, is now reaching into common-use self-service (CUSS) kiosks. The largest common-use deployment is under way at Las Vegas McCarran airport, where a $2 million system called SpeedCheck will be in place with at least 38 kiosks by year-end. The first kiosks should be in place by the end of August. Six airlines - Southwest, America West, Delta, Continental, Northwest and US Airways - will use the system.
McCarran spokeswoman Hilarie Grey says the airport will maintain the system on the theory that it will save money by not having to expand ticket counters as rapidly. The airport offered to pay for technical support for airlines as an incentive for them to participate in the system.
The McCarran SpeedCheck system will be the first common-use system deployed in the USA. The world's first common-use check-in systems were installed in 2002 in Vancouver and Tokyo. ARINC supplied the hardware for the kiosks, based on an IBM platform, and is using a similar system at McCarran airport.
Catherine Mayer of SITA, another pioneer of common-use systems, argues that CUSS kiosks can also be adapted to work in a wireless format and be positioned wherever needed, within the airport or even outside. SITA's Airport Connect product, tested at Toronto, strengthens this shared- use philosophy.
Charles Sander of Unisys argues common use represents the future, especially for medium-size airports. "The thought of being able to use any kiosk for any gate is so appealing from the perspective of space planning and cost," he says. "It will let airports plan space use throughout the facility instead of just on a tenant-by-tenant basis. The approach can also make it easier to attract a new entrant that uses another carrier's gates."
Common-use systems are not limited to medium-size airports, however. SITA has advanced a major common-use project at Miami International Airport, serving 72 carriers at over 1,200 check in positions.
ARINC's Dungan says that widely used operating software such as Windows XP are increasingly running common use systems. SITA's Airport Connect also supports XP, and is now being developed at Toronto Pearson airport.Common use, though, is not an insurmountable technical challenge. Theresa Karan, director of professional services at kiosk supplier Kinetics, who is working on the Las Vegas project, says that the company is developing software to link its proprietary technology into the IBM systems in Las Vegas. Because IATA technical standards allow for commonality, the challenge is not so much a technical as a business-case issue.
Dungan adds that software easily allows an airline to retain its own presentation and systems. A common gateway is used by the passenger to select their individual carriers. "Each airline can keep its own personality," he says.
Source: Airline Business
