Report by Peter Conway in London
Holding a badge computer - a small device the size of a deck of cards - the business traveller sails through the airport, avoiding check-in and even the need to collect a boarding card. His seat allocation automatically flashes up on the badge as he passes one of the many radio frequency (RF) transmitters around the airport, and passport control consists of a mere pause for an iris scan to confirm he is the person whose details are encoded on the badge. At the gate, his computer is interrogated and a green light indicates he is cleared for boarding.
Science fiction? Although the device described was exhibited by IBM at PC Expo in New York in June, similar starry-eyed predictions of seamless passenger travel through airports have been around for at least a decade, and the majority of passengers still seem to find themselves standing in line at check-in desks clutching paper tickets and cardboard passports. Cynics might say that all that has changed in that decade is that a mobile phone or computer now often takes the place of the smart card as the fantasy ticket-replacement of choice.
E-pass travelling
Consider this scenario, however. A Swiss traveller, armed with his new "e-pass" frequent flier card, arrives at Zürich and sails past check-in desks and self-service kiosks alike. The first barrier he comes to is passport control. Immediately afterwards, he collects his boarding pass from a counter, and heads for the gate.
This is not science fiction, but Swissair's new e>track programme, which uses an RF-enabled smart card. Just before passport control, the passenger walked past transmitters which interrogated the smart card and established his or her identity and reservation details. These show up on the screen of the passport control officers, who thereby know the traveller is a bona-fide passenger. By passing passport control, the passenger is automatically checked in, and it only remains to issue him or her with a physical boarding pass.
E>track has been in trials at Zürich since July 1999, and in full operation since April. Some 70,000 members of Swissair's Travelclub have been issued with e>pass cards in Switzerland, and the system is being implemented at partner Sabena's hub in Brussels. The project is due to be extended to other Qualiflyer hubs by the end of the year, and during 2001 all other 110,000 Travelclub members worldwide will get an e>pass. Swissair is also planning to trial boarding without boarding cards at Zürich before the end of 2000.
There have been projects like this before, of course, but none has been adopted universally - for many reasons. One is that airlines tend to design hi-tech solutions to suit their own particular business processes or the procedures at their main home hub. They are hardly keen for competitors to learn from their success, or able to persuade other airports to adopt their solutions. And in any case, the investment in such technology can be justified only on a few key routes.
In the case of e>track, while the airport authorities and immigration staff may be co-operative at Zürich and Brussels airports, what about Frankfurt or London? Gerhard Romanescu, vice-president customer care management at Swissair, insists the concept can be adapted to cope with varying airport set-ups, but even he admits that investment in the system is viable only on a few high-volume routes.
Yet there is clearly a growing desire to see technology speed up passenger journeys through airports. Paul Seaton, venture manager for Airport Evolution, a product developed by systems integrator CSC, claims there is growing frustration among travellers. "We have done a lot or research and it shows that travellers are surprised and disappointed that airlines are not using more technology to speed their journey on the ground," he says. "My own view is that airlines focus almost exclusively on the cabin and very few try to differentiate their product on the ground. Many don't even take responsibility for the ground aspect of the journey - they think customer care starts on the plane."
The source of CSC's frustration is not hard to find. It has tried in vain to interest airlines in Airport Evolution, a product much like Swissair's, using smart cards and check-in tunnels. "Airport boards love it, and none has ever said to us that it was the wrong solution, but the investment never materialises," says Seaton. Attempts to interest airports have also failed. "Airports want to control the infrastructure, but when it comes to seamless travel, they expect airlines to lead the way," Seaton says. CSC has now given up, and reassigned its Airport Evolution team to other projects.
CSC's despondency could be premature, however. A new Simplifying Passenger Travel (SPT) interest group, announced by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) in February, is hoping to provide the necessary impetus for change. The group is an evolution of a "Fast Core Group" founded by the World Travel and Tourism Council in 1992 to look at speeding up immigration processes. That, in turn, evolved into the SPT Board in 1998, and has now been broadened into the interest group, with IATA acting as project manager.
That might suggest that the SPT is just another in a long line of talking shops - a view held by CSC, among others. But the difference, insist supporters, is that for the first time, the SPT Interest Group is bringing together airlines (Delta, KLM, Virgin Atlantic, Qantas, Swissair), airports (Frankfurt, the ACI), immigration authorities (only the US formally, although the UK, Netherlands, Portugal and Austria have also attended meetings) and technology players (document reader specialists AiT, Atraxis, biometrics company Genicom, Lufthansa Consulting, Unisys). "That is what has impressed me so far, that vendors, airlines, airports have all been working together," says AiT president Bernie Ashe.
The SPT interest group held its third meeting in Zürich in late June, when airports, airlines and immigration authorities were all tasked to go away and establish "the information that is essential, and the information that is nice to have", as Ashe puts it. This integrated approach is essential to creating a workable solution, he says. "For example, all three parties need to validate the ID of a traveller, so maybe there is a scope for a common database there. The technology to do anything that is needed has existed for some years; if the other parties can define what they want, the technology companies can deliver it."
Another possible strength of the SPT group is that it is not trying to come up with a solution as such, merely to establish a framework for other solutions. Ashe insists there is no prejudging of any eventual solution, although the group sets out a detailed vision of passengers equipped with multi-functional smartcards and biometric ID performing all functions at a one-stop gate, including check-in and passport control (see box).
Bob Vis, a European customer support director for SITA, says the goal is to produce a blueprint on which technology companies or airlines can base their own solutions. Carriers could maintain a competitive advantage, but also use common protocols, much like banks do with their automatic cash machines.
Obstacles ahead
Obstacles still remain. One key challenge will be to overcome the many differences in airport procedures worldwide. For example, if security check comes before passport control, it is impractical to check passengers in before then. Hard thinking is also needed over just when they need to perform certain tasks. For example, do seats really need to be assigned at the same time baggage is checked in, and would passport authorities really be prepared to pre-clear arriving passengers based on information supplied by carriers?
Another significant problem lies in how to create a system that would work for all types of traveller. Existing trials nearly always seem to focus on frequent fliers. Romanescu at Swissair, whose e>track is being studied by SPT, is the first to admit that this elegant solution works only for frequent fliers, who can be issued with smart cards, about whom data can be collected (eventually biometric details if needed), and whose seat preferences can be pre-programmed.
But what of a passenger who flies only once a year, or one originating at an airport where the technology is not installed? To accommodate such issues, any SPT solutions will either have to be extremely flexible, or work easily alongside the traditional check-in. The latter would leave airports with two separate systems, incurring cost and space penalties.
Such questions are not trivial. CSC's Seaton says that although current RF chip architecture could support a smart check-in concept, it would be prohibitively expensive to put the technology at the dozens of gates in a large airport. If only some gates are equipped, the airport loses crucial operational flexibility. And what if the technology goes wrong for a passenger, perhaps because a battery runs flat? "It is important to remember that travellers not only aren't familiar with technology, but can't even read," says SITA's Vis.
But the technology providers say you have to start somewhere. Vis points to bank cash machines, which started as a rare self-service option next to the counter before moving outside. "Now they are everywhere, but it took many years for that to happen," he says.
The cash machine comparison is an interesting one. Although universal use of smart cards may still be a distant dream, the more practical technology of the self-service ticket kiosk is starting to spread. Once the preserve of a few leaders such as Lufthansa and Swissair, their numbers are growing and about to explode, says Richard Whitaker, marketing and communications manager for IBM Travel and Transportation. IBM is an interested party, having been busy installing such machines for Singapore Airlines, British Airways, Air Canada and, most recently, Alitalia. The Italian carrier plans to install 42 in 11 Italian airports by the end of 2000, while BA now has 160 in 25 airports, mostly in Europe but spreading to North America.
More democratic kiosks
Kiosks have the advantage of being more democratic than RF-enabled smart cards. Frequent fliers can still use them, inserting their smart cards into special slots, but they can also accommodate ordinary e-ticket holders identifying themselves with a credit card perhaps, as well as once-a-year travellers with ATB tickets. The machines even add functionality compared to traditional check-in by allowing customers to choose their seats from a seat plan, rather than having to put up with what the check-in staff offer them.
Kiosks can also be made to dispense baggage tags, which the traveller can attach to his luggage and take to a nearby belt or carousel for loading. Swissair has a few in Zürich and Brussels, but carriers have not rushed to adopt the idea. "It adds a level of complexity and I know of no airline that is doing it," says Whitaker.
The problem with kiosks, of course, is where to put them. Frankfurt Airport, for example, says space is not an issue, but only Lufthansa and BA have put up kiosks so far. If a flood of other carriers follow suit, busy hubs could face a forest of kiosks, which would stand alongside the existing counters, at least for the time being.
The answer would be common user terminals, and IBM says some airports are looking at this. Whitaker thinks they will come eventually, and adds: "If an airline only flies into an airport three times a day, it won't want its own kiosk." He says it is feasible to devise kiosks that offer different menus depending on which carrier the ticket comes from.
Alliances might also drive the development of common terminals for their members, but there are reasons to be sceptical. Seaton at CSC points out that only Star has really made a start on integrating ground processes and in most airports, alliance members are not even in the same terminals. In the medium term, however, most suppliers expect alliance interest in common-user kiosks to grow. "In two to three years, you will see a lot more activity," Seaton predicts. Perhaps then some of the science fiction may start to turn into fact.
Source: Airline Business
