{"id":2955,"date":"2017-01-18T10:02:18","date_gmt":"2017-01-18T10:02:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.zafire.com\/aviation\/?p=2955"},"modified":"2017-03-08T20:45:38","modified_gmt":"2017-03-08T20:45:38","slug":"airport-companion-connecting-64-million-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zafire.com\/aviation\/2017\/01\/18\/airport-companion-connecting-64-million-people\/","title":{"rendered":"Airport Companion \u2013 Connecting 64 million people"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n\"shutterstock_408313891<\/a>A recent article in Passenger Terminal World looked at the practical application of interconnected mobile solutions and how to gain the best return on investment across the entire aviation ecosystem.\u00a0 Let\u2019s take this one step further and look at what some may say would be utopia within the industry as well as essential to manage the size of operation noted in IATAs 20-year forecast.<\/h3>\n

With its multi-functional operation, dynamic pace and ever growing passenger demands it\u2019s fair to say the aviation ecosystem has its challenges. However, challenges = opportunities and for aviation IT specialists and solution innovators the aviation ecosystem is a fantastic playground to test ideas and to take on the challenge of improved efficiency, exponential passenger growth, expanding airports and more fights to more destinations.<\/p>\n

To give an idea of the size and scale of the playground, the 20-year forecast from IATA states;\u2018In 2015, the world\u2019s airlines safely transported 3.5 billion people and 51 million metric tons of cargo. They accomplished this with a workforce of nearly 10 million people managing a fleet of 26,000 aircraft averaging 100,000 flights a day over a global network of 51,000 routes.\u2019 I think you\u2019d agree this is an impressive playground.<\/p>\n

In addition passenger numbers are forecast to double to 7 million by 2034.\u00a0 It\u2019s not \u2018aviation science\u2019 to connect this increase with an increase, over the same period of time in flights, bags handled, fleet size, routes, people and of course the size of the operation required to handle this.<\/p>\n

So what might utopia look like?<\/strong>
\n\"shutterstock_421524469<\/a>We know that mobile applications already play a huge role in the end-to-end operation;we know what\u2019s available today and what is in production for release into the marketplace in the short-term.\u00a0 You\u2019ve probably read about the benefits of single sign-on giving access to multiple applications from a single mobile device based on job role with systems sharing data from a centralised source. The focus here of course is workforce mobilisation and collaboration which is paramount to enhanced end-to-end operations throughout the ecosystem.<\/p>\n

Taking this one step further and what may be seen as utopia by some, is the combination of mobilisation and collaboration with system deployment – how quickly we can achieve mobilisation and collaboration on a global scale.<\/p>\n

\"shutterstock_422516284<\/a>Let\u2019s say for example you could download a single application, for arguments sake let\u2019s call it \u2018Airport Companion\u2019, from the Apple Store or Google Play in seconds to your mobile device – just like you do with any other App.\u00a0 You\u2019ve now got, through the Airport Companion App,instant access to arrival and departures information, FIDS data, PRM activity and requirements, passenger stats, baggage data, load balancing information and plans, service capture, resource availability\u2013 the list goes on.\u00a0 All from one App all from one sign-in.<\/p>\n

Now consider every employee across a stations ecosystem from airport employees to airlines and ground service staff all download the Airport Companion App at the same time.\u00a0 Then imagine employees at the arrival detestation download the App.\u00a0 You see where this is going \u2013 instant deployment from station to region and global\u2013 nearly 10 million people would be connected within seconds all using the same platform, all sharing data to help enhance and improve operations on a global scale.\u00a0 Utopia maybe. But not an absolute impossibility.<\/p>\n

I wonder if on Christmas Day 1990, when Tim Berners-Lee set up the first successful communication between a Web browser and server via the Internet he saw his utopia.\u00a0 Or, if 25 years after the WWW was launched to the public he envisaged connecting 3 billion people around the world.<\/p>\n

Connecting 10 million people across the worldwide aviation ecosystem doesn\u2019t seem so far fetched now; in fact the concept of the Aviation Companion almost seems like child\u2019s play in a complex playground. Of course we could take this to the next stage again and connect all direct and indirect aviation employees, circa 64 million, including retail, customs, border control etc.<\/p>\n

In addition to the speed of deployment software innovators would surely also look at opportunities to improve the applications with a focus on ease of use for employees and benefits to the passenger.<\/p>\n

Airport Companion could provide different levels of access based on job role and access rights \u2013 read only for information purposes or read\/write allowing the employee to interact with live data and operations. One example could be to update your FIDS data on the fly, change your airports digital advertising boards with the latest marketing campaigns, or even updating every screen with a special announcement, all whilst grabbing a coffee and using just your app.<\/p>\n

Many reports throughout the industry cite passenger satisfaction as the most important metric for improvement within the ecosystem \u2013why wouldn\u2019t they – after all they do pay the bills.\u00a0 Some of the key areas highlighted that passengers remember about their journey are the timeliness of check-in, the services offered prior to boarding, flight delays and bag retrieval at their final destination.\u00a0 More recently we know that demand has grown to include more control over their journey. You could say a passenger\u2019s utopia is a calm, functional and aesthetically pleasing environment that reduces the stress of international travel.<\/p>\n

However, no matter how pleasant the environment, if waiting times are excessive, bags are frequently misconnected and flights are delayed, chances are the passenger is not a happy traveller.<\/p>\n

We could connect the passenger, giving them the control they want,by providing on-demand accurate timely information sent direct to their personal mobile devices.\u00a0 We can take this one step further by providing directions to their gate, what facilities and retail stores are on route, suggestions\/advertisements dependant on the passenger profile \u2013 all possible in our utopia through the Aviation Companion App.<\/p>\n

Chris Beling, Director, Zafire Aviation Software<\/strong> shares his thoughts on this \u201cA technology company with the right resources and structural plan to combine knowledge and innovation with a foresight for the future can achieve utopia.\u00a0\u00a0 This clear vision where the aviation world brings technology to the masses, is easy to deploy and shares the costs to make system deployment totally flexible is not that far away.\u00a0 No one wants to pay for apps which just provide information but in app purchases which add real operational benefits will become the standard.\u00a0 Optimising resources, turning aircraft, dealing with issues, sharing information which will stream line operational processes and control costs will all eventually lead to a greater passenger experience and deliver,even exceed, expected service levels.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Following on from Chris\u2019s comment above it would appear that forward thinking technology companies are already working on the foundations and delivering customers benefits. With the adoption of mobile applications now accepted as common practise in the industry these frameworks are already supporting deployment across the entire ecosystem with collaboration, mobilisation and deployment as the cornerstones of the framework of the future.<\/p>\n

Is the utopia illustrated here achievable? It would appear so.\u00a0 Do we have to wait 20 year? It would appear not.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A recent article in Passenger Terminal World looked at the practical application of interconnected mobile solutions and how to gain the best return on investment across the entire aviation ecosystem.\u00a0 Let\u2019s take this one step further and look at what some may say would be utopia within the industry as well as essential to manage […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zafire.com\/aviation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2955","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zafire.com\/aviation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zafire.com\/aviation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zafire.com\/aviation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zafire.com\/aviation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2955"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.zafire.com\/aviation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2955\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2964,"href":"https:\/\/www.zafire.com\/aviation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2955\/revisions\/2964"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zafire.com\/aviation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zafire.com\/aviation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zafire.com\/aviation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}