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The future of airline check-in

Jan 2002

I hate flying, all of it, but I especially hate the check-in experience. This article perhaps isn’t so much about the future as a rant about the lack of use of existing technology. If there is any job where people should be replaced by machines, this is it. Most companies in the world have learned that it helps to make the customer happy. The airline industry has learned that customers usually don’t have any choice but to fly, and if all airlines maintain low check-in standards, you will still come back for more but they will save money. They pay low wages, but balance them with one enormous perk. A check-in assistant can choose anyone they like and make their lives a misery, by using their discretion whether to enforce or ignore baggage rules, depending on whether they fancy you or not. If they feel are bored, they can always pick a high paying business traveller and flatly refuse to allow their single 5.1kg bag on the plane because it exceeds the 5kg limit. To complete their power fix, the next customer with three bags, that will obviously fill an entire locker, is allowed to take all of them on the plane, totally ignoring both the single bag and the 5kg limits. I have fallen fowl of this too many times, but I no longer complain. A huge notice behind the check-in desk that says they will not let you on the plane if you are in any way aggressive or insulting to their staff. Any complaint has to be so courteous that even the most determined clerk couldn’t possibly interpret it as insulting or aggressive, so it’s pointless. When I did complain nicely at an incompetent Go clerk at Edinburgh, my bag was still shoved almost empty in the hold, and then mysteriously lost. Go refused to apologise for her behaviour. Now, I stuff my pockets full of as many heavy bits as possible to make sure my bag gets through check-in, re-stuffing it as soon as I leave the queue. They don’t seem to mind this. Rules for rules sake it seems.

Technology could help enormously. I have no objection to any restrictions they might impose as long as they implement them fairly. Machines are excellent at being unbiased. A ‘special packages’ desk could be staffed for those rare instances where something is heavy but very fragile, where a special exception might be justified. A simple set of scales with a box of the maximum permitted size would solve the problem instantly. It could automatically security scan and then plastic-wrap the package with a cabin baggage sticker, and ensure only one per customer. It might even offer to permit an extra cabin bag for an extra payment, an obvious service improvement that seems to elude all the low cost airlines. The machine could voice-synthesise the question ‘ did you pack the bags yourself or do you want to miss the flight while we send you to get them checked?’ It could easily show a view of the available seats for which you are eligible so that you can choose which you want, or buy an upgrade. I really can’t think of a single useful function that the supposedly human clerk offers that couldn’t be much better and more cheaply be done by a machine. And though it would reduce their costs, I would gladly pay extra to get rid of the human clerk.

But humans will get worse as air travel increases. Clerks will be under even more pressure, their incompetence will increase and passengers will get even more irate. The notices warning against complaining will get larger, the frustration forced to simmer until everyone is on the plane and it is most dangerous, and the whole travel deal will become more miserable. Meanwhile, synthetic personalities and natural language technology will improve beyond recognition. Neural network AI systems will help spread the passengers evenly through the plane instead of leaving some rows empty while filling others with fat people. Computer-based personalities can be friendly ad infinitum, always making balanced and unbiased decisions, while efficiently reassuring and calming passengers. The check-in speed would increase, removing a key source of delays. So imagine air travel on a competent airline in a year or two. You arrive at the airport, already having checked in by phone or PDA on the way, already knowing your seat number. You pass by a cabin baggage machine which immediately checks your bag for size, weight and security, wraps and stamps it to prevent tampering, and then you go to the departure lounge. Meanwhile, it prints off a smart boarding card. The card has an identifier chip. As you walk around the airport, it tracks your location and nearby monitors shows an arrow directing you to departure gate. It automatically arranges for any duty free to be taken to your flight, and to be charged to your account. If you are late arriving at the gate, you can immediately be located, avoiding the cause of most delays. None of these functions requires any form of contact with the card, it is all done from a distance by simple scanners. The card can stay in your pocket. And on the plane, a scanner on the trolleys can ensure give you are given the correct service and the right meal according to the preferences you notified at booking time. Even after landing, the card lets the airport know where you are so that it can arrange your ongoing taxi or help you meet your contact. Through every stage of the travel process, the instant efficiency of machines compared to the sluggish inefficiency of humans would ensure a much more enjoyable and safer experience for every passenger. All this, and the airlines and ports would make higher profits too. Please will they get on with it!