Airline passengers want more information, automation, control – Survey

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced the results of its 2018 Global Passenger Survey (GPS), which showed that passengers are looking to new technology to give them more control, information and improve efficiency when they travel.

Based on 10,408 responses from 145 countries, the survey provides insight into what passengers would like from their air travel experience.

Passengers said that they want real time journey information delivered to their personal devices, biometric identification to facilitate their travel processes, Automation of more airport processes, wait times of less than 10 minutes at security / immigration, their bags tracked throughout their journey, a human touch when things go wrong ,and real time Journey Information Passengers aid they want to be kept informed throughout their journey preferably via their personal device.

Receiving information on flight status (82%), baggage (49%) and waiting time at security / immigration (46%) were identified as passengers’ top three priorities after booking a flight.

Real-time baggage tracking throughout the journey was seen as a must for 56% of passengers.

Airlines and airports are facilitating this by implementing tracking at major journey points such as loading and unloading (IATA Resolution 753).

The industry is also working on developing a global readiness plan for the proposed introduction of RFID inlays in all baggage tags manufactured after January 2020 in order to meet passenger expectations for real time baggage tracking.

Passengers’ preferred option for receiving information on their baggage and other travel elements was via their mobile device.

Receiving information via SMS or Smartphone app was preferred by 73% of passengers.

Since 2016 there has been a 10% increase in passengers preferring to receive travel information via a smartphone app.

The majority of passengers (65%) are willing to share personal data for expedited security and 45% are willing to replace their passports with biometric identification.

IATA’s One ID project aims to move passengers from curb to gate using a single biometric travel token (fingerprint, face or iris).

But concerns over data protection must be addressed.

“As we move more and more towards digital processes, passengers need to be confident that their personal data is safe.

IATA is working to establish a trust framework that ensures secure data sharing, legal compliance and privacy,” id Nick Careen, IATA’s Senior Vice President for Airport, Passenger, Cargo and Security.

Passengers want more self-service options.

Automated check-in was preferred by 84% of passengers.

Most (47%) prefer to check in online using a smartphone.

Only 16% preferred traditional check-in.

Some 70% of passengers want selfservice baggage check-in.

Only one in three travelers prefers an agent to tag their bag.

The electronic bag tag is growing in popularity – favored by 39% of passengers (up 8 percentage points from 2017).

The overall experience with automated immigration procedures was rated favorably by 74% of passengers.

A similar percentage (72%) believe that automated immigration processes are faster and 65% believe they enhance security

 

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