SITA and Lufthansa have joined forces to discover methods to scale back mishandled baggage prices and enhance the passenger expertise by digitally automating baggage re-flight operations. Mishandled baggage between two flight connections is a serious ache level for the trade, costing it billions of {dollars} every year.
The power to handle the problem of workers shortages and baggage mishandling is of paramount significance post-pandemic. Aviation misplaced round 2.3 million jobs throughout COVID, whereas recording US$2.2 billion in the price of mishandled baggage in 2022 – together with over 4 million luggage mishandled throughout switch.
SITA’s WorldTracer Auto Reflight reflights luggage digitally, with none human intervention, lowering price and inconvenience whereas contributing to trade efforts in the direction of sustainability and CO2 net-zero targets. With the profitable supply of luggage being a prime contributor to the passenger expertise, it’s crucial to reply effectively, holding passengers knowledgeable and in management when issues go improper. SITA’s auto reflight answer proactively notifies passengers on arrival of any delay with their bag, whereas accumulating supply particulars and in the end permitting the passenger to bypass the luggage corridor.
The answer mechanically suggests an acceptable flight routing for rush luggage (baggage not accompanying a passenger). It makes use of the unique bag tag to reflight and informs the luggage system of the brand new bag routing. Time is saved, and paper consumption is decreased, as a result of there is no such thing as a must challenge further rush tags. SITA estimates that widespread automation of reflighting baggage may save the trade US$30 million a 12 months in prices related to mishandled baggage.
Viktoria Rudo, Senior Supervisor, Lufthansa Group, mentioned: “At Lufthansa, we’ve all the time checked out methods to optimize baggage administration processes and enhance the passenger journey. We see nice potential within the automation of at this time’s primarily guide reflighting processes. Because of this we’ve determined to work with SITA to discover prospects to digitalize the method.
“Based mostly on the primary outcomes of our Proof of Idea, we imagine to have the ability to mechanically reflight as a lot as 70% of Lufthansa´s mishandled luggage at Munich Airport. Interpolating this to our world community, we anticipate extra up-to-date info and additional enhancements within the mishandled baggage processes for Lufthansa and excessive potential for different SITA airline clients by digitalizing what was beforehand a completely guide course of.”
After a lot of joint developments with Lufthansa already (together with WorldTracer Desktop and WorldTracer Passenger Self Providers), the SITA automated baggage reflighting answer represents a joint innovation venture to additional automate and optimize Lufthansa’s Baggage Administration Providers.
Sergio Colella, SITA President for Europe, mentioned: “SITA’s automated baggage reflighting answer is constructed on the again of previous profitable co-innovations with Lufthansa and meets a crucial trade baggage administration requirement as we see the return to the skies. Our purpose to guarantee that when a bag is mishandled, it’s reunited with its proprietor as quickly and easily as attainable.”
