Industry: Aviation

Key Benefits:

• Reduced baggage mishandling and loss
• Affordable tech-based baggage tracking and reliability
• Baggage location accuracy
• Decreased manual labor and resource requirement
• Improved passenger experience and increased trust

Intro:  

Lost and mishandled luggage is a major aviation pain, being dubbed as the "global luggage crisis”, causing passengers great frustration which leads to financial, brand, and logistical issues for any airline. Passengers are distrusting airlines handling of their baggage, resulting in less checked-in baggage and a surge in cabin baggage, putting a strain on cabin space and demanding a practical solution.

In an effort to rebuild passenger trust and improve operational efficiency, the aviation industry is turning to Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology to track and monitor baggage throughout its journey.

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The Challenge: 

The process of baggage handling has always been challenging, with occasional mishaps and losses; however, this escalated significantly post Covid due to a surge in passengers, a difficulty of meeting resource requirements, a decrease in manpower as people aren’t yet fully committing back to work, and more. Beyond the chaotic scenes of long and overwhelming queues, it is not only difficult to cope with the volume of people, but the pain of baggage handling increased tenfold. As a result, in 2022 26 million pieces of luggage were delayed, lost, or damaged.

To address this crisis and rebuild their reputation, airlines and airports are exploring technological solutions to handle baggage more efficiently. Also, besides the negative experience, the cost of mishandled and lost bags reached almost $2.5 billion in 2019 alone, providing strong motivation for the industry to find a resolution.

The solution: 

In response to the luggage crisis, airports are implementing RFID technology to track and monitor all baggage from the moment it’s checked in until it reaches its baggage claim destination.

The introduction of RFID presents a budget-friendly solution since RFID stickers became much more affordable, costing a mere few cents each, and when integrated with hardware and cloud-based software, they enable the tracking of every single piece of luggage. Additionally, RFID allows multiple tags to be read simultaneously since it does not require a line of sight, which decreases labor requirements.

RFID tracking reduces lost and mishandled luggage by 25%, saving airlines and airports money and giving passengers peace of mind. More than that, the data can be integrated with a simple app to allow passengers to view the location and status of their luggage. This improves the passenger experience and improves the airline's reputation.

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Conclusion:

The implementation of RFID technology in the aviation industry presents a promising solution to combat the global luggage crisis. By providing a cost-effective, accurate, and efficient means of tracking and monitoring baggage, RFID can reduce mishandling rates by 25%, leading to significant cost savings for airlines and airports. Moreover, the seamless integration of RFID with passenger apps enhances the travel experience, offering peace of mind to passengers and rebuilding trust in airlines.