Back to Air Transport IT Review - Issue 2, September 2009

Fast Travel: View from the inside

Paul Behan
Fast Travel Programme Manager, IATA

How do you see the industry's poor financial situation affecting the Fast Travel programme?

There is no doubt that the current financial crisis is putting a lot of pressure on the capital funding of projects at the moment.

However, this crisis presents the industry with many opportunities to invest in Fast Travel projects that save airlines direct costs and offer more self-service options to passengers. It is critical that when we come out of this crisis we are much better prepared to take advantage.

What are the main challenges to widespread adoption that you are finding with the four initiatives?

Our main focus in 2009 is to develop the necessary standards that will allow vendors develop global, standardized solutions. The appetite for all of the projects is there, but it is essential that the standards are in place as soon as possible to allow for the most cost effective solutions.

What are the major lessons learnt from early adopters of the Fast Travel initiatives?

Develop your Fast Travel projects as part of an overall self-service strategy. Ensure that passengers see a natural link from one process step to the next.

Ensure that awareness of the new solution is communicated at every opportunity to the passenger. Piloting the projects is a good way to establish the right product / service configuration prior to mass roll-out.

What role can IT providers play in making Fast Travel a success?

They can ensure their solutions adhere to industry standards, and join the IATA Fast Travel working groups to develop, support and promote industry standards.

Which new technologies do you see having a major impact on passenger services?

I believe in the short to medium-term, the ability to connect directly to the passenger at any time, in any place, will become the prevalent strategic direction of all airlines. The ability to contact the passenger with updates, additional service offerings and provision of real-time information is becoming essential.

If we want to meet the passenger demand for more self-service options, then it becomes vital that we are able to communicate to passengers frequently and in a medium that best fits their personal requirements. Mobile devices provide that real-time capability utilizing existing infrastructure.

The ability to provide simple interfaces to airlines systems is important. More and more self service process points will be deployed on and off airport. These self service points, whether they are delivered via kiosks, web or mobile will have to interface in real time with the airlines systems in order to update the passenger status throughout the journey.

With mobile phone and web check-in becoming increasingly popular, do you see the day when airlines and airports will stop investing in kiosks?

No, quite the contrary. While web and mobile will allow check-in and boarding token (pass) delivery in paper and electronic form, there are other formalities to consider, such as document data collection (scanners on kiosk) bag processing and tag printing.

New additional services can also be deployed on airport such as commercial activity for excess baggage, upgrades, ticket changes and bag recovery. If we consider the potential use of on-demand biometric collection, then kiosks begin to assume a multi-functional role, including, of course, check-in for those who choose to do so at the airport.

Fast Travel moves us a step closer to paperless travel. How far away do think widespread paperless international travel is?

If you consider paperless travel to include passports, then probably never. In the 80s and 90s the computer was hailed as the saviour to paperless living. This hasn't happened. Nearly every home now has a PC and printer and paper use has grown exponentially - think of all those packets of A4 available in the supermarket.

Can we remove paper boarding tokens from the travel chain? - yes, just as we did with paper tickets. It's not just a question of paperless, but of removing unnecessary paper.

Are there any further Fast Travel initiatives in the pipeline, on top of the six already identified?

While we believe the current portfolio of projects delivers real value and benefit to all, we recognize that there are other areas that affect the passenger and not necessarily in the Fast Travel spotlight right now. We are working with our colleagues in other areas such as security and immigration to see what synergies can be leveraged. Stay tuned.