Back to Regional e-Newsletter LAC Q3 2010
Mobility for workforce and passengers
Sergio Perazo
Business Development Director
Mobile devices can represent the next major wave in travel and workforce applications, just as the jet engine did 50 years ago. Last-minute gate changes often result in costly delays that can be avoided since they're caused by factors within the airline's control if on-time/real-time information is available.
Such factors represent 28.8 million minutes of aircraft delays in US each year highlighting a global issue for airlines. According to Gartner, 50% of all workers at the airport - some 2.5 million of them - could benefit from workforce mobility.
Hand-held devices leveraged by a context-sensing approach can make a complete transformation of workforce operations allowing events to be assessed as they occur, taking into account their urgency and resource needs. So the closest workers who have the skill and equipment to address an incident can be deployed in real-time - greatly increasing flexibility and the ability to deal with disruption.
The Context-aware Mobility technology from SITA revolutionizes how information is delivered, received and presented on mobile devices. No longer do the users need to know what they are looking for: the Context-aware Engine analyses each user's situation (context) and determines what information the user needs, what data, voice or video needs to be delivered in real time, on the job. The technology is tightly integrated with SITA's back-end applications and business process modeling tools.
Duty managers, for example, would only see the information pertinent to their impending departure dealing with 4-5 aircraft rather than the present "norm" of one duty manager per aircraft turnaround. Maintenance engineers would only see the instructions for the task at hand. One airline is projecting double-digit reductions in aircraft line maintenance intervention time and critical work-process improvements. Similarly, ground handlers can save on fuel bills and also increase revenues thanks to more accurate usage reporting and workforce efficiency. Clearly, the potential of context-aware workforce mobility is truly transformative.
But of course, mobility is not confined to airport workforces. It also offers new opportunities to inform, empower, serve and sell to passengers proactively on the move. Context-aware services using geolocation, social Medias like Facebook to inform friends and colleagues of travel plans and even check the status of delayed bags via SITA's WorldTracer, the industry-standard, fully automated system for tracing mishandled baggage worldwide.
Context-aware mobile applications merge both perspectives, providing a more personal experience for passengers and a more powerful marketing and operational tool for airlines and airports.
SITA is joining forces with Motorola and Appear Networks to provide a true end-to-end Mobility solution to the air transport industry.
How do context-aware applications work? Read our white papers - including 'Managing The Mobile Workforce', 'Transforming airline operations at airports with handheld devices' and 'How mobile technology will enhance passenger travel,' available at www.sita.aero/whitepapers.
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