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Why introducing self-service will send airport satisfaction soaring

One of the latest and most important recent additions to airports globally are self-service kiosks. With airline travel back to pre-pandemic levels (and even increased on some routes and in some cities), ensuring passengers’ pre-flight experiences are the best they can be is now a critical priority for the travel industry.

Photo: Zebra Technologies

December 9, 2024

Why introducing self-service will send airport satisfaction soaring

When heading off on holiday, or travelling for business, the thought of a short-haul or long-haul plane journey is often coloured by how much we – as the passengers – love or hate the airport experience.

Whether you take off from a runway once a week, once a month, or once a year, it is never a pleasurable thought when imagining queuing up for check-in, queuing up to drop your bags, queuing up to go through security, and queuing up at the boarding gate.

Over the past few decades, aviation has been transformed by a host of technological advances, not least the arrival of airline-specific apps for smartphones to make the entire airport process smoother, faster, and less painful.

But there is still a long way to go – and plenty of changes sitting on the runway awaiting clearance to fly.

One of the latest and most important recent additions to airports globally are self-service kiosks. With airline travel back to pre-pandemic levels (and even increased on some routes and in some cities), ensuring passengers' pre-flight experiences are the best they can be is now a critical priority for the travel industry.

A positive experience in the run-up to a flight will usually make the difference between keeping a customer for life or sending them off to a competitor for their next trip, when they'll hope to have far fewer problems and much less stress from their airport visit.

There is also a growing need amid today's gusty economic headwinds for airlines and airports to save money. Not only must they simply balance the books, but boardrooms are also searching to find space on their spreadsheets for new investment.

An opportunity for redeployment

Reducing headcount on the ground at an airport can be a useful tool for the C-suite in achieving that and that's one reason why the push towards self-service kiosks is gathering pace. No longer do you need multiple check-in desks with multiple colleagues manually handling the process.

Mobile check-in and mobile-based boarding – via a self-service kiosk – mean greeting and customer service employees can be redeployed elsewhere. These automated systems can offer a personalised greeting and do all the important tasks a human would in this situation.

They also provide a huge boost to the passenger journey – and the airline's own checks. For example, positive innovations include:

• Fast-drop baggage kiosksare safe, secure, and easy to use. They can even automatically measure dimensions to ensure a carry-on is the permitted size. This is critical given more passengers are wanting a speedier exit on landing.
• Label printingis available through self-service for any luggage going into the flight's overhead lockers or for the baggage that will then be sent down the kiosk's own conveyor belt to be loaded into the plane's hold.
• RFID tracking tagsare increasing in their use. With RFID, the risks of lost luggage or missed connections is reduced. These can also be printed at the self-service kiosk and attached easily to baggage by the passenger.
• Machine Visionis a major advance for airline employees. It will classify how baggage should be transported (e.g. a backpack in a plastic tote to avoid damages) speeding up loading times. Damage detection can also avoid claims.

Duty Free: Retail outlets for duty free products are a major profit maker for the airport industry. But queues can mount up at the checkouts during peak holiday times. Scan-and-go and click-and-collect make buying alcohol, perfume, or chocolate a breeze.

Food and Drink: If there's one thing worse than queues for duty free at an airport, it's the queues for takeaway food and drink. A self-service kiosk improves customer experience and service and offers a range of payment options to make purchase faster.

Real-time data and capacity building

Another benefit of self-service kiosks is the ability to quickly scale capacity at busy times in an airport. The machines can be online in seconds as lines grow and also powered down fast when queues drop.

Self-service kiosks are also a major provider of real-time digital data for both airlines and airports. This data can then be analysed using AI to streamline workflows, increase personalisation, understand demand cycles, dive into transaction details, prevent out-of-stocks, and reduce waste both in time and product.

The flying public want to know every measure is being taken to ensure they have the smoothest airport experience possible and self-service kiosks are now crucial to delivering that time and again.

Here at Zebra Technologies, we are already experts in all aspects of the aviation industry, however complex. Our self-service kiosk solutions can be built from the ground up to ensure the ideal scanning solution for any specific situation.

Security of passenger data is central to our operations too, giving peace of mind for airlines and airports, and the same for passengers alongside ease-of-use.

Those operating within the aviation industry can also take advantage of self-service to squeeze down their day-to-day costs and manage issues related to labour shortages.

We understand travelling by plane – whether for fun or for work – can be fraught with delays and drama. That's why we are always focused on ensuring the start of any airport journey is the best it can be.

We do this by understanding the destination our corporate customers want to arrive at because only then can we develop the right passenger experience together; one that drives loyalty and sends positive feedback swiftly soaring skywards.

To find out more about how Zebra Technologies self-service kiosks could transform your business within the aviation industry, click here[JW1].

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Zebra Technologies

Zebra’s scan engines for self-service kiosk solutions give customers seamless quick service technology while providing a long lifecycle they can count on.

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