SITA and Lufthansa have joined forces to discover methods to cut 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 business, costing it billions of {dollars} annually.
The flexibility to handle the difficulty 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, decreasing price and inconvenience whereas contributing to business 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 important to reply effectively, protecting 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 amassing supply particulars and in the end permitting the passenger to bypass the luggage corridor.
The answer routinely 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 isn’t any must challenge further rush tags. SITA estimates that widespread automation of reflighting baggage might save the business US$30 million a yr in prices related to mishandled baggage.
Viktoria Rudo, Senior Supervisor, Lufthansa Group, mentioned: “At Lufthansa, now we have at all times checked out methods to optimize baggage administration processes and enhance the passenger journey. We see nice potential within the automation of at the moment’s primarily handbook reflighting processes. For this reason now we have determined to work with SITA to discover prospects to digitalize the method.
“Primarily based on the primary outcomes of our Proof of Idea, we consider to have the ability to routinely reflight as a lot as 70% of Lufthansa´s mishandled luggage at Munich Airport. Interpolating this to our world community, we count on extra up-to-date data and additional enhancements within the mishandled baggage processes for Lufthansa and excessive potential for different SITA airline prospects by digitalizing what was beforehand a completely handbook course of.”
After numerous 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 important business 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 doable.”
