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#PaxEx Podcast: Baggage Innovation and Wi-Fi Integration

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Welcome to Episode 17 of the #PaxEx Podcast. Our guest for this episode is loyalty expert and friendly contrarian Seth Miller, who is known for his work on the popular Wandering Aramean blog, as well as delivering insight and analysis about the inflight connectivity market for Runway Girl Network.

In this episode, co-host Max Flight and I consider how airports are increasingly adopting solutions that allow passengers to check-in their own luggage. Seth got a chance to see the very latest queue-busting technologies at the recent Future Travel Experience exhibition in Las Vegas. He reports on what he discovered from the show floor, and we consider the implications of moving away from real live interactions with people to a near fully automated environment at the airport.

We also discuss how airlines increasingly view connected aircraft as a node on their networks. But one carrier, United Airlines, has taken a somewhat unique approach to this e-enablement movement. The company has adopted no fewer than three different inflight Wi-Fi solutions and is considered by some stakeholders to be on the bleeding edge of integrating the different products in a bid to provide consistent service to passengers while driving operational benefits for the airline.

Finally, we highlight another interesting development in the #PaxEx world – how wearable technology is poised to make its mark on board aircraft. Coupled with airlines’ e-enablement efforts, these solutions may initially give flight crew a hands-free way to perform routine tasks, but could eventually pair pilots and mechanics to aircraft to further enhance efficiencies. However, these advancements are also calling into question whether airlines are paying enough attention to cyber security concerns. We talk about privacy and security in the face of the Internet of Everything. Photo above courtesy Air.Go from Marcus Pederson/DSG.