Artificial intelligence is reshaping the future for airports and airlines. Although this technology is still at an initial stage in this industry, it is already being used by airports for luggage check-in, facial recognition at passport control, aircraft fuel optimization and many more. With AI-powered tools, airports will be able to speed up their processes and become more efficient which will result in a growth of revenue. Below, I will discuss some of the changes that can be, or are already, implemented by using artificial intelligence.
Identify risky behaviour
At present, the screening of passengers for abnormal behaviour is done by humans. They can only screen a passenger at a single point in time at the airport. It is desirable that this can be done over a longer period of time, which will reduce the chances of error. With the utilization of artificial intelligence, the screening of a person will be possible over a longer period of time. It could be done by collecting data from different sources like the travel history of a passenger or historical behaviour tracking. Enabling AI-based tools for the screening of human behaviour will make airports a lot safer.
Maintenance prediction
Once in a while an aircraft is in need of maintenance, which requires scheduling and planning. When this is done incorrectly it can cost thousands of dollars to an airline company, but it also results in flight delays or even cancellation. With the use of artificial intelligence, it will be feasible to predict the maintenance in an early-on stage. Failures can be detected before even happening.
AI will also be able to guide staff through their repairing journey, by telling them exactly what tools they need and where they need to use them. Implementing AI in aircraft maintenance will not only save a fortune, it will also reduce the waiting time at airports since the flight delays will be minimized.
With the use of AI, airports will be able to improve their security and customer experience.
I would love to hear your thoughts about what AI can do for airports and passengers in the future.
References:
Dialani, P. (2019). HOW AI IS DOING WONDERS IN AVIATION INDUSTRY. Retrieved from AnalyticsInsight: https://www.analyticsinsight.net/how-ai-is-doing-wonders-in-aviation-industry/
Griffin, T. (2019). How Airports Are Using AI to Improve Security. Retrieved from DZone: https://dzone.com/articles/how-airports-are-using-ai-to-improve-security
Sharma, S. (2019). How Artificial Intelligence is Reshaping the Aviation Industry. Retrieved from IoTforall: https://www.iotforall.com/how-ai-reshaping-aviation-industry
Very nice article you wrote here. I agree with the suggested applications you talked about regarding AI possibilities. Especially the increasing safety is a very important implication for airports. They are less dependent on human quality and availability and therefore the airport can grow faster than without it. Besides the decreasing costs, I think you forgot to mention a major advantage for the passenger: Time. In checking takes a lot of time. For a flight of 1 hour to London, you are longer on the airport than you are in the sky. The AI possibilities at passport control and checking in, decrease the queues on airports a lot I think. Besides that, I think there is a major advantage in the luggage transport on the airport. Wrongly assigned luggage and frustrated passengers could be reduced by exclude human (and therefore human error) out of this process.