While remote ticketing, check-ins and other technological improvements have made the air travel experience a little smoother for passengers, airline patrons like to deal with humans when problems arise. This is the main takeaway from a just-released survey report from OAG, “The Airport Delight Report: Humans vs. Machines.”
Yes, high-tech changes and automation have improvement the airport experience, but these don’t take care of some of the issues confronting travelers. For instance, outside of ticketing and check-in, passengers prefer human customer service vs. automation for virtually everything else:
—Baggage handling (54 percent vs. 45 percent) for automated customer service;
—Security (55 percent vs. 45 percent);
—Boarding (64 percent vs. 36 percent);
—Security (55 percent vs. 45 percent);
—Concierge (83 percent vs. 17 percent); and
—In-flight services (80 percent vs. 20 percent).
Also, OAG, in its survey of 2,000 travelers, found that …
—Travelers don’t mind being tracked– if it leads to a better experience. Nearly 60 percent of travelers would let airports track their location through a mobile or wearable device to redeploy staff to cut down on wait times.
—Only 19 percent of travelers said they see value in interactive robots that provide information and concierge services. In comparison, 40 percent want more baggage loading zones to expedite security lines, 54 percent would value in-airport, turn-by-turn directions for navigating terminals and gates, and 75 percent want real-time updates on expected boarding times.
—More and more airline passengers prefer automated retail operations in airports: 54 percent of millennials, 37 percent of business travelers and 35 percent of all travelers reported interest in self-checkout retail options at the airport.
For those who thought that airlines and airports had exhausted all potential source of revenue through add-ons … Surprise. In evaluating traveler sentiment around two untapped airport revenue opportunities (on-demand, gate-side delivery and pre-ordering through mobile), OAG found that, while only six percent of travelers have pre-ordered food or drink for pickup at a gate-side restaurant, 66 percent would consider taking advantage in the future. And while only 9 percent of travelers have ordered gate-side delivery of food and drink, 62 percent are willing to try it out.
