Our guest for this episode is loyalty expert Seth Miller, who is widely known for his work on the Wandering Aramean blog. Seth also provides regular analysis of the inflight connectivity market, and is a contributor to Runway Girl Network.
In this episode, co-host Max Flight and I discuss how airports are increasingly adopting solutions that allow passengers to check-in their own baggage. Seth got a chance to see the very latest queue-busting technologies at the recent Future Travel Experience exhibition in Las Vegas. He reports about what he discovered from the show floor, and we consider the implications of moving away from real live interactions with people to a fully automated environment.
We also chat about how airlines increasingly view connected aircraft as a node on their network. But United Airlines, in particular, has taken a somewhat unique approach. 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 also highlight another interesting development in the #PaxEx world. We're finally starting to see some real-world applications for using wearable technologies 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 be paired pilots and mechanics to further enhance efficiencies.