Airport security, check-in annoy passengers: IATA survey

Airline passengers much prefer self-service and automation until something goes wrong, a global passenger survey has found.

Airport security and boarding processes are passengers’ greatest bugbears. Picture: AAP

Airline passengers much prefer self-service and automation until something goes wrong, and they don’t want to watch a movie on their own device, a global passenger survey has found.

The International Air Transport Association analysed the responses of 10,408 passengers from 153 countries to gain a better insight into what people want from their air travel experience.

Among the key findings was that travellers were sick of queueing at a check-in counter with 84 per cent preferring automated check-in.

Of those, 47 per cent would rather check-in on a mobile phone and 70 per cent also wanted self- service baggage check-in.

Automated immigration procedures also rated highly, with 74 per cent preferring to deal with a machine than a person in the belief it was faster and more secure.

Passengers aged 65 and over were more likely to prefer a human touch, and in the event of travel disruptions, 40 per cent of all age groups wanted to speak with someone on the phone or face to face.

Another high priority for passengers was to be kept informed at all stages of a journey.

The survey found 82 per cent wanted up-to-date information on flight status; 56 per cent wanted real-time baggage tracking throughout their journey and 46 per cent wanted a heads-up about waiting times at security and immigration.

The preferred option for getting information was via a mobile device in the form of an SMS or smartphone app.

Almost three-quarters of passengers (73 per cent) said they wanted to be able to receive travel information on their mobile phone, up from 63 per cent in 2016.

The findings come as Virgin Australia prepares to become the first airline outside of North America to launch “voice check-in” through Amazon Alexa.

Virgin plans to start ‘voice check-in’ through Amazon Alexa next week.

The innovation means that from next week passengers who link their Velocity frequent flyer account to Alexa can simply ask the electronic assistant to check them into their Virgin Australia flight. Boarding passes will then be sent to a nominated phone number.

Virgin Australia chief information officer Cameron Stone said since Amazon Echo and Alexa-enabled devices launched in Australia, the airline had been exploring new ways to make it easier for customers to travel.

“Allowing our passengers to check-in for their flight with Amazon Alexa is a very exciting addition to our existing skill in the Alexa Skills Store.

“Using technology to streamline the customer journey is a huge priority for us and we look forward to announcing some new initiatives in this space in the near future,” Mr Stone said.

Once on board, the survey found passengers were happy to put their phones and tablets away with 54 per cent preferring a seatback screen for inflight entertainment.

There was also some resistance to sharing personal data with airports for expedited security, and fewer than half of the passengers surveyed were willing to replace their passports with biometric identification.

IATA’s senior vice president for airport, passenger, cargo and security, Nick Careen, said it was their goal to be able to move passengers from footpath to gate using a single biometric travel token, such as facial recognition, fingerprint or iris scan.

But he said concerns over data protection would need to be addressed.

“As we move more and more towards digital processes, passengers need to be confident that their personal data is safe,” Mr Careen said.

“IATA is working to establish a trust framework that ensures secure data sharing, legal compliance and privacy.”

According to the survey, the two biggest bugbears when travelling were airport security and boarding processes.

Going through security, 57 per cent of passengers said it was intrusive to have to remove personal items from bags, and 48 per cent thought it was a pain to have to take out laptops and large electronic devices from carry-on luggage.

The lack of consistency at different airports also annoyed 41 per cent of passengers.

When it came to boarding, 64 per cent craved more efficient processes and 42 per cent found the availability of overhead space on the aircraft to be a source of stress.

“The survey tells us that passengers want a seamless and secure travel experience from booking to arrival,” said Mr Careen. “Airports and airlines are eager to meet evolving passenger expectations. But making the right strategic choices among all the potential innovations, is not an easy task.”

He said IATA had partnered with the Airports International Council to move towards a seamless curb-to-gate experience.