User Driven Solutions that Empower the Airport Passenger

Sky Assist develop specialist baggage handling software for use in airports and by airlines, including Air France, KLM and Quantas. The company's core product, the BagAssist Suite, is a user driven application that automates the baggage declaration and reception process, ultimately empowering the passenger to resolve their baggage problems more quickly and at their convenience. Airport International spoke with the Director of Sky Assist, Luc Trentels, about the company's approach to software development and how their solutions benefit the passenger.

User Driven Solutions

Sky Assist hold their User Conference each year to identify the needs of airport agents in resolving baggage incidents, "It's very important that we actively work with our users and in line with their business needs. Based on their feedback from using our software, we develop applications so that functions of the software are driven by the user community." This hands-on approach to software development ensures that solutions are viable for the various tasks they will have to perform, including coordinating baggage transfer during disruption time, processing lost luggage and enabling passengers to track their missing baggage.

Baggage Handling Software

The aim of all Sky Assist's baggage handling software, says Luc, is to "Empower the passenger, not only in normal operations [such as the airport kiosk] but also in disruption time. In addition, we want to relieve pressure from airport agents, so they can work more effectively on resolving the baggage incident." Disruption Time can include delayed or canceled flights, which may occur due to adverse weather conditions, strikes or more extreme events, such as the volcanic eruption in iceland that grounded flights internationally. Sky Assist's baggage handing software is a mobile solution that aims to ease pressure on the passenger and airport agent. "We have an online version of our system that will mainly be used in disruption time. For instance, when a container of luggage is not uploaded, a passenger will need to make a declaration. Instead of having passengers queuing for hours, our software has mobile operatives that can take people out of the queue and provide them with a Token ID, so that their travel can be verified. They can then leave the airport and within the next two days make a declaration online at their convenience.

Sky Assist's focus is on the development of mobile baggage handling software that can be used to solve baggage incidents as they occur, reducing the unnecessary movement of baggage across the airport. "In the event that luggage is uncollected at the baggage carousel, the airport agent can scan the bag tag; immediately you can identify the passenger and decided whether air or ground delivery is more suitable to reunite them with the bag. The advantage of our system is that lost baggage doesn't have to move between several locations, including the Lost and Found department, before it is dispatched to its owner; the idea is to filter and trigger what to do with the baggage directly where you find the bag."

Smart Phone Baggage Solution

With the growing use of smart phone technology across the aviation industry, Sky Assist are developing an application for use on Apple's iPhone browser and other smartphone models. The Software, now in its second development phase, will enable passengers to make a baggage declaration from their handset, without the assistance of an agent. Luc highlights that the application will use "simplified screen layouts and automated data for frequent flyer passengers or DCS data, so that the passenger only has to validate the information presented by the system. When a passenger makes their declaration, the Home Address, Name and Flight fields are populated for them; all they need to do is fill in the baggage description and address where the baggage is to be delivered, if different from their home address."

Automated data entry is particularly useful on a smart phone as the devices are not designed for the large scale data input. This type of business to customer module is essential for empowering the passenger, providing a baggage handling solution that counters abnormal disruption time, enables users to quickly locate a passenger's lost baggage and allows passengers for resolve their baggage incident from the comfort of their own home or anywhere else if connectivity is available.

For more information of Sky Assist's baggage handling software, click here