SubscribeSky Assist software is making baggage handling cheaper and easier for ground services at airports, and the company is looking to take its products to the new airports in Central and Eastern Europe.
Nothing is more frustrating to an airline passenger than having to wait too long for bags at the end of a trip, or even worse, to have those bags misplaced. But the technology that rushes airline passenger baggage through the maze of a modern airport hasn't evolved much in the past ten years. The basic baggage rushing system in use around the world, called WorldTracer requires extensive agent training and employs a lot of old-fashioned paper documents.
The young Belgian company Sky Assist is changing all that with a series of software products aimed at getting the bags to the passenger faster and with greater security. At airports both in Belgium and in Zurich, Sky Assist products are already at work achieving this goal.
BagAssist, Sky Assist's Web-based baggage-tracing product, was implemented in its first Web-based release in May 2002 by ground services provider Swissport. Since then, Swissport's three stations, Zürich, Geneva and Basel, have been delighted by its ease of use and by how its automated added functions make it cut down on training time for agents. BagAssist not only supports all standard WorldTracer functions, it simplifies and automates most of the primary baggage tracing process, from the passenger declaration to the final delivery of the bag to the passenger.
Swissport Zürich was able to reduce the total time for the whole AHL (Advice if Holding, part of a Lost Baggage declaration) process by 11% per file due to BagAssist’s AHL and TV (Delivery) modules. The call center shifts were also reduced from 3 to 2 shifts daily through use of the IVR (Interactive Voice Response) module. And the rush and forwarding shifts were reduced from 3 to 2 shifts through use of the flight module. BagAssist helps Swissport deliver professional service to passengers, enhancing Swissport's image and also supporting that of Swissport's airline clients. Delivery companies also benefit from the automated production of all the necessary output documents. It relieves pressure on agents when the WorldTracer link is down by saving information locally. And access via the Internet is proving a great help in future in minimizing network costs.
The graphical user interface (GUI) is so simple, that agent training has been reduced to a minimum, and it facilitates the use of interim agents during peak periods. BagAssist has data syntax validation, verification of mandatory fields, help tips and warning messages, virtually anticipating and eliminating human error. The information pages of the airline information module increase operational efficiency and by having this data on-line, agents are always up- to-date with any changes or special restrictions they need to know; it makes the training and integration of new agents much easier.
Swissport has now decided to investigate the possibility of implementing BagAssist at stations outside Switzerland. Swissport International Management is supporting this project, and the modular approach of BagAssist will allow clients to choose only the modules required by each station, whether they require only the Web-based WorldTracer emulation, or if they need the complete BagAssist product.
In Belgium, the Belgian Ground Services have a similar success story to tell. Since April, 2003, BGS Lost & Found baggage agents have been using an upgrade Sky Assist client-server software that completely obviates any need to have a deep understanding of the workings of WorldTracer.
Results have been dramatic: staff productivity has increased up to 20% for the incident declaration modules (AHL, DPR and OHD), and for the baggage reception and rushing processes, by increasing data quality and automating processes. The agents now work in a user-friendly, structured environment, and that means better services to passengers.
The IVR module, which automates passenger call handling, enabled BGS to increase staff productivity in that area up to 40% by filtering the “unnecessary” calls, decreasing the passenger waiting time from more than 30 minutes down to few seconds, reducing average call duration from 3 minutes to 40 seconds, and reducing the average number of lost calls to around 5%.
BGS also uses a Sky Assist product called “BagAutorush.” This is a fully automated tool for loading or rushing baggage that had been misdirected or rejected during the airport sorting process. No decision is required by the agent. It enables BGS to re-allocate 2 highly trained people from the Lost & Found department to higher level tasks, and one employee having no WorldTracer knowledge is now handling the baggage. A 5-minute training period is sufficient to empower new staff to be able to work with the application. Without this tool, most of these bags would be treated by the Lost & Found department, and therefore more tracing files would be created - that would have meant more work.
Finally this highly advanced technology will allow BGS in a near future to take advantage of a mobile solution in the near future, by running the two applications directly in advanced scanners. This will not require a costly technology upgrade, and this offers a lot of very promising options for future expansion. Central and Eastern Europe, with its new and improved airports under construction, may well be one of the first regions to benefit. The customer basis is growing; Aéroport de Paris has just selected BagAssist for the two Paris airports of Roissy Charles de Gaulle and Orly. Both of these implementations will be effective by the end of January 2005.
A Belgian success story
Luc Trentels created Sky Assist out of the ashes of two defunct companies, because he saw a market opportunity, and that the technology to exploit it was already there. The CEE is an eventual potential market for Sky Assist, but Western Europe is already supplying growth.
Luc Trentels, Sky Assist Managing Director
SD: Why did you start Sky Assist?
Sky Assist was born in April 2003 and has officially started its activities on May 1, 2003. The products and the complete staff come from Atraxis Belgium, IT company formerly made of two shareholders, for 50% the Sabena Group and for the other 50% the Atraxis Group, the globally active International IT provider belonging to the Swissair Group (100%), both of these companies having gone into bankruptcy just before.
Atraxis Belgium closed down their activities on April 30, 2003 because of a lack of customers. Sky Assist was created by a “Management Buy Out,” with the support of the Atraxis Belgium Board of Directors and the Sabena Receivers.
I led the project, because I did not want to lose the high quality and high potential products and the IT investment we had made in them through the years. I also hoped to sustain and offer a contingency solution for the existing customer’s active on these products. It also offered the opportunity for the selected people to provide a medium and long-term future for the experienced airline experts surrounding, supporting and managing the products.
SD: What was your vision for the project?
Sky Assist is a premier provider of systems and services to the aviation industry. We devise and implement cutting edge software solutions that make airline and airport operations simpler, smoother and more financially efficient. As an existing supplier of air transportation-related systems, we had and have a good knowledge of the segment's business processes, and its specific language.
We aim to be recognized (at least our products already are) in the air transportation world as an active and dedicated niche player. We have top class products, which cover specific key areas of the ground handler, airport or airline business processes and we provide accurate business analysis, safe implementation and pro-active support with our highly professional and flexible personnel.
We started with a big advantage: a company business plan running through the first 3 years, in which our operations are supported for a large part by secure revenue from the running contracts and with a confident prediction of new sales and growth.
SD: Has the company grown in fact?
Oh yes. We are operating today in Brussels and in all the airports in Switzerland. We are talking to several others in Western Europe and ADP (Aéroports de Paris) has now selected our product BagAssist for both Roissy Charles de Gaulle and Orly, to be productive by end of January 2005.
The products are (or have been) already licensed to third party customers throughout the world: SN Brussels Airlines, Swissport, Swiss Airline, South African Airways, TAP Air Portugal, Qualiflyer Group, American Airlines, Lan Chile, and Gulf Air. It might be a bit early to talk to markets in CEE, because they are more concerned with basic infrastructure at the moment. But that will come.
SD: You seem very confident.
Yes, we have a unique market position. Our products are not on the drawing board: they are already at work in several locations, and satisfying client needs. They are highly integrated with proven interfaces; state-of-the-art web technologies are used in application development, middleware and data handling. The heavy start-up investments are already realized and the improvements are planned to keep the products in line with the latest industry trends through release management, using the User Conference principle designed with the user wishes.
The first user conference was a big success, and the next one is now planned for April 2005. The products were aimed at being an integral part of the airline CRM concept and have been designed accordingly, a move which makes them part of the most advanced IT strategies. Our personnel have long experience with this highly complex industry, and we are located in the Brussels airport, which gives us ease of access to all the markets of Europe. So we have much to be confident about.
BagAssist Suite
The web-based thin client product suite fully covering the primary baggage tracing process:
- Boosting your staff productivity and flexibility
- Increasing your quality service towards the passengers and the handled airlines
BagAssist
Is an interactive baggage services front-end product supporting and automating SITA WorldTracer® management files and producing all necessary messages, reports and labels needed for baggage tracing handling.
BagAssist drastically increases staff productivity and reduces the risk of human errors. It also decreases the staff training needs, allowing more staff flexibility and interim employees, mainly needed during peak break periods.
BagAutorush is a fully automated tool for loading or rushing the baggage that has lost connection or been rejected during the airport sorting process. No decision is required by the agent, who can be trained in less than 5 minutes.
Key Benefits
- Comprehensive, modern and user-friendly interface, including data validation BEFORE sending to WT, tips and on-line information.
- Supporting and opening up the standard WT functions.
- Increase of staff productivity (up to 40%), decrease of training needs, implying daily shifts reduction.
- Increase of quality and professionalism towards the passenger.
- Increase of service for the handled airlines
- More professionalism in collaboration with external contractors
- Working even if WT link is down
- Up-to-date and proven technology, fully web based product with a central database.
The BagAssist suite solution is successfully implemented at:
Swissport – airports of Zurich, Geneva and Basle (BagAssist), Zurich (BagAutorush)
Belgian Ground Services – airport of Brussels (BagAssist and BagAutorush)
Jet Aviation – airports of Zurich and Geneva (BagAssist)
ADP – airports of Paris (Roissy Charles de Gaulle and Orly Bag Assist as of end of January 2005)
TUI Airlines Belgium - internet WorldTracer emulation
Also available: PaxClaims, the thin client web based product customer AND claim centric, standardising and automating the processes of Customer Relation/Customer Complaints department of an airline.
