How AI could revolutionize baggage handling

Baggage management is an enormous and complicated undertaking for airlines and airports. According to SITA, more than 4.5 billion bags are handled by baggage systems every year.

And predicted growth in passenger volume in the next two decades - IATA estimates it will nearly double to 7.8 billion passengers by 2036 - will create more strain on those systems.

In a new report, Intelligent Tracking: A Baggage Management Revolution, SITA predicts artificial intelligence could provide an effective - and efficient - solution to tracking luggage from a traveler’s arrival at the airport to his or her final destination.

In June, IATA’s Resolution 753 goes into effect, requiring its members to track baggage at four key points: passenger handover to airline; loading onto the aircraft; delivery to the transfer area; return to the passenger. The majority of IATA’s airline members, which represent 83% of global air traffic, are working toward achieving compliance by the end of the year. 

SITA says the implementation of Resolution 753 will generate useful data that can be combined with AI tools to improve baggage handling even more.

“It will take time, but AI will unleash the potential to make baggage operations more service orientated,” says Ilya Gutlin, president of SITA Air Travel Solutions.

“This means baggage delivery becomes more secure and enables airports and airlines to deliver tailored baggage services to their passengers.”

The report states AI can be used to provide a deeper understanding of the movement of baggage, allowing airports and airlines to determine which routes cause the most stress on their systems, what factors create problems and how to deliver bags more effectively.

AI can also be used to power autonomous equipment to transport luggage between the terminal and the aircraft and to improve communication functions so baggage information is shared more effectively among airport and airline staff and passengers.