Innovative baggage handling solutions to enhance passenger experience

It does not matter if the passenger experience is quick, convenient and totally effortless. It can all count for nothing because of a lost bag. Mishandled baggage on arrival can completely ruin the passenger experience, even if all the other elements of the journey were perfect. This paper offers a comprehensive study of the reasons behind bag mishandling (delayed, damaged, missing items or lost baggage); innovative technologies with focus on gentle and reliable baggage handling; impact of COVID-19, which further necessitates innovative technologies for efficient handling of bags. The paper further dives down into green, efficient and sustainable technologies, with focus on overall costs of the baggage handling system in its complete life cycle. It outlines the importance of innovation in baggage handling to minimise mishandled bags with the ultimate aim of putting a smile on the faces of passengers at baggage arrival. Baggage handling is one of the critical systems of airports and airlines and is affected by many factors such as transfer/arrival mishandling, ticketing error, security, customs, weather, space-weight restriction, tagging error, etc. This paper focuses more on baggage sortation, which is a core element of any baggage handling system, and its efficiency has significant impact in reducing mishandled bags and improving passenger experience. Moreover, the manpower crisis across the aviation industry, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic, is having a profound impact on baggage success rates; innovative baggage handling technologies with advanced automation can significantly reduce pressure on manpower demand.