Big Brother: Tracking Passengers

Passenger tracking technology has become an increasingly important part of modern airport management. From check-in to boarding, passenger tracking systems help airports monitor travellers' movement throughout the terminal to improve the overall passenger experience. In addition, with technological advances in various spaces, airports can gather swathes of data on people's movement around their terminals within tight budgets while being mindful of privacy concerns. 

In simple terms, passenger tracking refers to the use of technology to monitor and record the movement of passengers as they make their way through the terminal. This can include everything from the initial check-in process to the final boarding of the aircraft. By tracking this information, airports can optimize their operations, reduce delays, and provide personalized services to travellers.

There are several benefits to using passenger tracking technology in airports. From the airport operator's point of view, this data provides insight into the passenger flow through the terminal. It can identify areas of congestion, measure waiting times/queue lengths in check-in halls, security screening points, border control areas and the boarding lounge, and, for the commercial team, identify prime real estate for retail, services and advertising.

For travellers, passenger tracking can help reduce wait times, provide real-time feedback on processing times and improve the overall efficiency of their journey through the airport. As a result, passenger tracking can increase capacity and enhance airport resource allocation, leading to cost savings and improved profitability. In addition, passenger tracking can help to improve the accuracy of flight departure and arrival times, leading to a more predictable and reliable travel experience for passengers.

The Tech

There are several different systems that can track passengers as they make their way through the terminal.

Thanks to the ubiquity of smartphones and their built-in radio systems, one method is Bluetooth tracking. Bluetooth allows devices to communicate with each other over short distances using radio waves. Most people are familiar with pairing their phone with Bluetooth headphones or their computer with a Bluetooth mouse. In the context of passenger tracking, Bluetooth tags or beacons can be placed throughout the airport, and passengers can opt-in to being tracked by downloading a tracking app.

Why would anyone consent to being tracked? Typically, the airport app will offer the traveller some value add. This could be general information about the airport, real-time information on flights and processing times (a little quid pro quo), or even discounts at retail outlets (we'll return to this later).

As passengers move through the airport and come within a Bluetooth tag or beacon's range, their location and movement can be recorded and tracked. This data is collected, processed and may be:

• stored for regular review,

• monitored in real-time for appropriate management action,

• parsed into other airport systems (such as A-CDM),

• feedback to travellers through the app or visual displays (e.g. Flight Information Display System (FIDS) screens at the entrance to the security screening point), or

• a combination of the above.

Remember those discounts I mentioned earlier? Sometimes, these beacons can be set to trigger a push notification highlighting a retailer's monthly special or something like that. Perhaps a beacon set just after the duty-free shopping area might ask the traveller whether they remembered to buy their partner something nice.

Another method of passenger tracking is the use of video analytics. This can involve using existing CCTV cameras or be based on tailor-made overhead cameras. Both systems leverage artificial intelligence (AI) software to automatically analyze and interpret video footage in real time. 

With training, the AI software to recognize the paths passengers are taking, the length of queues, and the time it takes for people to get from A to B (and maybe C, D, F and the toilets). And much like the data from the Bluetooth system above, it can be used for strategic management, tactical response and direct feedback to travellers.

There are plenty of other high-tech and low-tech systems as well. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags in baggage/security trays or even carried willingly by the traveller can track throughput in specific areas. Light/laser gates can track ingress and egress from similar areas. And collation of traveller data from a range of airport systems might also provide broad insight into passenger processing times.

The Benefit

So, what can we do with this data besides providing the traveller with a "current wait time"?

In the first instance, this data can help identify ways of making that wait time shorter. They could be tactical decisions. Such as opening another security screening lane, delaying staff breaks, or changing the queueing system to hold more people. 

Or this data could support more strategic decisions on staffing levels, procuring equipment, and building bigger facilities. More abstract uses of this data can feed into terminal design and development. In general, the natural movement of travellers could influence the timing and direction of extensions and renovations. And finally, the finance department is always interested in actual data when it comes to quantifying a return on investment. This data can also show that you've exhausted the tactical options described above.

I would have loved this data when I was working at Queenstown Airport. We were dealing with significant passenger growth. I had to plan rosters and staffing levels to respond to new operating hours and varying schedules. To do this, I developed a flexible passenger throughput model. Despite being a little rudimentary, it gave me good answers. But I could have done a lot more with solid data.

This data is also an excellent arbiter in the perennial battle between Operations and Commerical. Now I may be biased, and you are an OPS person looking to ensure the best passenger experience possible. Or, you could be the Devil looking to fill up every square inch of the terminal with retail and advertising. The data provided by the tracking system could hold the key to who should win. It may show that the area in question (the battleground) is used regularly for overflow at peak times and Commerical should keep their filthy hands off it. Or it may show little through traffic, in which case, they can have it (but they probably don't want it now).

The Concerns

As with any technology that involves collecting and using personal data, passenger tracking technology in airports raises several privacy concerns. 

Here are a few examples:

• Data collection: Passenger tracking systems collect a wide range of traveller data, including their location, movement, and sometimes even their biometric data. This data can be sensitive and is considered private by most individuals and many governments.

• Data sharing: While some people may be OK with collecting personal data for a specific purpose, sharing/selling that data with third parties, such as other companies or law enforcement agencies, may be pushing the relationship too far. 

• Data security: Even if the use of the data is agreed to, there is a risk that passenger tracking data could be accessed or misused by unauthorized parties. Either due to technical vulnerabilities or malicious actors, data breaches can lead to privacy violations and the potential for identity theft or other forms of abuse. At the very least, it severely damages the airport's reputation and the ongoing viability of the system.

These concerns may be factored into the design or choice of system. For example, Bluetooth tags and overhead cameras have limited ability to capture biometric data. Regardless, airport operators need to be transparent about their use of traveller data. Clear policies for collecting, using, and retaining personal data are essential. This can build trust with travellers and ensure that their privacy is respected. In addition, airports should implement robust security measures to protect against data breaches and unauthorized access to personal data.

The End (... nope)

This is an evolving space with machine learning and AI capabilities growing continuously. Who knows where the tech will lead us?

Airport operators and managers (even Commercial) should always look for new and more reliable data sources. Even if the data seems inconsequential, new machine-learning models can gain insight from apparently disparate data. As a result, they may be able to produce powerful predictions on growth and passenger behaviour. 

Soon they will know us better than we know ourselves...

Wait, I didn't write that.

ChatGPT prologue: I used ChatGPT to help me write this post. It helped with the outline. Of which, I kept about 70%. And then, it wrote some drafts for each section. I used about 10% of what it wrote in terms of complete sentences and another 25% of its general structure. I don't like its general tone when it writes. It's too shallow for me. I’d guess it turned a 4 hour job into a 2.5 hour job.