2011 2012

A road map to prepare IATA presents the New

for tomorrow’s passenger Simplifying the Business
Five goals towards sustainable profits (StB) Program
and better service
Tomorrow’s passenger journey will be simple,
from travel shopping to airport security

2013 2014

Simplifying
the Business (StB) Simplifying the Business
Transformation in progress Leading transformation
and explorations underway for customer-centric air travel
Making the industry easier to do business with
for both customers and partners.

2015 2016

Simplifying the Business

Innovating better together
to benefit the future passenger

Innovating better together

Foreword

Innovation and digital are the

key StB drivers for enhancing
Eric Léopold
customer experience.
Director Transformation,
FDS – IATA

Over the past 13 years, the StB program has Similarly, Blockchain is promising seamless, friction-
progressed in improving the passenger experience less payments. Technology enables many benefits
through bridging gaps between processes, exploring and we need to focus on its impact on the human
new initiatives and involving various stakeholders to interaction part of customer experience.
ensure the customer remains the focus. The 2020
vision of the perfect journey continues to guide the Besides all of these initiatives, we can continue
development of current and new projects. to improve the speed of design and implementation
of new standards. IATA has focused recently on ac-
The scope remains on the customer experience, celerating the formation of ideas, through the Ideation
but has expanded into other areas. For example, Hub and hackathons; on speeding up the develop-
this year, the scope evolved to look into payments ment of solutions, through incubation and funding
for passengers and the benefits for customers in programs; and on getting solutions to market faster,
airport automation. Innovation and digital are the key through events and networking. IATA aims at com-
StB drivers for enhancing customer experience. This bining these modules in an innovation ecosystem,
was demonstrated through current projects based to accelerate adoption of new industry standards.
on product differentiation, providing customers
with more choice and transparency, customer I look forward to the discussions and potential
identification and allowing for a secure and initiatives that the new ideas elaborated in this
seamless experience through the airport. document will incite.

Progress in technology has never been so impres- A special thank you to the StB Ideation Hub
sive. It plays an increasingly integral part in the StB participants and IATA staff that created this
ideas, initiatives and projects. Artificial intelligence document and continue to lead innovation
and machine learning encourages many benefits in our industry.
from better personalization of content, offers, and
experience to automated vehicles and processes. Sincerely yours,
StB Big Picture

In 2015, the StB formulated the "Big Picture". It included five

essential areas of the customer's end-to-end journey: shop,
order, pay, engage and experience. All of the ideas from the
StB IH fall into one of these areas.

IDEAS
Executive Summary

The IATA Simplifying the Business (StB) program is a Overview of the content
transformative driver of innovation through key projects and
initiatives that aim to improve the passenger experience. Led
by a group of innovation-focused airline representatives that Section 1
are key transformers within their proper organizations, StB
Executive Summary – introduces the StB White
has become a cornerstone of innovation in IATA and across
Paper
the industry. The program will be explained in more detail in
the next section of this document.
Section 2
One of the key pillars of the program is the StB Ideation Hub
(IH), consisting of key strategic stakeholders from across the StB Overview – introduces the StB program,
industry, including airlines, airports, IT providers and other methodology and governance
partners. Led by IATA, this team of transformative individuals
meet to brainstorm new ideas and develop them throughout
the year. Section 3
Update on 2016 Ideas – provides updates on
The outcome of the 2017 StB IH is explained in this docu-
the 2016 ideas
ment. In addition, Proof of Concepts (PoCs) are developed
to further articulate the ideas. These PoCs are presented at
the annual IATA World Passenger Symposium, where the
Section 4
larger audience is encouraged to discuss the ideas even
further. The document also includes an update on the 2016 2017 New Ideas – introduces the three new
ideas (Baggage, One ID, Open API and Payments), including ideas
their progression and evolution since the 2016 White Paper.

This year the three StB Ideation Hub ideas are: Section 5
Conclusion – outlines the next steps and
conclusion
1
Autonomous Vehicles

2
Passenger Payments

3
Personalization

Annual StB White Papers can be

found at www.iata.org/stb
StB Overview
The program
The IATA Simplifying the Business (StB) program is unique. Born from a need to find cost reduction and greater automation
possibilities through simplifying processes and making the most effective use of existing technology, it became a key driver of
industry adoption and speed. IATA’s role was to bring all the stakeholders with a common vision together to develop industry-
wide standards. The aim was to benefit both the industry and the customer by making a more efficient travel experience for
everyone, improving customer service while saving at least US $6.5 billion in annual costs. The original five core projects
were e-Ticketing (ET), Common Use Self-Service (CUSS), Bar-Coded Boarding Pass (BCBP), Radio Frequency ID (RFID)
and IATA e-Freight.

Over the years, the StB program has evolved from the original focus of improving processes to more forward transformational
thinking. The core activity is still based on improving the passenger experience and cost reduction, but the shift of focus is
based on transforming the way we operate, rather than simply improving it. In other words, the program tries to reimagine the
industry and how we would build things from a blank page.

This unique perspective allows us to focus on ideas that were later pursued into projects. The cycle is becoming increasingly
faster. However, we need to push more and become more innovative and deliver benefits to the industry faster.

Benefits Project phases

The StB program benefits all involved stakeholders including Using program cycles, the projects go through five different
passengers, airlines, airports, travel agents, ground handlers phases:
and system providers.
1) Conceptualization: Illustrate and sketch the concept.
Identify KPIs and reasons for the concept to be explored.
Unique methodology
2) Exploration: Assess feasibility and develop an industry
The key elements of StB are based on its methodology, business case based on the identified KPIs.
consisting of:
3) Development: Develop the “product” (e.g., industry stan-
• Idea generation dard, recommended practice, implementation roadmap,
etc.)
• Project delivery
4) Implementation: Implement the project, including indus-
• Industry mobilization and engagement try mobilization and market adoption – according to the
target roadmap.
• Solid governance structure and robust communica-
tions strategy (including a dedicated industry event) 5) Closure: Ensure the vision/target was achieved, benefits
were realized and close the project as a StB project. The
initiatives are now transferred to normal operations.
In addition, there is a rigorous project selection process,
based on specific criteria and these projects are processed
through five phases, driven by stage gate reviews. The meth-
odology is necessary to ensure a successful StB program.
The StB IH consists of an annual rotating membership of
several StB SG members and other partners from specific
industries – depending on the topics discussed. The IH fo-
cuses on ideation and new initiatives that can potentially be
pursued as a StB project. The StB IH publishes this annual
White Paper to stimulate conversation and share innovative
ideas that will lead to industry transformation.
StB Overview
Industry mobilization and engagement IATA World Passenger Symposium

Another unique attribute is how StB mobilizes the industry The WPS gathers stakeholders from across the industry
to deliver the target when projects are in implementation to focus on the passenger. The WPS is important for the
phase. There are designated airline champions that own StB program, since it is an opportunity to highlight and dis-
the process within their own airline. The mobilization effort cuss the StB projects as well as the work completed by the
also relies on strong support from IATA’s Board of Governors Ideation Hub – more specifically, the White Paper. It is the
(BoG) and Strategy and Policy Committee (SPC) – which forum where IATA provides the industry agenda and strategy
reports to the BoG. In addition, there are workshops, and for the years to come on everything relating to passenger.
campaigns that are regularly delivered to the industry as well It’s also the place where standards are adopted and deci-
as communications including dedicated IATA webpages and sions are made through the various industry meetings
social media. taking place simultaneously.

Governance
StB Steering Group

The StB program is governed by the StB Steering Group

(SG). The StB SG includes up to 15 airline members direct-
ly appointed by their CEO who advise IATA management on
the StB program strategy and execution. The group provides
IATA with guidance and ensures the StB projects are rel-
evant and meet the needs of IATA members. Each member
participates in the SG with an industry mindset, rather than
an individual airline mindset. In addition, each member is re-
sponsible to brief their CEO on the activities of StB. Finally,
the StB activities are reported twice a year to the IATA BoG
and SPC, who review and guide the StB program.

StB project scorecard

2017 TARGET

BAGGAGE XML 2
Live Implementations

NDC
(New Distribution Capability)
45
NDC Airlines

Message Standard Adoption

ONE ORDER

Concept Document Published

ONE ID

Feasibility Study Published

OPEN API

TRAVEL Industry Data Charter

COMMUNICATIONS
Update on 2016 Ideas

In 2016, the StB IH explored the following four ideas:

One ID

Payments

Baggage

Open API

These four ideas were articulated into the 2016 StB White
Paper. In addition, the team developed proof of concepts
for each and presented them at the IATA World Passenger
Symposium in Dubai, UAE.

The progress made on each idea since the 2016 White

Paper and WPS will be explained in the following sections.
Update on 2016 Ideas
One ID

In 2016, one of the new ideas underpinning the third StB Key concepts and principles
pillar of a “seamless and hassle free” travel experience was
to connect the dots across the end-to-end passenger pro- • One ID will rely on a trusted digital identity to facilitate
cess from an identity management perspective. Moreover, improved customer experience, speed and security. This
the vision was to create a streamlined, friction-free process should be introduced as early in the passenger process as
that allows an individual to assert their identity (online or in possible, with the validation of identity-related information
person) to the required level, while maintaining the privacy at the time of booking or shortly thereafter.
of personal data and enabling significant improvements to
operational efficiency and security. It is paramount that this • One single capture of passenger data will be used by
vision will be delivered through true collaboration between all stakeholders across the end-to-end journey including
airlines, airports and government agencies. outbound and inbound.

• Biometric recognition will be used within the airport envi-

ronment, to confirm an individual’s identity.

• A trust framework will need to be in place, supporting

the collaboration of various stakeholders such as airlines,
airports and government agencies.

• Privacy by design, and strict compliance with regulations

pertaining to data privacy.

• Different systems will be deployed due to differing regula-

tory and operational requirements; interoperability is key.

Token
Timeframe Support proof of ID Necessary conditions
Pre-departure At airport

Biometric data captured once

and used through the whole
2020
process. Digital form of iden-
tity has been developed.

Interoperability between air-

2030
ports (incl. between countries)

Beyond Digital based identity enabled

In the near term, the main focus will be on the pre-departure process, in particular how identity related information can be
verified early on in the process, as well as how biometric information can be used as a single token to facilitate the depar-
ture and/or arrivals process within a given airport ecosystem. The e-passport will still be used to authenticate identity.

In the longer term, we will start to see wide scale interoperability between airport ecosystems enabling cross-border
scenarios linking departures to arrivals.

Ultimately, we expect to see the use of a digital identity allowing an individual to assert their identity, online or in person,
to the required level and throughout the end-to-end process, entirely replacing the use of a physical passport.
Update on 2016 Ideas
One ID

Progress in 2017 Next steps

This new work stream was merged with the existing Single In 2018, the task force will leverage various pilot projects to
Token work stream under the banner of “One ID”, and the gather operational data in order to further refine the concept
IATA team established a task force composed of airlines, documentation and produce initial guidance materials. The
airports, governments (immigration, border control and development of a template trust framework also features
security) and representatives of the vendor community in prominently on the agenda.
order to clearly define the scope and the following deliver-
ables: Several proof of concept implementations are ongoing
across the globe, but the vast majority of these currently
focus either on the departure or on the arrivals process, and
• High level concept paper describing the importance of often with a limited number of stakeholders involved. In addi-
One ID and the qualitative benefits derived from it, what tion, the team will continue to proactively look for pilot projects
it is, and what its core principles are. demonstrating the viability of cross-border scenarios in 2018.
Another area of focus for pilot projects is the pre-departure
• Detailed documentation describing in an evolutionary process, and particularly how identity related information
roadmap what is possible, practical and worthwhile in can be validated early in the process; API data quality is a
the short, medium and long-term. The documentation key issue today, and improving this will be a key prerequisite
includes: to changing the current trust framework to the benefit of the
traveler.
- Concepts, solutions and technologies that need to
be on our radar screen in each of these time frames.

- A high level concept of operations that describes,

practically, how it could work in each of these time
frames. It also identifies the actors and describes their
roles, how they interact with one another and for what
purpose. The specific outcomes that are expected from
interactions between them, and a high level process
model and data flows.

- The elements of a trust framework that would need to

be in place between key stakeholders to enable this
concept of operations.

- The regulatory framework that would need to be in

place to enable this concept of operations.

• The team is also seeking to formalize the relationship with

various proof of concept implementations that are ongoing
in different parts of the world, enabling us to learn from
their experiences, fine tune concept documentation,
and start producing guidance material.
Update on 2016 Ideas
Payments

The focus in 2016 was on business-to-business payments. Acting as aggregator on various forms of payments and
There is considerable global variation in preferred types different payment providers, it reduces the complexity of
of payment, banking services, payment acceptance and connecting to various services and simplifies the payment
shopping methods. In addition, the payment and settlement process through a single global connection. IFG aims to ad-
process and service level for airlines varies considerably dress the airline’s need to increase the availability of various
by region and channel. Payment relies on complex legacy forms of payment in different sales channels including the
processes that include a diverse and multifaceted regulatory direct and indirect sales.
framework. The intent was to make payment processing sim-
ple, consistent and secure for the entire air transport industry IFG provides the ability for airlines to manage the accep-
while reducing payment processing costs and related fraud. tance of various forms of payment, select payment providers,
and even restrict or allow specific forms of payment for each
The vision was to enhance the passenger experience by individual payment transaction.
enabling payments anywhere (omni-payment) as well as
reducing the complexity on the merchant side. Access to multiple payment providers is important but this is
not the only benefit the IFG provides. It also enables IATA-
The team worked the idea into the scope of the IATA project managed forms of payment such as BSP Cash or EasyPay
called the IATA Financial Gateway (IFG). The IFG focuses for the non-GDS sales channel of the airlines; it makes other
on online payments – facilitating and optimizing the online IATA card services such as Fraud Clear available as part of
payment process for airlines and other travel suppliers. the processing as well.

AFOP - Alternative Forms of Payment PSP - Payment Service Providers BSP - Billing and Settlement Plan ARC - Airlines Reporting Corporation
Update on 2016 Ideas
Payments

Benefits

• Global Reach •C
 ost Efficiency
Extends market reach and improves Improves operational savings
user experience to enhance sales and management of Service
opportunities Level Agreements and risks
while reducing agency settle-
ment costs by deploying BSP
settlement in all non-GDS
Travel
Travelers Suppliers distribution channels using IFG
• Simplification real-time capture services for
Reduces complexity and in- both ET and ticketless carriers
creases operational efficiency
through a single global connec-
tion with access to all payment
processors, including the BSP
Agency Service
Community Providers

• In Control
Be in control of when each
• Security payment is made and the form of
Improves system security payments accepted while having
by providing a highly reliable the freedom and flexibility to se-
system and secured connection lect or change payment partners
with Payment Card Industry Data without any systemdisturbances
Security Standards certification
and data privacy

Key features
Designed to meet the payment needs of all airline business models, IFG offers:

• A single global connection

• Access to all forms of payments through a range of payment service providers
• A seamless integration with ticketing systems and various distribution channels
• Business Rules Management according to the airline’s payment strategy
• BSP/ARC Sales Reporting
• Third party services including fraud prevention, behavior analytics and tokenization services

Further details and contact

information can be found on
http://www.iata.org/IFG
Update on 2016 Ideas
Baggage

In 2016, the StB Ideation Hub explored different areas of Current innovations
baggage handling transformation. Existing baggage infra-
structure is at full capacity and no longer sufficient for future There are a number of innovations to current processes,
passenger volumes and customer expectations. The vision where standards exist to enable industry cooperation.
is to re-invent the baggage process by providing real-time These include:
tracking and tracing and robust identification.

Following the StB IH, IATA reviewed current baggage han- 1. Identification
dling processes and completed an assessment of baggage
tracking technologies and baggage delivery. These ideas are A new identifier (.M) can be applied by any stakeholder in
continuing to be further developed and the below outlines the baggage journey, from bag manufacturer to passenger.
the progress made. The only requirement is that the airline is capable of receiv-
ing this identity from the bag. In addition, airlines can take
New entrants to the market are bringing into question the advantage of technology to make the automatic capturing of
way that airlines handle baggage. The unbundling of the baggage identities possible. While additional technologies
baggage product from the ticket price has been a fact for exist for identification, they are either cost prohibitive when
several years in many markets. With this unbundling comes applied to many tracking points or not yet proven.
choice - passengers can choose how their bag will travel.
These additional services are not quite ready for the main-
stream, but will be in the near future. 2. Communication

Passenger expectations are not a new pressure, but they Airlines are now able to use modern Internet of Things (IoT)
constantly increase. The passenger will soon demand “real- technology to send messages formatted in XML over the open
time” notification of their baggage location. Some passengers internet with complete security and confidence in delivery.
are already taking this into their own hands by buying track-
ing devices for their baggage. It is a great shame that with IoT uses the Message Queue Telemetry Transport (MQTT),
the airlines 99.4% success rate of delivering bags, passen- a machine-to-machine /IoT connectivity protocol. This is a
gers feel the need to buy an electronic comforter to reassure lightweight publish/subscribe messaging transport with built
them where their bag actually is during their journey. IATA in resilience for connectivity drops. It uses a small bandwidth,
Resolution 753 requires airlines to collect the tracking data and is easy to implement making it perfect for large numbers
for baggage but does not require that this is shared with of small messages – such as those found in a baggage
the passengers, as this is an airline business decision. tracking implementation.
Update on 2016 Ideas
Baggage

Long-term transformations needed

1. Smart regulation 3. Split the passenger from the bag

Concern over the capability to swap baggage labels The industry invests billions in state of the art baggage
or produce fake ones is severely hindering the ability of screening machines, especially in the run up to the
airlines to use home printed and electronic baggage tags. adoption of Standard 3 in Europe (EU law to bring new
Regulators need to examine and address the fundamental explosive detection machines capable of Standard 3 in
problems (i.e., insider criminals and lack of observation in place by 2020). With this investment and the certainty of
the customs hall, antiquated customs processes) rather safety that it delivers, this gives the opportunity for bags
than penalize the billions of honest passengers who would to take a separate routing than the passenger and enable
like to avail themselves of new baggage tags. The trans- end-to-end baggage delivery still under the contract of
formation needed is to make use of technologies such carriage of the passenger. This would dramatically change
as Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) that can pro- the transfer process as bags would cease to follow the
actively inform customs if a bag is in the wrong channel, passenger and could be free to take an optimized route.
and machine learning to monitor Closed Circuit Television
(CCTV) in restricted areas and identify unauthorized
baggage access. 4. Business intelligence and big data

Baggage data, especially where full tracking data is avail-

2. Revamp of baggage including the tag able, is a rich data source and when linked with other
data (such as actual flight times) allows an airline to have
Although the short term focus is on efficiency, the longer insight into how they can deliver bags with greater reliabil-
term will include a complete review of the bag as we now ity. At an airport level, the airport can learn what baggage
know it and take away many of the weaknesses that the routes cause the most stress on their systems, and are
existing baggage processes has, including but not limited most likely to cause them being determined as the station
to, the lack of data impacting baggage offload processes at fault. At an industry level, it could be possible to gener-
and limitations attached to the 10-digit tag license plate. ate insight into the patterns of baggage movements that
Moreover, the actual tagging process is probably the big- would enable airlines to deliver bags more effectively
gest inhibitor to a much smoother self-enabled process and efficiently.
with a huge impact on airport design. With permanent
baggage tags, passengers would not have to queue.
There are a lot of possible technologies and routes that air-
lines can make use of to improve their baggage operations.
However, to make this transformation, the entire aviation
industry must make moves in the same direction. This is diffi-
cult for the industry, as airlines have a lot of influence in their
hubs but far less in outstations. Thus, a single airline cannot
make a significant transformation for the industry. IATA will
continue to engage with the entire industry to move forward.
Update on 2016 Ideas
Open API

Open Application Programming Interfaces, commonly Industry understanding

referred to as Open APIs, are a way to share data between
entities in a trusted, timely yet open manner. The need for To better understand the current state of the industry and
the entire aviation industry to share data is becoming greater current airline Open API ambitions, IATA executed both inter-
every year. Initiatives such as artificial intelligence, customer net research and an industry wide survey asking airlines and
personalization, and real-time operations need relevant, trusted, airports if they currently have an Open API platform in place
and timely data to operate. The vision is to use Open APIs to and if not, if they have plans to put one in place.
allow airlines and airports to communicate with passengers
and publish relevant data. Moreover, the aim is to ensure
the data exposed from individual airline API platforms is Some key findings from the internet research
consistent in terms of definition, format and the way the
data is accessed (or shared). From the internet search on all IATA member airlines,
we discovered that 10 airlines had an Open API program
Since the 2016 White Paper, IATA built a proof of concept exposed that could be found by a simple internet search.
where three airlines and airports were connected through This represented only 4% of all IATA airlines, but covered
to a single platform via Open APIs and the data was then 16% of airline traffic.
consumed via the Amazon Alexa smart speaker. The content
which was shared was real-time information of departure
gate and departure time. We learned that Open APIs are Number of airlines By airline revenue
an important concept for the future of data sharing, that we
API: 4% API: 16%
need a standardized model (both on data and connectivity
methods) and that airlines and airports need to demonstrate NO OPEN API: 96% NO OPEN API: 84%
their willingness to share data.

In 2017, the focus shifted to gain a better understanding

of the current state of the industry in regard to Open APIs.
In addition, the target was to develop a framework to enable
a standard way of building Open APIs.

The majority of the data being exposed was in regard to

reference data and to the offer.

Some key findings from the survey:

• 38% of those surveyed were aware of the Open API

initiative.

• 65% of airlines and airports plan to provide Open APIs

by 2020. Of these, the following use cases would be pro-
vided by more than 30% of the airlines: flight schedules,
flight status, flight offers, and baggage tracking.

• Airlines and airports see the key drivers as sharing of

data in a trusted manner, minimizing cost and speed
to market.
Update on 2016 Ideas
Open API

Framework to implement an Open API Next steps

A document outlining the deployment approach of an indus- In 2017, IATA investigated and researched deeper into this
try Open API model was developed for discussion purposes initiative and witnessed the increasing importance of Open
and can be found at www.iata.org/stb. APIs in the aviation infrastructure. As a result, this activity
and the majority of the work in this program will continue
This document aims to identify the primary use cases, within the governance of the Passenger and Airport Data
the airline industry should focus on first. This will enable Interchange Standards (PADIS) Board which is the govern-
the greatest benefit to be achieved in the early stages of ing body responsible for data exchange standards. Through
this initiative. this forum, we will continue to promote the initiative, and
aim to standardize the approach to Open APIs.
By looking at the benefits to the customer, the strategic
importance and the ability to implement, the diagram below
was developed. As a result, it was proposed to a number of
IATA working groups, to have the following items in the first
phase of Open APIs for the industry:

• Flight information

• Check-in

• Boarding tokens

• Baggage tracking

Release 1
Transfer Flight
High

options waitlist Flight

information
Check-in

Boarding Baggage
tokens
Strategic Importance

Transit tracking
information (R753)

Immigration Security
queues queues

Traffic Security
to/from req
airport Self-
In airport service
Parking and route Immigra- immigration Lounge
charges planning tion docu- guide information
mentation
Smoking
area
Low

Low Ability to execute High

2017 New Ideas

The StB IH continues to focus on strategic ideas that can

translate into real transformation within the air transport
industry. In 2017, the approach was a little different for the Autonomous
initial ideation process. The team met very early in the year to
brainstorm and reimagine the industry with a blank slate. The
Vehicles
intent was to have this meeting at the start of 2017 so the
team would then complete the idea selection earlier, allowing
more time to work on the White Paper and develop proof of
concepts.

The team also got to start off 2017 with a group of industry
transformers and start-ups, inspiring new thoughts and ideas
that would continue to inspire us throughout the year. This
initial meeting was held in the Silicon Valley in partnership
with Plug and Play (a startup Innovation Platform that the
StB Think Tank engaged with in 2016). This time, the group
met with start-ups with an aviation industry scope as well as
start-ups from other industries that had adjusted their pre-
sentations to help us think differently and adapt our thoughts Passenger
to new possibilities and perspectives. As a result of these
start-up presentations and brainstorm exercise, three ideas
Payments
were selected: autonomous vehicles, passenger payments
and personalization.

The Ideation Hub split into three sub-teams to further develop

these ideas through the following months. In addition to the
detail on the ideas below, Proof of Concepts (PoCs) were
developed and presented at the 2017 World Passenger
Symposium in Barcelona.

Personalization
2017 New Ideas
Autonomous Vehicles

Vision Current situation

The concept of a dark airport was the initial motivation While airline and airport operations are prime candidates
behind the autonomous vehicles idea. Imagine an airport for automation, the sector has achieved very little to date.
where aircraft towing and taxing, refueling, baggage and As the demand for air transportation grows, operations at
cargo movements including loading and unloading, and airports and associated facilities are becoming progressively
aircraft and airfield inspections are conducted by fleets of congested, increasing safety and security risks and degrad-
fully autonomous vehicles and equipment. This offers levels ing operational efficiency and effectiveness. There has been
of efficiency that are otherwise unachievable – but are, automation in some areas, such as baggage handling and a
even today, badly needed in most airports. number of showcase examples in specific locations. How-
ever, it remains that autonomous technologies are primarily
When fully implemented, Autonomous Vehicle (AV) technol- being exploited by other sectors (e.g. manufacturing road
ogy is expected to act as the catalyst for the most profound freight services, farming and mining).
change in society since the Industrial Revolution. AV will cut
the time consumed by driving while improving transport
safety. In addition, the space needed for vehicles in transit Autonomous
AutonomousVehicles
Vehicles(AVs)
(AVs)
and at rest or parked will drop dramatically.
AnAnAVAVisisequipped
equippedwith with
intelligence
intelligenceto to
operate
operate
safely
safely
and ef-
AV technology offers specific benefits to the air transport ficiently
and efficiently
in its intended
in its intended
environment.
environment.
At a minimum,
At a minimum,
it must be
industry leading to positive impacts on: able
it must
to sense,
be able assimilate
to sense, andassimilate
operate in
anditsoperate
domain in
unaided
its
asdomain
well asunaided
make and as well
reactastomake
its own
anddecisions.
react to itsItown
mustdeci-
be
• Customer experience capable
sions. Itofmust
inter-vehicle
be capable communication
of inter-vehicle
andcommunication
communication
with
andits
communication
environment. with its environment.
• Safety and security
The
TheSociety
SocietyofofAutomotive
AutomotiveEngineers
Engineers(SAE
(SAE International)
International)
• Operational efficiency produced
produceda astandard
standard classification
classification
of1 AVs
of AVs
fromfrom
0 (fully
0 (fully
manu-
al)manual)
to 5 (fully
to 5autonomous).
(fully autonomous).
Reference
Reference
to AVs toin AVs
this report
in this
• Airfield congestion means
reportvehicles
means vehicles
achievingachieving
at least Level
at least
3 (where
Level 3 vehicles
(where
would,
vehiclesunder
would,
mostunder
normal
most
situations,
normal situations,
drive autonomously
drive autono-
• Energy consumption but
mously
in certain
but incircumstances
certain circumstances
or conditions
or conditions
would need would
driver
needassistance)
driver assistance).

The vision is for an industry-wide commitment to ‘going Going

Goingautonomous
autonomouswill willcommence
commencethe thecapture
capture ofof aa wealth
wealth
autonomous’. Furthermore, the air transport industry must ofofnew
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with
with
information
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cap-
set governance structures, interoperability and technology from
turedother
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such assuch
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surveil-
standards, and safety and commercial frameworks, which cameras,
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currentlycurrently
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will
will pave the way for the methodical adoption of autono- drive
whichcontinual
will drive
improvement
continual improvement
and even greater
and even
efficiencies.
greater
mous technologies. efficiencies.

Progressive airlines and airports are already testing drones

capable of aircraft inspections, autonomous passenger
boarding bridges which repeatedly dock quickly and ac-
curately to aircraft, semi-autonomous tugs for towing/taxing
aircraft and use of driverless buses for staff and passengers.

The concept of AVs in a highly controlled, safety-conscious

environment, like an airfield, will require meticulous design.
The industry as a whole will need to work carefully and me-
thodically to establish the correct protocols and standards to
ensure that the value of AV technology does not come at a
high cost to the operation and airport performance.

This paper is a call to action to the air transport industry to

recognize the transformative potential of AVs and to put its
leadership weight behind creating and sponsoring the mech-
anisms which will deliver much-needed industry changes
and performance improvements.

J3016: Taxonomy and Definitions for Terms Related to

1

On-Road Motor Vehicle Automated Driving Systems

2017 New Ideas
Autonomous Vehicles

Current AVs trials and developments Automating the connection and disconnection from
the aircraft will develop over time. Careful consideration is
The members of the StB Ideation Hub offered some required to optimize where aircraft can disconnect and limit
examples of current uses of AVs: the impact on airfield congestion. Some solutions offer an
electric motor fixed to the nose landing gear and powered by
the aircraft’s auxiliary power unit. The aircraft can push back
a. Passenger boarding bridges and taxi under the command of the pilot.

Today, the docking and undocking of passenger boarding

bridges is performed manually, where an individual standing d. Baggage
in the cabin of the bridge, maneuvers the bridge onto and
off the aircraft using a joy stick. AVs will be a key part of achieving the vision of baggage
handling that is untouched by human hands. Baggage sorta-
Passenger boarding bridge suppliers are developing tech- tion systems are common place in the industry to automate
nology to: the movement of bags from landside to airside, and handlers
are deploying robotic loaders and unloaders to further auto-
• Remotely dock and undock the bridge, allowing one indi- mate the process. But moving bags between the sortation
vidual to control several bridges at a time. systems and the aircraft is done with driver operated bag-
gage tugs pulling baggage carts, trolleys and ULD trains.
• Automate the dock and undock process from the aircraft.
The StB IH expects that ground service equipment such as
• Recognize the door through machine vision. autonomous baggage tugs will be commonplace within 10
years. Currently, self-driving baggage tugs are starting to
appear on the market.
In the near term, it is expected that passenger loading bridges
will operate in a ‘semi-assisted’ mode where operators will Additional use cases for autonomous vehicles in the
oversee the bridge’s operation and manually override potential baggage handling process include:
mistakes.
• Robotic vehicles for loading the baggage and/or
containers into the plane.
b. Buses – people transportation
• Mobile security scanning robot that can be deployed
Airports are likely to see the introduction of driverless buses autonomously where needed.
over the next five years. Today, vendors already offer airlines
and airports small autonomous shuttle buses, capable of • Drones that could move baggage around the airport to
carrying 12 to 16 passengers. The AV bus concept has meet tight timelines and tail-to-tail transfers.
found particular traction in university campus’ and small
towns where passenger volumes are low and bus driving • Self-driving cargo ULD’s and ULD tugs.
is a particularly mundane task. Larger AV buses could be
used for ferrying passengers to and from aircraft operating
at remote stands. While there are currently some deployments of static robots
which pack baggage containers, like a recently announced
pilot at Singapore's Changi airport, AVs which autonomously
c. Aircraft movements deliver baggage to and from an aircraft and/or load and
unload baggage containers are not yet available.
The pushback of an aircraft from the stand includes
expensive, resource-heavy aircraft tugs that need to be
provisioned for each aircraft departure and available at the
scheduled time. Travelling between stands and waiting for
the completion of other departures mean that the aircraft
tug and it operators (generally tug driver and wingman)
are under-utilized.

Remote controlled, electric pushback devices offer the ability

to reduce the pushback operation to one person, improved
utilization and operational performance as they can remain/
charge up, on an individual stand and reduce noise and
emissions in comparison to heavy, diesel powered tugs.
2017 New Ideas
Autonomous Vehicles

e. Inspections Case for change –

AVs and airline operations
There are different inspections:

• Planes (for damage, lightning strikes, etc.) while at the The StB Ideation Hub reviewed numerous AV trials and
gate or during operations such as de-icing case studies to produce recommendations for AV implemen-
• Runways (foreign object detection and damage detection) tations at airports. The focus is primarily (but not exclusively)
• Airport perimeter (for security) on the role of AVs and equipment on the airfield rather than
in terminal buildings for several reasons:
• Airport complex (for security, maintenance, and
construction)
• Easier to control and alter to suit an autonomous
environment.
Some of these inspections could be done by terrestrial
vehicles, but many of them could also be done using drones. • Standard nature of airfield operations means that suc-
There have been multiple trials in the last year showing cessful trials can easily be transferred to other airport
mostly remotely-piloted (rather than autonomous) drones operations.
conducting inspections. Features like collision avoidance
and other safety measures would be required in the airport • Airfield operations are heavily dependent on driver and
environment. vehicle/equipment.

Equipping drones with differential lenses enables the gather- • Several tasks or functions on the airfield are time con-
ing of insight beyond visual range of the human eye to deliver suming/pressured, require intelligence to perform and
better inspection accuracy and from many different angles are prone to costly human error (automation helps drive
simultaneously and negotiating obstacles that are risky for conformity and regularity).
human inspection. Drones can patrol surfaces and gaps in
airport perimeters to provide additional security and mitigate • Aircraft move from one airport to another and across
hazards such as bird strikes by mimicking the appearance borders. Interaction between aircrafts and ground vehicles
and behavior of predators. In addition, drones can be sent into needs to be universally governed through standards to
harm’s way to aid airport security in crisis response situations. avoid accidents.

From an IT perspective, the increased frequency and en- • Airfield operations are distinct to our industry and therefore
hanced precision via automated data collection may reveal require our own focus to make changes happen.
unexpected insights overlooked in contemporary operations.

The regulations around the use of drones is a key area that The combination of these factors make the airfield a strong
needs development to support the future rollout of drones candidate for autonomy.
to conduct inspections.

Top 15 damage caused by equipment (Source: IATA Ground Damage Database – Winter 2016-17 Analysis)
2017 New Ideas
Autonomous Vehicles

While demand for air travel is set to continue to rise, struc- undocking of the passenger loading bridge. Self-docking
tural changes needed in airports to cope with demand will loading bridges can significantly address the problems of
take longer to implement. AVs offer a near-term option to shortage of staff created by staff turnover and the increased
improve airfield efficiency and effectiveness without signifi- cost and training lead time for new staff. Moreover, if an air-
cant capital outlay. craft needs multiple boarding bridges, then it is very expen-
sive to assign staff to each for such a short time to connect
Separately, environments in which AVs operate fully, or near all. Additionally, loading bridge accuracy in docking and
fully, are likely to be considerably safer and more secure, undocking can reduce the human errors in these operations
reducing the insider threats and accidents. Most airfield and which is the leading cause of aircraft and jet bridge damage.
landside accidents are caused by human error where regula-
tions or operating procedure were not followed or a judgement
error was made. The majority of aircraft damage is caused AV applications
while at a gate or stand connected to the passenger terminal.
The team identified a series of AV use cases, which highlight
Critical to passenger satisfaction, gate efficiency and re- the potential of AVs in air transport. Several airlines and airports
duced aircraft turnaround time is the efficient docking and are planning to pilot AVs and equipment in the next two years.

Map of AV use cases

Ground Based Vehicles Aerial Autonomous Vehicles (i.e. Drones)

Airside Ground service vehicles and equipment Inspections

(baggage/cargo carts, dollies and loaders, aircraft tugs, (aircraft, runway, construction, building/utility infrastruc-
jet bridges, aircraft marshalling cars, employee/passenger ture, security and safety investigations and remote mainte-
buses/shuttles and baggage) nance issue)
Airside Robots Deliveries
(AKE & AKH robot loaders at laterals in bag hall, robot load- (cargo, baggage, containers: AKE & AKH, maintenance
ing AKE & AKH onto aircraft, Mobile Robot security screen parts and tools across the airfield and last minute meal,
pod - bag/passenger, aircraft inspections, perimeter monitor- food and beverage to aircraft)
ing, lawn mowing and de-icing/snow clearance)
Surveillance/Monitoring
Airside Deliveries (Traffic and Safety and security of perimeter & remote
(Airside passenger and employee buses/shuttles, catering areas)
trucks, cleaning crew vehicles, remote PRM airplane loaders,
maintenance vehicles and small parts/items/ rush bag) Operational
(Guiding aircraft to gate stand, chasing away birds and
Landside Transport wildlife and unauthorized drone defense measures)
(PRM wheelchairs, PRM carts in the terminals, rental car and
parking lot shuttles, employee and passenger buses/shuttles Other
and baggage) (construction design)

Landside or Terminal Operations

(Mobile security robots and kiosks)
2017 New Ideas
Autonomous Vehicles

Going autonomous: the way forward e. Different needs, same approach

AVs offer an exciting and vital solution to many problems The value of AVs will not be the same to all airlines and all
in the air transport industry. A structured and coordinated airports. Higher labor costs, environmental differences and
approach by industry leaders is necessary to ensure the different regulatory requirements/imperatives will determine
widespread adoption of, and most value from, autonomous local appetite for AVs. However, this does not remove the
vehicles in the air transport industry. need for a widely-agreed approach to AVs.

Similar to other industry sectors that are looking to incorpo-

rate AVs, the air transport sector will need to appoint leader- f. Cybersecurity
ship teams to develop the standards relating to interoperabil-
ity, safety and operations which will govern the usage of AVs AVs are heavily reliant on software and telecommunications;
across the sector. both vulnerable to cyber-security threats. Loss of control of
an AV on an airfield could have serious consequences. The
Amongst the issues that these standards bodies must con- industry will need to set hard cyber security standards to
sider are: ensure adequate protection of AVs.

a. Standards focal point g. Legal framework

Developing and deploying AV solutions require a coordinated AVs will require a review of traditional laws and regulations
approach by airlines, Ground Service Equipment manufac- to ensure with the right risks are apportioned to the right
turers and airports alike to create standards, frameworks and parties. Such a legal framework and must be developed so
solutions necessary for widespread acceptance and imple- that potential liabilities are understood and risk are ad-
mentation. equately quantified to warrant appropriate investment.

b. Safety and control h. Control, roles and responsibilities

In a highly-controlled environment, like an airfield, the idea Within an airport setting, it is important to determine which
of unattended machines performing critical functions is stakeholders are responsible for which components of the
concerning to many people. Strict policies and standards AV environment so that proper levels of coordination be-
governing the use of AVs on the airfield must be established. tween AVs and their operators are guaranteed. Airports op-
For the purposes of deploying AVs, the air transport industry erators will need to work closely with city, county and state
already benefits from having safety-centric frameworks and government bodies to ensure their use of AVs is compatible
mechanisms. with local laws.

c. Evolving solutions and the business case Next steps

The air transport industry has invested considerably in exist- Airports, and specifically airfields, are an ideal environment
ing manually-operated vehicles. Some new solutions will for AVs given that high levels of synchronization produce
necessitate the retrofitting of existing vehicles to allow for greater operational efficiency and effectiveness. Since the
autonomous or semi-autonomous operations. airfield is a very structured environment, the task of naviga-
tion and decision-making is considerably easier for an AV,
than operating on, say, the public highway.
d. Labor challenges
The StB IH encourages and promotes the development of
Workers and labor unions will be concerned that AVs and AVs and equipment for the airfield environment. Collaborat-
equipment will lead to job losses. However, new jobs will be ing with IATA and ACI to ensure that minimal but necessary
created in developing, managing and monitoring AVs and standards are put into place that will facilitate widespread
equipment. In the near to mid-term, level three AVs still will adoption of solutions. Airports, airlines and ground handlers
require the presence of drivers and operators. In the longer are invited to foster a culture for automation, evaluating
term, worker re-skilling and retooling will help to mitigate the business cases as part of a portfolio of automation projects
impact of potential job losses However, the impact of auto- rather than single isolated examples. We can then benefit
mation on the labor market is a global issue that will need to from much needed changes and performance improvements
be addressed generally - not just in the air transport industry. AVs and equipment can deliver.
2017 New Ideas
Passenger Payments

Vision Case for Change

New generations of customers are increasingly open to The key cost drivers for the airlines include merchant fees,
adopting alternate and convenient forms of payment that fraud (prevention, loss, and false positives), potential usage
fit their lifestyle and needs. At present, numerous new pay- of travel agents’ owned cards and Virtual Account Numbers
ment players are riding the FinTech wave and addressing (VANs), compliance costs (setup, maintenance and fines)
these market needs. Nevertheless, the global airline industry and operational expenses (e.g. payment systems, payment
offers few of these options while it spends billions annually organizations, Payment Service Providers (PSPs)).
in payment fees. These costs are projected to increase sig-
nificantly by 2025. Despite rising costs, friction in payments Gateway and PSP technologies represent a subset of a
continue to inhibit customer conversion on digital channels greater payment ecosystem, which has seen and is expected
across agencies and airlines. The increase in the cyberse- to see continued revenue growth which reversely impacts
curity threat profile and fraud are realities that need to be airline margins. Based on multiple research reports, annual
continuously mitigated, particularly in the payments space. global payments revenue including all revenue made by pay-
Finally, while the transition to New Distribution Capability ment providers (i.e., banks, card schemes, PSPs, consolida-
(NDC) is bringing buyers and airlines closer together from tors, etc.) is increasing at such a rate that will exceed $2
an offer and order management perspective, transparency trillion by 2025.2
in payments and settlement processes need to keep up
with this trend. According to latest estimates (2015), global airlines spend
around $8B in payments (cost of settling the money) every
There remain significant barriers to entry for emerging forms year.
of payments – and balancing convenience, security and cost
remain a challenge. While cards remain the most popular
form of payment, emerging entrants have demonstrated that
segments of customers are willing to adopt alternatives if
convenience, cost, transparency and security needs are
met. However, this often introduces additional players into
an already complex payment process, which comes at a cost.

The vision is the creation of a potential new form of

payment that could re-define the value proposition by
enabling customer convenience, global security and lower
costs for airlines.

Throughout the year, the team has defined a concept (the

IATA Wallet) established a high level conceptual architec-
ture, debated key success factors and delivered a proof
of concept.

2
McKinsey & Company Global Payment Map, as reported in "Global Payments 2015: A Healthy Industry Confronts Disruption," McKinsey & Co., October 2015; The Bos-
ton Consulting Group (BCG) report entitled ‘Global Payments 2016’; http://www.consultancy.uk/news/12651/global-payments-revenues-to-hit-2-trillion-by-2025-emerg-
ing-economies-lead
2017 New Ideas
Passenger Payments

Multiple industry initiatives have been launched over the StB Proposal
last few years to help airlines cope with this significant cost,
particularly in the indirect sales channel. Nevertheless, the Payment solutions for the future must address five thematic
cost of payments is forecast to increase yearly, potentially requirements to be successful:
doubling by 2025.
Convenience
Despite the rise in costs, friction in payments continue to
be a significant impediment to improving checkout conver- The solution must fit the digital lifestyle of consumers today
sion rates – with highest conversion rates correlated with and promote channel conversion. Frictionless is of the es-
fewer number of clicks, lower transaction time, zero profile sence and transparent (Uber-like) payments are in the vision
requirements, retail incentives, and higher number of pay- with a natural integration with the IATA One ID project.
ment methods.
Omni-channel
In response, the pace of innovation in the payments space
has accelerated with multiple FinTechs proposing alternatives The solution must transfer funds directly from the payer
to established players. Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung to the payee or vice-versa. Travel providers must be able
Pay, AliPay, Venmo, Fast payments, etc. are tackling issues to provide consistent payment methods across direct and
of convenience, flexibility and security – further taking control indirect channels.
away from retailers. Airlines are rapidly adopting these forms
of payments to improve conversion on their channels, Security
despite additional transaction costs.
The solution must be secure, allow for third-party identity
While the financial performance of the global airlines has providers, multi-factor authentication, and reduce the attack
improved over the years, margins remain thin – with harsh footprint for potential cybersecurity threats (e.g. PCI footprint).
economic environments in some areas due to weaknesses in
local markets and currencies. The current cost of payments, Efficiency
and the projected increase – pose a disproportionate finan-
cial burden to the industry. The solution must bridge the gap between payer and payee in
order to improve transparency and trust. It must offer a more
Given this complex challenge, the StB IH examined the efficient settlement process at lower processing fees.
problem and defined a set of future state requirements for a
strategic industry payments initiative – that can help airlines Flexibility
and other travel providers serve their customers better and
improve revenue, while reducing costs. The solution must be future-proof and be extensible to
support plug-and-play banking APIs, authorization engines
and payment types, including emerging cryptocurrencies. The
solution should enable a platform for value-added third-party
services like insurance, installments, currency services, etc.
2017 New Ideas
Passenger Payments

At this point, the industry would like to analyze the potential Key benefits
creation of a new form of payment that would help deliver the
above requirements. This proof of concept is the IATA Wallet: Beyond the PoC, the group would like to deliver an industry
solution that would enable the following benefits for payers
• Convenient digital wallet that can link to bank accounts, (passenger) and payees (airlines), as shown in the diagram
or other forms of payments below.

• Secure and 1-touch payment options to improve conver-

sion and simplify payments across direct and indirect
channels

• Efficient settlement process at a lower cost

• Easy airline adoption by leveraging on existing IATA

platforms for direct and indirect settlement

• Adoption incentives to payers at the discretion of travel

providers

• Integration with emerging technologies and APIs

• Third-party ecosystems that enable value-added services

for consumers
2017 New Ideas
Passenger Payments

Proof of concept 2. Customer initiates purchase at AlphaAirlines.com and

selects IATA Wallet as form of payment. On selecting
During 2017, the StB Ideation Hub put together a proof IATA Wallet, the customer is sent to the wallet provider’s
of concept for the IATA Wallet. The concept introduces a site or mobile app to authenticate the user using two-
new digital wallet in a model airline check-out process that factor authentication, and the provider responds with
leverages the popular credit card authorization process, but information about the customer’s account to the airline.
banking rails to remit payments, with specific messages for 3. The airline website initiates a transaction authorization
revenue accounting and settlement. The form of payment request with the wallet provider using IATA Wallet rails.
in the wallet and the authorization process can be easily 4. IATA Wallet authorization engine verifies sufficient funds
swapped for a debit card/bank account and other are available and blocks the funds in the customer’s ac-
authorization engines/ banking APIs. count.
The first step (not included in the PoC) was the setup of 5. The authorization engine responds with an authorization
a digital wallet by the passenger: code and a BIN number.
6. Airline payment interface routes the payment request
1. Customer enrolls in the IATA Wallet (offline process) using their current PSP provider and issues the ticket.
which is linked to his bank account. The wallet provider At this point the passenger would be requested to com-
complies with existing regulations on anti-money laun- plete a two-factor authentication step (not in scope of
dering, know your customer, etc. the PoC).
7. Sales reporting and settlement processes are initiated
in the back office to manage the funds transfer from
the wallet to the airline.

The flow of the POC

Next steps
Given the successful PoC, the key next steps include market validation, business model and technology definition and
a targeted pilot.

• Focus groups, corporate and passenger surveys could be effective tools in validating market demand.

• Additional discussions with both direct and indirect distribution channels – including GDSs, travel agencies and
corporate travel buyers – will help in validation of the business and technical model.

• From a pilot perspective – selection of a core set of payment technologies and geographic markets would be important
to ensure global adoption of the Wallet by travel providers.
2017 New Ideas
Personalization

Vision Current situation

Personalization has been at the forefront of travel sales, ser- Passengers currently have high expectations with regards
vice, and delivery for over twenty years, but the technology to the provision of contextualized and personalized services
needed to deliver personalization at scale is only just reach- tailored to their personal situations, which are largely shaped
ing maturity. With strategic coordination between members by their experiences with other industries.
of the travel ecosystem on the use of traveler data and clear
standards for its management and application, the travel To varying degrees, travel personalization happens today, but
industry has the opportunity to deliver on the longstanding is cumbersome, costly and inconsistent. For instance, travel-
promise of a truly personalized travel experience. ers will frequently be asked to enter travel-related information
multiple times. For these reasons, most personalization in the
travel industry is directed to only the most frequent and/or
Our vision is to enhance the passenger journey by deliver- high-spending travelers and focused and controlled around
ing a frictionless and personalized end-to-end travel ex- the airline hubs.
perience. Service provision will be facilitated and stream-
lined based on the preferences and journey attributes The challenges associated with delivering personalization
voluntarily and specifically shared by the customer and his to travelers are well known. By and large, the industry has
approval of contextualized data exchange between stake- not been able to combine what the customer really wants,
holders. We envision a collaborative environment of travel with the wealth of information/options available from vari-
stakeholders across the whole engagement cycle to meet able parties in a contextual situation to improve the customer
the customers’ service expectations. With collaboration experience.
in place, various stakeholders can provide a much more
tailored level of personalization that the customers expect One of the main reasons that customers do not share or
and demand. limit the data sharing between travel providers is the lack
of a trusted means by which to view and control their data.
This enhanced vision for personalization has the potential Similarly, travel providers lack a secure and trusted frame-
to revolutionize the way travelers get services delivered. In work to support the exchange of contextualized travel data,
this new paradigm, it is the travelers (not travel providers), such as operational status and locations of passengers.
that control which data elements can be shared, enabling Clearly, these two factors severely limit both the scope
customer-selected travel providers to determine the level and scale of travel personalization.
and type of personalized service they will provide for each
customer. Since its induction, the StB program has launched a number
of initiatives to improve the ability of airlines to personalize
To implement this vision in a manner that is harmonious with their delivery of services to travelers, including the NDC, One
evolving global data privacy regulations the industry should ID, ONE Order, Travel Communications and Open API initia-
adopt an open trust-framework, i.e., a set of specifications, tives. While these initiatives will deliver value for passengers
rules and agreements that governs the data sharing and use. and the industry, the benefits of these programs will remain
limited to those services that can be manually identified and
delivered by individual airlines.
2017 New Ideas
Personalization

Case for change • Airports could leverage data about the location, time to
board, and preferences of the customer to offer services,
Ample evidence from both inside and outside the travel information, and retail products tailored to the needs of
industry suggests that many customers are willing to share individual travelers.
subsets of their travel data between airline and non-airline
travel providers. • Rental car companies could improve their demand plans
and staffing levels using non-specific customer informa-
Unfortunately, no single member of the travel ecosystem has tion about arriving customers who also have reservations
the capability to optimize the end-to-end journey on their with their company, perhaps even getting aggregate data
own. Even the most capable and ambitious travel provider about the number of customers who have checked a bag,
would need the cooperation of others to deliver integrated and might therefore be waiting in a baggage area.
and contextual end-to-end travel services to its customers,
and to do that, a coordination framework is needed. • Hotels may wish to offer upgrades or other assistance to
travelers whose flights have been delayed or whose con-
By contrast, the benefits of a system of secure, open, trusted nections have been canceled, in the very same message
and customer-authorized data exchange are clear, as shown airlines use to share the news about other travel options.
in the table below.
• Parties like security/immigration or booking providers
like Travel Management Companies (TMC) would like
access to reliable data about where customers are in their
journey to either provide better customer service or be
better prepared.

Potential benefits for the main aviation stakeholders, along six levers and three benefit types:

Primary program benefits Efficiency Revenue Experience

Passenger data control – enable • Eliminates redundant • Monetize travel data (pax) • Increased awareness of data usage (pax)
travelers to manage what data ele- entry (pax) • Monetize insights (provid- • Improved data security
ments are shared with which entities • Less data duplication ers)
for an end-to-end journey (providers)

Irregular operations management • Improved prediction of • Potential services fees • Improved experience during IROPS (pax)
– facilitate ecosystem data sharing IROPS effects (providers) • Reduced impact of IROPS (pax)
to reduce the impacts of delays and • Better and more • Additional sales from • Stronger travel brands (providers)
disruptions coordinated IROPS ecosystem partners
management between (providers)
stakeholders
• Enhanced and more
customer-centric
IROPS recovery

Enhanced merchandising – improve • Fewer service recovery • Higher per-trip expendi- • Fewer untargeted offers (pax)
offers based on deeper, contextualized payments tures (providers)
insights about passenger needs and • Less marketing waste • More revenue due to
preferences (providers) higher visibility of services

Service personalization – apply • Much less effort to • Increased ancillary sales • Improved interaction context (pax and providers)
insights from customer approved data anticipate passenger (providers)
sharing and operations to personalize needs (providers)
and customize travel experience • Improved resource-
planning and allocation
(providers)

Distribution personalization – en- • Lower intermediary • More inclusive (larger) • More targeted service of more narrow segments
hance customization of travel bundles, costs (providers) travel bundles (providers) (pax)
prices, and products on customer
insights
Journey management – deliver seam- • Fewer process dupli- • Increased attractiveness • Less coordination required of traveler (pax)
less experiences across providers cations (pax) of air travel and time
leveraging shared data about prefer- • Less effort to manage spent at airports
ences and operational conditions travel (pax) • Exchange of money for
• More time-efficient valuable service (pax and
travel (pax) providers)
2017 New Ideas
Personalization

How the solution can work Challenges

The proposed IATA personalization program consists of The primary challenges associated with the suggested
three main components: solution are:

1. Data sharing taxonomy: a simple traveler data taxonomy 1. Diverse travel ecosystem: Establishing a data shar-
will serve as the basis around which customer data will be ing framework that can meet the needs of diverse travel
organized shared, and used across the travel ecosystem. ecosystem participants while leveraging the industry-wide
developments and systems that are emerging and already
2. Data interface and control guidelines: travelers will in place.
enjoy full access to and control of the data in their travel
profile. This data will be viewed, changed, and applied 2. Control of data: Developing open standards and technol-
only with the explicit approval of each customer. A clear ogy ground rules that individual actors can use to enable
set of guidelines and recommended technologies will be travelers to control and manage their individual travel data
provided to ensure consistency across members of the and preferences. This is a mostly technical challenge
travel ecosystem. that will leverage distributed ledger technology, open API
frameworks, and industry standard data definitions. These
3. Data integrity mechanisms: data integrity will be en- make it clear how developers can create apps, websites
sured by enabling customers to control which companies and other platform that harvest, analyze, and deliver travel
and entities, if any, will be granted access to their data, data to members of the travel ecosystem in a manner that
e.g., using shared ledger technologies. Additionally, each is visible to and controlled by the traveler.
time customer data is viewed, changed or accessed, a
record of that usage will be retained and secured for use
of the customer. Next steps
With these three components, the IATA Personalization IATA, through its StB program, is working with airlines and
program complements existing initiatives. It relies on Travel solution providers to develop a demonstrational prototype
Communication to provide travelers and any suppliers with that will embody the principles of this White Paper and en-
the quality information they need to know. Open API is the lighten members of the travel ecosystem about the benefits
prime enabler for information exchange while ONE ID identi- such a system could bring to the whole travel value chain.
fies the passenger to all stakeholders (including authorities).
Finally, NDC and ONE Order allow stakeholders to book
contracted services to the specific journey.

Together, these components will enable airlines and other

travel stakeholders to generate and share insights about in-
dividual travelers (if authorized by the passengers) and about
groups of travelers in an anonymous basis. It will define the
standards by which the entire travel ecosystem can share
insights and data on behalf of the traveling public in accor-
dance with the prevailing laws governing customer data in
each geography (e.g., General Data Protection Regulation
in the EU) and in a manner that is consistent with the shared
principles of customer privacy, autonomy, and self-managed
data control.
Conclusion

The 2017 StB Ideation Hub has been a great experience

with solid results. Since its inception, six years ago, the StB
IH continues to grow each year, attracting more interest and
wider participation. Also, the format has evolved, to a more
aggressive and challenging scope, interacting with different
industries and start-ups who offer a whole new way of look-
ing at and doing things.

The StB IH is one of a kind and maintaining its relevance is

fundamental to the growth of our industry. We must continue
to innovate and transform processes that simply do not work
anymore. In doing so, it is important to ensure a wide repre-
sentation of participants from across the aviation industry. In
addition to the IH meetings, the team will listen carefully to
the thoughts and discussions at the 2017 World Passenger
Symposium. Views expressed there will guide the IH and
provide ideas for the future growth of our industry. Together,
we will continue to work towards our 2012 original vision of
the perfect trip by 2020.
Partnering for success
A special thank you to the contributors of this paper.

Airline Delegates

Rob Broere Glenn Morgan

(Co-Chair StB Steering Group) (Co-Chair StB Steering Group)
Vice President PSS Transition Head of Digital Business Transformation

Val Connery Serdar Gürbüz

Manager Customer Services Manager Digital Innovation
Information Systems

Jeff Hickey Ravi Simhambhatla

Software Engineering Manager Vice President, Commercial
Technology & Corporate Systems

Airports

Stuart Birrell Justin Erbacci

Chief Information Officer Deputy Executive Director –
Chief Innovation & Technology Officer

Maurice Jenkins Ian Law

Director, Information Systems & Chief Information Officer
Telecommunications
Partnering for success

Supporting Organizations

Patricia Edwards Antoine Rostworowski

Managing Director, Passenger Services Director, Airport Customer Experience
& Technology

Christoph Schneider Annet Steenbergen

Co-Chair Mobility Working Group & Advisor Happy Flow & Pre-clearance
Strategy Integration Board
Also
Senior Advisor
Airside Masterplanning

Strategic Partners

Hervé Prezet Jean-Vincent Teuler

Associate Director, Distribution Product Head of Innovation and Account
Management Management Europe

Steve Peterson Bart Pannecoeck

IBM Global Travel & Transportation Leader, Business Development Leader
Institute for Business Value

Karen Berg Jim Peters

Global Segment Lead – Aviation Chief Technology Officer

Mark Baker Steven Ratcliffe

Manager, Transportation & Travel Vice President, Product
Partnering for success

StB Ideation Hub Core Team

Stephan Copart Tanya Gagliardi

Head, Strategy, Industry Services Program Manager, Simplifying the Business
Transformation

Anne Carnall Juan Ivan Martin

Program Manager, Future Airports Head, Innovation, FDS Transformation

Hasse Joergensen
Manager, Passenger

StB Contributors

Tim Grosser Guido Peetermans

Head, Digital Transformation Head, Passenger Security

Andrew Price
Head, Global Baggage Operations
www.iata.org/StB