Fast Company Includes Delta on Its List of World’s Most Innovative Companies
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APEX Insight: Delta Air Lines’ RFID baggage tracking system has caught the attention of Fast Company and earned the carrier a place on the magazine’s 2018 list of the World’s Most Innovative Companies.
Fast Company has included Delta Air Lines in its 2018 edition of the World’s Most Innovative Companies. This year’s list consists of the top companies across 36 industry sectors. Overall, Apple came out in top position, but the Atlanta-based carrier ranked sixth place in the Travel category. Fast Company praised Delta for “leading the airline industry in creating more seamless airport experiences.”
The monthly American business magazine noted Delta was the first US carrier to introduce and globally deploy Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) bag tags, allowing customers to track checked baggage in real-time.
“Innovation [is about solving] actual issues in our operation for maximum customer and employee benefit,” – Gil West, Delta
“This recognition is another proof point that our approach to solving customer experience challenges is working,” said Gil West, Delta’s senior executive vice-president and chief operating officer. “Innovation isn’t about finding ways to use the latest gadget or shiny object; it’s about working with our operational teams to find scalable solutions that solve actual issues in our operation for maximum customer and employee benefit – even if the technology we use, like RFID, has been around for a while.”
So far, Delta has deployed more than 4,600 scanners and has installed more than 3,800 RFID bag tag printers, while integrating more than 600 pier and claim readers across its baggage processing systems.
According to last year’s SITA Baggage Report, instances of airlines mishandling baggage reached an all-time low in 2016. The aviation IT specialist said it expects the rate of mishandled baggage to decrease even more as IATA Resolution 753 comes into force in June this year. The regulation will require IATA’s member airlines to keep track of baggage items at check-in, during aircraft loading, during transfers between aircraft and on arrival as luggage is delivered back to passengers.
IATA is also confident that RFID is one of the technologies that will help airlines implement Resolution 753. A study published in October 2016 by the industry association concluded that a global RFID solution could lower the number of mishandled bags by as much as 25% by 2022.
“We want to develop tools that support our people in their efforts to take care of our customers,” – Gil West, Delta
However, Delta’s innovation efforts extend beyond its RFID project. The airline’s operational team regularly collaborates with its innovation team at The Hangar – a partnership with the Georgia Institute of Technology – which develops solutions for both employee and customer challenges. Examples of The Hangar’s work include bots that can pre-select meals, a cargo pallet-tracking system and a digital communication system for Delta’s flight crews.
“Regardless of the innovative solutions we explore, our goal is always the same,” said West. “We want to develop tools that support our people in their efforts to take care of our customers.”