High-tech air travel soars

Almost half of the world's airlines plan to offer some form of in-flight communication for passengers by the end of 2007, with most favoring Internet access, e-mail and short messaging service, according to the Airline IT Trends Survey released last week.

Perhaps surprisingly, more than one-third of airlines surveyed also say they expect to let passengers use mobile phones on planes by that time, according to the survey, published annually by SITA, a large provider of IT services to the air transport industry.

"Mobile telephony - which is the least mature and probably the most controversial option - will be embraced by 36% of airlines by 2007, which is quite remarkable considering the product is not yet available," says Peter Buecking, SITA's president.

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Almost half of the world's airlines plan to offer some form of in-flight communication for passengers by the end of 2007, with most favoring Internet access, e-mail and short messaging service, according to the Airline IT Trends Survey released last week.

Perhaps surprisingly, more than one-third of airlines surveyed also say they expect to let passengers use mobile phones on planes by that time, according to the survey, published annually by SITA, a large provider of IT services to the air transport industry.

"Mobile telephony - which is the least mature and probably the most controversial option - will be embraced by 36% of airlines by 2007, which is quite remarkable considering the product is not yet available," says Peter Buecking, SITA's president.

The findings are based on responses from senior IT executives at the world's top 200 airlines, as well as big players in cargo and other markets, said SITA, which has headquarters in Geneva. The airlines that responded account for two-thirds of the world's airline revenue, it says.

The communication services are designed to snag new customers and build loyalty at a time when many airlines are struggling to turn a profit. Airlines also are increasingly turning to self-service systems, such as online ticket sales and check-in kiosks, to cut costs and move customers through airports more quickly, the survey found.

Seventy percent of the world's airlines now sell tickets through the Internet, and 30% of all tickets issued are electronic, up from 19% a year ago, SITA says.

Sixty percent of the airlines questioned reported using self-service kiosks. Most of those are tied to a particular airline today, but many will be general-purpose kiosks by 2007, where passengers can check in with any airline, SITA found.

More passengers also might be able to print boarding passes before leaving for the airport, a measure that could reduce crowding at airline counters. That's because almost two-thirds of airlines say they plan to introduce bar codes on tickets, rather than magnetic strips, by the end of 2007.

The bar codes also could allow passengers to present their boarding passes at the gate on a mobile phone or PDA rather than using a paper copy.

Paul Coby, SITA's chairman and the CIO at British Airways PLC, says airlines will be "the world's first fully Web-enabled industry."

Life will only improve, of course, if the technologies work. The high-profile failure of a computerized baggage system at Denver International Airport showed that things don't always go as planned. That system cost millions of dollars and a decade to build, but it is due to be scrapped this year, in part because it damaged or lost too many bags.

Nor is the rate of advance evenly distributed. Airlines that are strapped for cash or unwilling to spend will create a world of "haves and have nots," SITA says. That's bad news for the industry, since airlines that switch to electronic tickets only, for example, must still interact with paper-based systems at technology laggards.