SITA has developed a new AI-based solution that cuts costs by 90% and greatly reduces repatriation time.
These are pandemic times, and air travel is heavily limited, both within the country and internationally. During normal times, however, travellers leave millions of things on planes and in airports, including phones, wallets, and luggage, costing the industry millions of dollars in repatriation costs.
According to SITA, a well-known provider of IT and telecommunication services to the air transportation industry, managing and repatriating a lost item will cost up to $95 and includes registration, handling inquiries and customer calls, storage, and postage.
Lost and Found Property uses SITA’s WorldTracer solution, which is used by the majority of the world’s airlines in 2,200 airports. In less than two minutes, airline employees can record a lost item, generate a missing item report, and confirm a match. The solution also significantly reduces the time it takes to locate and return lost items, with 60% of these items being returned within 48 hours.
Today, the method of dealing with lost property is still largely manual. There are many stakeholders involved, and the airline often loses influence or visibility over the entire chain of events. The lengthy time it takes to fit an object into a missing report further complicates this manual procedure. Passengers can now log, pay for, and organise repatriation using their mobile device in a matter of seconds, as well as monitor their luggage at every move.
WorldTracer Lost and Found Property scans a global database of images and details to match the found object to a missing item report using cutting-edge technologies such as computer vision, machine learning, and natural language processing. The solution uses image recognition to recognise information such as the missing item’s brand, material, and colour.
To make a conclusive match, it often recognises similar terms in the definition. The airline will then contact the owner and get the object returned to them right away.
Follow and connect with us on Facebook, LinkedIn & Twitter
