A Smart System is Missing

“In spite of all the achieved development in the sector of air industry, the introduction of smart technologies in every aspect of air traveling, and the huge investments in airports infrastructures and their baggage handling systems, passengers are still facing the same rooted obsessions of collecting their luggage from the baggage reclaim area ever since the beginning of air travelling. There is absolutely a need for a system to support passengers where they experience the most trouble and stress. …BERDS”

– Tony M. JALLOUL, Founder; BERDS

Facts

  • Color blindness and color deficiency affect up to 332 million of the currently traveling passengers, and it is estimated to affect more than 600 million passengers by 2040. Color blindness passengers regularly face considerable difficulties in collecting their bags from the carousels. They have to stay all time long by the carousel, check every single similar passing bag, and try reaching the moving attached tags.
    They regularly face very embarrassing moments, picking up mistakenly other passengers’ bags looking as fraudsters. Good guys would return the wrong picked up bags to the carousel while most of the other passengers keep mistakenly removed bags outside the conveyor belt, creating serious confusion for other passengers.
  • Although the fraud and theft at the baggage reclaim area are not considered a major cause of the mishandled bags; however, they cost the air industry over 500 Million Us dollars in 2017. <BR/ > The consequential, indirect cost is considered much higher than the declared direct losses. Luggage fraud and mistakes at the baggage reclaim area are the main reasons behind crowded baggage reclaim area, passengers’ anxiety, neglecting the opportunity of shopping at arrivals…
    With all the efforts and the enormous investments in upgrading the baggage handling systems to decrease the number and the cost of the mishandled bags, the fraud and theft factors would undoubtedly increase with the forecasted increase in the passengers’ number and the expected overcrowded baggage reclaim areas.
  • Tired and stressed passengers crowd around the carousels expecting different types of inconvenience and stand in the way of each other to secure their bags as early as possible. However, the unmanaged crowd ends in an inverted result that delays the overall luggage reclaim and creates a suitable situation for the fraudster and for mistakes to happen.<BR/ >Crowded baggage reclaim area is mainly due to passengers' concern from potential fraud or theft,
    possible mistakes and mix-ups that result in the wrong bags being misidentified and mistakenly taken by other passengers, in addition to the difficulties in identifying look-alike bags while traveling on the carousel. In the absence of any support to easily identify passengers’ luggage while traveling on the carousel and without any luggage secured measures, this common scenario will continue resulting in more severe crowd problems with the expected steep increase in the number of passengers.
  • In sum, with the current baggage reclaim system, passengers can experience many concerns, including: somebody else mistakenly taking their bags; somebody stealing their bags; bag being removed from the carousel by mistake and subsequently lost in the crowd or the airport; mistakenly taking somebody else’s bag; or leaving behind one of their bags, which is a potential problem for families traveling with a large number of bags.
    All these concerns prevent passengers from relaxing and enjoying their journey affecting negatively on the airport rating.