Often when traveling, passengers arrive at baggage claim well before their bags do. Then they are forced to stand around the baggage claim carousel and wait, wondering when the bags will appear, or if their bag has been misplaced or misdirected.
The overall baggage claim carousel experience could be improved so that customers would not have to linger around it, and could instead be free to relax until their bag is due to arrive. Currently, if a bag is lost or never even made it onto the plane, the only way its owner would know is if they waited until all other bags had been claimed, wasting upwards of a half-hour or more. Then, this already frustrated customer has to go stand in another line at the baggage claim office to figure out where their bag is, growing even more frustrated by the minute!
Innovation:
What if there were an app that let you see where in the airport your bag was, on the journey from the plane to the carousel? It could be as simple as just a timeline with a few points, such as “still on the plane” “removed from plane”, “on the baggage train to terminal”, “being loaded onto the baggage carousel belt”, and finally “removed from baggage claim carousel”, with an estimated “time until arrival at carousel” that displays over the whole process.
Inherent Problems:
The initial infrastructure costs are the biggest challenge here. There would need to be the development of an app, and then a system of bag tracking or scanning (either through barcodes or RFID) through the airport at each point on the map.
Potential Benefits:
The overall baggage claim carousel experience would be improved, as customers would not have to linger around a carousel waiting and wondering. Imagine if you could use that 10 to 15 minutes instead to freshen up in the restroom, grab a snack, or just relax knowing that your bag is on the way.