With High-Tech IDs, Qantas Fliers Get a Fast, Practically Paperless Experience

The Qantas system in domestic terminals is largely self service, so ground workers now roam the lobby to assist customers.

Sydney
Platinum-level business traveler Jake Coverdale breezed through the airport lobby, stopping momentarily at a Qantas Airways kiosk. In five seconds, he was checked in and on his way to the gate. When he has a bag to check, he just drops it on a belt. When it's time to board, he just walks on the plane.
Qantas has created practically paperless airports, rolling out new technology in 2010 at all of its domestic stations that eliminates many long lines and speeds passengers all the way to their seat. No paper itinerary. No sticky luggage tag. No boarding pass.
"It's bloody good, actually," Mr. Coverdale said of the Qantas system. "I go to America and Europe a lot and I think this is the best check-in in the world. It's incredibly efficient."

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The system, built around radio-frequency ID cards (RFID), is similar to toll tags used on highways and bridges. Top-level frequent fliers get an ID card that is flashed at a kiosk in the ticketing area. In seconds, the system finds the reservation for that day, assigns a seat based on personal preferences if one wasn't pre-selected and checks the passenger in. When everything is good to go, a beacon illuminates.
To check luggage, the passenger goes to a baggage drop point, flashes the frequent-flier card in front of a reader and drops luggage on a baggage belt. The bag is weighed, and lasers measure its dimensions to make sure it complies with limits.
Top-level frequent fliers have heavy-duty RFID tags called "Q Bag Tags" for their bags that replace paper luggage tags. The technology reads the bag's "identity" as it moves from luggage belts to carts to airport tarmacs. This ensures luggage gets loaded on the same flight as its owner. Other travelers get a paper tag for their bag with an imbedded RFID chip.

Passengers without a Qantas ID card can get a printed boarding pass or scan their mobile phones.

Finally, the ID card is flashed at the gate—no boarding pass needed—and agents there hand the traveler a receipt with the seat number printed on it.
"It's reduced congestion and queuing. Check-in can be quite stressful for customers. They want to feel like they are in control and not stuck in line," said Tanya Bulkin, head of customer experience at Qantas.
RFID technology has been around for many years, and while it has revolutionized some forms of transportation and many areas of inventory-control for businesses, it has been slow to catch on with airlines. Carriers have sent representatives to Sydney to check out the futuristic setup, but none have announced plans to implement a similar system. One reason may be cost. For example, the cost of baggage tags has come down sharply from more than $1 apiece to less than 20 cents, but they're still more expensive than paper tags currently used by airlines.
Qantas won't disclose data on performance of the new technology, such as baggage-handling numbers or changes in average wait in airport check-in lines. The company said in a statement simply that customer feedback has been "overwhelmingly positive."
Development of the system began several years ago. Qantas was running out of room at its large domestic terminal in Sydney and needed to come up with something new to reduce frequent backups at counters. The airline studied customer habits and worked on finding ways to eliminate lines. The conclusion: eliminate the "pain points" in the airport, such as checking in, checking bags and lining up to board, Ms. Bulkin said.
The carrier decided to invest in technology rather than adding floor space. With kiosks positioned in four V-shaped patterns, it's almost impossible for travelers to bunch up in a long line. There's still an old-fashioned check-in counter, but most of the baggage drop points are self service.
The technology could reduce an airline's cost to reimburse passengers for lost and delayed luggage. Through October, U.S. airlines mishandled the bags of about 1.6 million passengers on domestic flights. That translates into one passenger out of every 287 on domestic flights who arrive without the luggage they checked.
The worst airline for baggage handling in the U.S. this year: American Eagle, the regional affiliate of AMR Corp.'s American Airlines. Both carriers are currently in bankruptcy reorganization.
A few other airports have limited RFID systems, absorbing the cost to improve service. Las Vegas and Hong Kong both have baggage systems in which paper bag tags have RFID chips imbedded in them, but the technology hasn't spread.
Now Qantas hopes to help drive change internationally. The airline is expanding its new system to its stations in New Zealand, which will be the first to incorporate passport information.
"International is much more complex. I think that's one reason why it hasn't caught on," said Ms. Bulkin.
Frequent fliers get free ID cards and Q Bag Tags, with bag tag colors denoting status level at the airline (black for platinum, gold, silver and bronze). The tags have become something of a status symbol among frequent fliers. Customers who don't have top-level status with the airline's frequent-flier program can buy a Q Bag Tag for about $51 at Qantas.com or from special vending machines in airports.
If they don't have a frequent-flier ID card, travelers check in online or at kiosks and get a bar code on a printed boarding pass or on a mobile phone, just like at other airlines. They also print their own baggage tags at the kiosks, speeding up the process at baggage drop points. When they get to the drop point, they just scan their bar code and place the already-tagged bag on the belt.
Qantas has been embroiled in a bitter labor dispute over pay cuts and job protections that resulted in the airline shutting down earlier this year. (Government officials ordered it back into service.) The year-old airport system required extensive retraining of staff, but didn't result in layoffs, which the union confirms. The system is largely self service for customers, so ground workers now roam the lobby to assist with things like directions and kiosk help.
"This wasn't about self-service at the expense of staff," said Gabriella D'Alessandro, Qantas's head of technology operations. "We wanted to improve the customer experience."
Sydney asset manager Kingsley Barker, who has gold Q Bag Tags on his luggage, said the new system hasn't failed him yet. "I think it's brilliant. There are no queues," he said.
While his wife, traveling with him on a recent flight to Dallas, thought the airline should have been using better technology long ago, Mr. Barker was just happy to have something better now.
"Qantas has so many other problems," he said. "Anything like this that improves service to customers is good."