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posted by cmn32480 on Monday May 22 2017, @10:21AM   Printer-friendly
from the did-the-agents-want-$15/hour? dept.

Delta is testing a face-scanning kiosk for baggage check.

The machine allows passengers to bypass check-in agents. It uses facial recognition technology to match your identity to your passport photo. You tag your own bags, pay the fee and drop your luggage on a conveyor belt.

Passengers without passports can still check their own bags, but they need a Delta agent to confirm their identities.

Delta will test four of the machines at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport this summer. The airline spent $600,000 on the four kiosks.

Delta said the kiosks could allow the airline to move twice as many passengers per hour through check-in.

Source: CNN


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  • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Monday May 22 2017, @10:42AM (5 children)

    by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Monday May 22 2017, @10:42AM (#513436) Journal

    It would have value if not for the TSA bottleneck** on the flow.

    ** Bottleneck - by definition, the constraint imposing the most restrictive limit on the throughput of the system (it's rarely more than one)
    Any attempt to optimize the flow on the branch where the bottleneck resides is of marginal value.

    --
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   2  
  • (Score: 2) by zocalo on Monday May 22 2017, @11:12AM

    by zocalo (302) on Monday May 22 2017, @11:12AM (#513445)
    Actually, it kind of depends on the airport and how much time you have. Security screening (TSA administered or otherwise) is almost always the longest part of the process of getting onboard a plane, but that's more down to the length of the queues for the X-Ray machines and for quieter airports that queue length will ebb and flow during the day. My typical process used to be get continually work my way towards the departure lounge, then get any duty free and a large drink to get hydrated before heading to the gate, which sucks because you are basically taking pot luck with any of the various queues along the way.

    A much better approach, if you have time and where the airport layout allows for it, is to check-in and drop any bags off, then chillout with a small drink landside until you can see an ebb in the security queue (that's where the layout comes in), and only then proceed through into the departure lounge for any shopping and to top-off your fluids. If you've got the time, you can also apply the same strategy to the check-in queue and wait for an ebb there too, although with the increasing number of self check-in facilities that's becoming less of an issue. Less time in queues, much less stress for you and, because they're also not under quite as much pressure, the security people can occassionally be more relaxed as well - even the TSA ones.
    --
    UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
  • (Score: 2) by AthanasiusKircher on Monday May 22 2017, @12:15PM (3 children)

    by AthanasiusKircher (5291) on Monday May 22 2017, @12:15PM (#513452) Journal

    I don't know -- I'm generally happy to join in the criticism of the very existence of the TSA. But in this case, I think it depends on the airport and the individual airline's check-in system.

    I'm not a frequent flyer, but I fly often enough to see some patterns at airports. Airline check-in can actually be a HUGE bottleneck if you happen to be using a poorly set up one at a small airport. Almost all airlines have adopted the "baggage dropoff" option now, where you can bypass the normal check-in line if you use the kiosk. That's generally shorter. But in the past few years, I have still occasionally been stuck in a general purpose check-in line at some airports (maybe due to low airline staff, maybe just because they have things set up in a stupid way), and if you happen to arrive at the wrong time, those can last forever. At least in the TSA line, it generally moves at a somewhat regular pace.

    At a regular airline check-in line, you have to deal with people who have all sorts of customer service issues that can take 5-10 minutes or more to resolve. Even if they have a separate "baggage drop-off" line, you have to deal with the occasional family that has to repack on the fly because they didn't realize they couldn't check some random loose item or because their bags are too heavy or the number of bags they actually want to check is different from what the identified at home when they checked in, and for some reason that screws up the system for 5 minutes.

    Anyhow, yes, you get the occasional traveller in the TSA line who takes an extra 30 seconds because they didn't realize they have to remove their shoes or whatever. But most of the people who cause longer delays to the line are routed around (often undergoing extra screening after the scanners). That doesn't often happen in airline lines, and a queue of 10 people in front of you could take 3 minutes or 45 minutes, depending on what sort of issues they have and how many airline staff are present to deal with them.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 22 2017, @01:44PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 22 2017, @01:44PM (#513479)

      There's nothing like waiting in line and the family in front of you have just found out that one of their five bags is over 50 lbs, and now they've got them all open on the floor as they shuffle things between them, and re-weigh them, all the while you keep checking your watch because you're afraid that you (or your bags) will miss the flight).

      • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 22 2017, @02:05PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 22 2017, @02:05PM (#513486)

        Better that than having the plane crash because a suitcase was too heavy!

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 22 2017, @10:17PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 22 2017, @10:17PM (#513814)

      It is all on the airlines in this case. When was the last time you used once of those kiosks? When they first came out, they were a 5 step process: enter ticket id, security warning, do you have bags?, any kids?, print receipt. Nowadays there are literally 8 more screens of ads and up-sales. Want to join the frequent mile club? Want priority boarding? Select which seat you want to pay to update to on your first flight, then second, then third, then fourth, etc.... Partner XZY lets you rent cars. Etc... AND they've reduced the number of people behind the counters since everyone is supposed to be using the kiosks.

      This is just another way to off-load the agent's job to the customer in order to cut costs and reduce the amount of agents needed (which will suddenly and massively increase wait times whenever any hiccups occur). Any long lines at check-in are solely the cause of the airlines.