Alaska Airlines, CVG, United, AMS & Southwest discuss robotics

We are in the midst of a robotics revolution. There is huge potential for robotics, automation and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to significantly enhance operational efficiencies and customer experience. In these exclusive interviews ahead of their participation in the FTE Aviation & Robotics Summit (Pittsburgh, 14-16 May 2024), Bernadette Berger, Director of Innovation, Alaska Airlines; Naashom Marx, Director of Strategic Innovation – Advanced Mobility, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport; Kristen Berndt, Senior Manager, Baggage Strategy & Innovation, United Airlines; Zahra Merchant, Chapter Lead Robotics, Royal Schiphol Group; and Kevin Kleist, Senior Emerging Trends Advisor, Southwest Airlines, share fascinating insights into the transformative impacts that robotics, automation and AI technologies are already delivering. The FTE Aviation & Robotics Summit – with Pittsburgh International Airport as Host Airport and May Mobility and Pattern Labs as Sponsors – will bring together aviation and robotics industry professionals to solve aviation business and operational challenges with robotics and AI solutions. The truly unique event will feature inspirational keynotes, panels, robotics innovation tours, technology demos, collaborative workshops, and a plethora of networking activities.

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Alaska Airlines preparing for ‘Proactive Era’ with robotics, Virtual Travel Assistants, ‘super-charged’ customer service, and AR-enabled wearables

Bernadette Berger, Director of Innovation, Alaska Airlines (a Partner of the FTE Baggage Innovation Working Group), is delivering the Inspirational Opening Keynote during the FTE Aviation & Robotics Summit Kickoff Event at the Heinz History Center, focusing on ‘Revolutionising the Travel Experience’.

“In Pittsburgh we will dive deeply into the tension between automation and humanity,” Berger shares. “At Alaska Airlines we are challenging the common trade-offs between efficiency and guest care. What we see today in our industry is the ‘Efficiency Era’: delivering the same guest experience but faster. Looking ahead, we are preparing for our ‘Proactive Era’: where robotics enable our operations to detect and prevent irregular operations, where Virtual Travel Assistants guide guests every step of the way, and customer service becomes ‘super-charged’ with guest insights delivered to agents through AR-enabled wearables. We envision a future where automation and high levels of guest care work hand-in-hand.”

Customer care is the engine behind Alaska Airlines’ deep guest loyalty. In its Innovation Lab, the airline rapidly prototypes emerging technologies and new guest experiences to reduce operational complexity and improve guest care. “We are unpacking each moment of the guest journey to understand what drives great service and enable our agents to focus on these moments of care,” Berger shares. “For all other manual, repeatable tasks we are prototyping new human-computer interactions to allow our operations teams to simplify, scale, and proactively mitigate incidents.”

Looking ahead, Berger is eager to participate in the FTE Aviation & Robotics Summit. “I’m thrilled about participating in the FTE Aviation & Robotics Summit alongside fellow innovators! It’s an incredible opportunity to collaborate, share insights, and push the boundaries of aviation and robotics. I can’t wait to engage with like-minded individuals and contribute to the advancement of technology in these exciting fields.”

CVG “all in on robotics” with key focus to automate airport activities and beyond

Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG) – a Corporate Partner of the FTE Digital, Innovation & Startup Hub, which is focusing on AI, robotics and IoT throughout 2024 – is among the most progressive in the robotics and automation space. Naashom Marx, Director of Strategic Innovation – Advanced Mobility, CVG Airport, is speaking at the FTE Aviation & Robotics Summit in a session titled ‘Where the rubber meets the runway: Navigating expectations, requirements, implementation, and outcomes when testing and deploying technology through partnership’.

“A few key messages I will be sharing involve the importance of establishing strong, collaborative working relationships with stakeholders and how to overcome difficulties, so your end product is successful,” Marx explains. “You are not just working with a new technology; you are also working with a new team that accompanies that technology. I am all in on robotics. A key focus of mine over the past five years has been to automate airport activities and beyond. At CVG, we would like to equip people with the necessary tools to boost efficiency and to give people the opportunity to contribute on high-value responsibilities, such as customer engagement.”

In 2019, CVG began this journey by introducing autonomous floor scrubbers and sweepers, learning a lot about the various types of automation and what works in the airport’s busy environment. There are now two Avidbots’ Neos operating at CVG.

“We were the first innovation team to bring Gita, a Piaggio Fast Forward following robot – like a drone from Star Wars – into an airport environment,” says Marx. “Our customer experience team recently expanded our following robot fleet. The team uses the bots to assist delivering traveller surveys or engaging in ‘surprise and delight’ events. We also brought Ottonomy, a goods delivery robot, into CVG. We are incredibly proud of this work. The robot Ottonomy uses today was refined based on insights from the project and is now successful broadly across industries and worldwide.”

In 2020, CVG partnered with ThorDrive to test autonomous ground support equipment. ThorDrive worked on the CVG campus testing for more than three years, before ultimately moving its offices back to South Korea to focus on people movers rather than cargo.

“I am pleased to say that we will have Aurrigo launching its Auto Dolly at CVG this summer,” Marx adds. “This a highlight of our conversation, so I will leave that as a teaser!”

Looking ahead, Marx is eager to participate in the FTE Aviation & Robotics Summit. “I love the energy of the FTE Aviation & Robotics Summit. I enjoy having the opportunity to ideate with like-minded individuals and collaborate to solve problems that impact the aviation industry.”

United Airlines: “The future is robotics”

Kristen Berndt, Senior Manager, Baggage Strategy & Innovation, United Airlines (a Corporate Partner of the FTE Digital, Innovation & Startup Hub), will deliver a presentation at the FTE Aviation & Robotics Summit focused on the airline’s robotics strategy, including future opportunities and challenges.

“As we look to introduce robotics to our airport operational environments we will be faced with countless challenges, including regulatory constraints, differences between airports, financial limitations, and change management,” Berndt shares. “However, experts in the industry acknowledge that the future is robotics, and we can overcome these risks by working together to share learnings and lay the foundation for a more innovative future.”

United Airlines believes robotics solutions have the potential to transform the way bags are moved in the airline industry. “Staffing shortages have been prevalent across the industry and a blended staffing model with humans working alongside robots could help to mitigate those constraints,” says Berndt. “Introducing intelligent and more sophisticated technologies could enable more reliable baggage transport, thereby connecting more bags with passengers, driving customer satisfaction, and improving baggage performance metrics. Baggage handling currently relies on humans to repeatedly lift heavy bags, taking a toll on the body. Robotics could help drive a safer work environment and reduce employee injuries.”

The airline is also currently using robots in its United Clubs to assist in bussing used plates, glasses, and silverware at airports including Chicago O’Hare (ORD), Denver (DEN), Boston Logan (BOS), and Orlando (MCO).

Berndt is looking forward to participating in the FTE Aviation & Robotics Summit alongside like-minded innovators. “I attended the FTE Aviation & Robotics Summit last year and I am very much looking forward to returning this year to network and ideate with some of the most brilliant minds in the industry.”

Schiphol: “A huge opportunity for robotics and AI to transform operations using predictive data analysis and computer vision”

Zahra Merchant, Chapter Lead Robotics, Royal Schiphol Group, is participating at the FTE Aviation & Robotics Summit in a session focused on ‘Insights from the first-movers: Robotics and AI opportunities and challenges for airports, airlines and their partners’. Schiphol is a Corporate Partner of the FTE Digital, Innovation & Startup Hub and an Airport Lab Network Partner of the FTE Baggage Innovation Working Group. One of the focuses of Merchant’s participation will be challenges with regards to physical strain, capacity and an aging workforce, and how these problems paved the way towards Schiphol’s strategy for baggage involving three pillars or ‘horizons’: Horizon 1 – adding lifting aids to the baggage halls; Horizon 2 – robotisation and mechanisation of the baggage halls and processes; and Horizon 3 – the future of work, which focuses on exploring how the future baggage halls will look and what the role of the human and robot will be.

Merchant explains that other key focus areas during the panel discussion will include:

• “The road to implementing the COllaborative Baggage RObots (COBROs) in the baggage halls and the key factors that played a role in getting us 19 robots purchased after one week of testing and multiple SATs.”
• “How are we preparing for a future that will exist post-robotisation in the baggage halls with FRAIM (Delft University of Technology’s research and innovation centre). By using a transdisciplinary team of researchers and inserting them into our baggage halls to understand the needs, concerns, and pain-points of the baggage workers, we hope to design a future where the robots and humans work in harmony and both feel optimally supported to do their best.”
• “The need to create awareness of the lack of awareness in the robotics and AI domain, due to very little collaboration and need from within the aviation sector.”

Schiphol sees huge potential where robotics and AI can help to enhance operational efficiencies and customer experience. Indeed, it is already seeing the impact of this by implementing the collaborative robots in the baggage halls.

“The collaborative robot is an emerging technology in robotics where an ecosystem is created to allow for a person and robot to safely and efficiently work together as a team in a shared physical space,” Merchant shares. “In this synergetic relationship, the strengths of both human and robot are used to their best potential. By doing so it increases both the quality of work and life of the workers over time.”

Schiphol’s COBRO is developed by Danish company Cobot Lift (a Partner of the FTE Baggage Innovation Working Group) and uses an ingenious combination of Doosan robotic arms and vacuum systems to create a highly powerful lifting arm. The robot’s small footprint allows it to be retrofitted into existing infrastructure, enabling Schiphol to quickly make an impact on the physical strain and improve the working conditions.

“Apart from being a machine that can heavy lift and relieve the human of their mundane tasks, we foresee a huge opportunity for robotics and AI to transform previous operations and create new ways of handling baggage using predictive data analysis and computer vision technology, as well as using modularity and autonomous vehicles to facilitate hot and cold separation,” says Merchant. “I am truly excited to participate in the FTE Aviation & Robotics Summit and look forward to connecting with like-minded innovators, so that we can share similar challenges and needs and together challenge the industry to explore and develop new innovative solutions in robotics and AI.”

Southwest Airlines’ “transformative journey from traditional AI and robotics process automation to a more versatile AI architecture”

Southwest Airlines – a Corporate Partner of the FTE Digital, Innovation & Startup Hub and a Partner of the FTE Baggage Innovation Working Group – believes robotics and AI offer immense potential to revolutionise the airline industry.

“From automated baggage handling to AI-driven predictive maintenance, these technologies streamline operations, reduce costs, and enhance safety,” explains Kevin Kleist, Senior Emerging Trends Advisor, Southwest Airlines. “Customer experience benefits from personalised recommendations, chatbots for instant assistance, and smoother travel processes. Embracing robotics and AI not only optimises operations, but also fosters a frictionless journey for passengers, marking a significant step forward in the industry’s evolution.”

Southwest is strategically harnessing both traditional AI and Generative AI (GenAI). An example of an application of traditional AI involves predicting flight risks and furnishing actionable insights and alerts for the airline’s Operations team. This empowers them to effectively manage and recover from operational disruptions.

Kleist is participating at the FTE Aviation & Robotics Summit in a session focused on ‘Insights from the first-movers: Robotics and AI opportunities and challenges for airports, airlines and their partners’. “At the Summit, I’ll share more about our transformative journey from traditional AI and robotics process automation to a more versatile AI architecture,” says Kleist. “Key messages include integrating traditional AI initially, and now in combination with GenAI, leveraging AI for smoother operations, and identifying friction points for optimisation. This journey showcases the evolution towards an adaptable AI structure, fostering innovation and efficiency across the airline.”

He adds: “I’m looking forward to attending the FTE Aviation & Robotics Summit among fellow innovators to learn from others and gain insights that can help us transform the industry. It’s a chance to connect with like-minded individuals, explore new paths of growth, and foster valuable collaborations.”

FTE Aviation & Robotics Summit to take place in Pittsburgh, 14-16 May 2024

Learn more about robotics at the FTE Aviation & Robotics Summit, taking place in Pittsburgh – the ‘Robotics Capital of the World’ – on 14-16 May 2024. The event will bring together aviation and robotics industry professionals with the primary goal of solving aviation business and operational challenges with robotics solutions. The three-day interdisciplinary series of conference sessions, workshops, robotics innovation tours, and networking opportunities will take place across the city of Pittsburgh. The workshops will be hosted at the renowned Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) – one of the top robotics and computer science universities in the world.

Among the confirmed speakers are senior leaders from the likes of Alaska Airlines, IAG Airports, Royal Schiphol Group, Southwest Airlines, Pittsburgh International Airport, CVG Airport, British Airways, Avinor and United Airlines, as well as outside of the industry innovators from Carnegie Mellon University, the National Robotics Engineering Center and AFWERX. These pioneers will play a central role in the conference content, starting with the opening keynote on the theme of ‘Revolutionising the Travel Experience’.

The impressive list of organisations registered to attend continues to grow and now includes the likes of Aer Lingus, Air Canada, Alaska Airlines, Analogic, ARIBO, Avinor, Berlin Brandenburg Airport, BEUMER Group, British Airways, CASS Corporation, CVG Airport, DFW International Airport, Emirates, Ethiopian Airlines, FraAlliance, Fraunhofer IML, Frontier Airlines, International Airlines Group (IAG), Isavia, Istanbul Airport, KLM, LUCI Mobility, Lufthansa, Mott MacDonald, Ontario International Airport, Port of Seattle, Qatar Airways, Siemens Logistics, SITA, Southwest Airlines, Tampa International Airport, United Airlines, Vanderlande, Vienna International Airport, and many more.

View the FTE Aviation & Robotics Summit 2024 agenda >>
Register or express your interest in attending the FTE Aviation & Robotics Summit 2024 >>