TAGSYS Develops Airline Industry's First Reusable RFID Baggage Tag for Qantas | Busines... - 1 views
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Noreen C on 05 Dec 10In airports nationally and internationally, flyers have to stand in line to wait to check in. The process is anything but welcoming for those who are running late, dislike crowds, and are just simply impatient. The process is just has grueling for the workers who have to deal witht the annoyed customers day after day. Luckily, the ticket kiosks have made the check in time shorter, being great for those who have no luggage to check in, but still just a part of the process for those who do. With RFID tags, the check in process isn't as dreadful. Companies are now begining to use reusable RFID tags that can track up to four flights at a time for each luggage, and can be programmed to track upcoming flights. This technology reduces the check in time, and increases effciency as the luggage is already associated with the flyer, and it's location is known at all times. Lost luggage can be found easier, and the manual labor needed for check in is cut down. There is also less paper being used, since the RFID tags only involve electronic mediums. For both the flyer and the company, the RFID tags can be a bright future. However, with more and more ways to eliminate time and human error, it is possible that the jobs of the people at the check in will be reduced. This seems to be a problem with many technologies, but this is the way in which our future is going. But, even though technology seems to be super efficient and a lot better than humans, it has it's flaws. RFID tags are read by radio rignals. If the tags are broken, or placed in an area where the radio signals cannot reach, then the tags are useless. There also needs to be new technology that allows airline companies to begin to use the tags, which may be costly. Another major issue is that in order to increase efficiency, all of the customers must be on board. There is no guarantee that this will happen any time soon, or that all of the airline companies will wish to use the technolgy.