Abstract
Nowadays, when it's a priority to support the recovery of the civil aviation industry, it is essential to consider the role played by technology, specifically artificial intelligence. The goal of this study is to dissect how this powerful tool can contribute to the growth of the airport sector, starting by raising the research question, “How can artificial intelligence add value to an airport?”. It is within the scope of its application that the concept of performance is highlighted, based on measuring the efficiency level of operational activities, through principles such as consumer trust, service quality and opportunity for organizational cost reduction, driving the investment to critical value-creating elements for airport management. By exposing the presently known cases of AI application, it becomes necessary to address their level of expansion across the world, outlining their relationship with the responsible factors for value growth, and enabling the development of forecasts, regarding the investment in airport security, which is currently limited to only certain segments.
TopIntroduction
It is in the aeronautics sector, technological development is a topic that is constantly on the agenda, and which undeniably contributes to the prominence, and consequent value creation, of various airports around the world. Innovation does not rest and technology does not cease its evolution; one of the most highlighted topics in the area today is related to the concept of artificial intelligence (AI), broadly understood as the ability of a system to perform and learn from the executed tasks, similar to that performed by human beings. In this context, we intend to study the applicability of this remarkable innovation, describing its contact with passengers and its integration into the activities carried out by airport staff.
Since AI is a concept that has been around for relatively few years, the literature on its incorporation into organizations tends to be limited in volume, and the respective publications are more recent and mostly conceptual; nevertheless, there are already some perspectives and definitions inherent to the subject that contribute to the enrichment of studies already/ to be carried out and the technology in question is already heavily debated and has captured the attention of several researchers. It should also be noted that there are already several areas of application of AI in airports, such as baggage dispatch and handling, subtitling of systems used by passengers, air quality control, etc., to enhance the consumer experience and add value to the airport space, making it stand out from the rest.
The dimensions of AI, which are directly related to this study, are divided into two parts - the application in the various areas of an airport and the contact with passengers, working together to improve the efficiency and value of the area. It has therefore become crucial to explore the integration of technological innovation in order to understand in which areas its application is most relevant to the management of airport spaces.
Considering the factors mentioned above, this research project took the following into account:
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It aims to contribute to the literary approaches inherent to the presence of AI in airports.
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It aims to promote technological innovation and the use of AI in airports.
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It aims to disseminate the means of applying artificial intelligence.
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It aims to gain an in-depth understanding of how AI can enhance airport space.
Considering this context and based on the main idea that technological development contributes to the growth of the aviation industry, the starting question that will guide the study is: How can artificial intelligence add value to an airport?
As far as the research methodology is concerned, we opted for the qualitative approach advocated by Creswell (2014), which refers to understanding a phenomenon in its natural context; since, as described, the main object of the work is based on the incorporation of AI in airport spaces, its method encompasses a pure (theoretical) research, in terms of nature, exploratory, in terms of data collection, and documentary, in terms of procedures.
As there is no statistical data to analyze/corroborate and as this is a mostly conceptual investigation, this study aims, through the aforementioned methodology, to answer the starting question and the associated derived questions, a research design mechanism that is defended as the most appropriate, also according to Creswell.
This research aims to assess the presence, and consequent impact, of AI in airport spaces; it is in that context that the choice of theme to be developed is based on strengthening the literary approaches carried out, contributing to future studies on the subject, not only from a technological development perspective but also regarding a more efficient airport spaces management, two areas of great market value and with a very strong impact on the world economy.
The following figure illustrates the basic structure of the the project to better present and clarify the subject.
Figure 1.
General structure of the research work
Key Terms in this Chapter
Foreign Object Debris: Named after any type of found objects, located at inconvinient places, such as the airport runways, that can be responsible for equipment damaging or staff injuring, resulting in a loss for the associated organization.
Biometric Identification: The use of biometric signature for different purposes, such as the self check-in process or the control over staff-only entry points; an example of this type of signature system is the fingerprint scanning or face recognition.
Compound Annual Growth Rate: As the name suggests, is described as evaluation of the annual growth of a said investment to analyse its level of viability.
Artificial Intelligence: Defined as the machine’s ability to simulate human behavior in the performance of programmed tasks.
IATA: also known as International Ait Transport Association, is the grater support for the aviation sector as it helps improving its level of efficiency and participates on the formuling of the industry policy.