SITA has launched an artificial intelligence-enabled solution that address the million-dollar headache for airports and airlines of reuniting passengers with their lost property.
Every year passengers leave millions of items – including phones, wallets and bags – in airports and on aircraft. It’s an issue that costs the industry millions of dollars in repatriation costs and can cost up to $95 to manage and repatriate a lost item, including registration, handling inquiries, customer calls, storage and postage.
SITA’s new WorldTracer Lost and Found Property solution can cut costs by 90% and significantly reduces repatriation time. Leveraging the technology provider’s WorldTracer solution, which is already used in 2,200 airports by the majority of the world’s airlines, Lost and Found Property cuts the cost of repatriating lost items by 90%. It also dramatically speeds up the time taken to find and return found items, which 60% of these items returned within the first 48 hours.
Using cutting-edge technology such as computer vision, machine learning, and natural language processing, WorldTracer Lost and Found Property searches a global database of images and descriptions to match the found item to a missing item report. Image recognition is used to identify details such as brand, material, and colour of the missing item. The airline or airport can then immediately notify the owner and return the item. Passengers have full visibility of the process through the WorldTracer portal no matter where in the world the item was lost, a feature that is expected to significantly improve passenger satisfaction.
“WorldTracer is a great example of how SITA continues to evolve its portfolio to meet the changing demands of the industry. For almost three decades WorldTracer has helped to successfully trace mishandled bags. Now, using new technology, we are adding further value by helping the industry be more efficient and reduce costs around lost items at a time when it is most needed,” said David Lavorel, CEO SITA at Airports and Borders.
