Adaptation of Near Field Communication (NFC) Technology to Enhance the
Operational Efficiency and Performance of Pre-departure Operations of Airlinesi
Gamage, Madira N.
Millennium Information Technologies (Pvt) Ltd
Colombo, Srilanka
[email protected]
Abstract: The recent global economic recession that seemed to be continuing with less peaks and many valleys have
seriously shook the airline industry. In order to continue with a sustainable growth in the air travel business, airlines were
compelled on identifying certain service and operational areas that need to be improved in many different ways. One of the
vital facts identified is increasing the competitiveness of the airline by improving passenger perception towards the airline
service quality, which could significantly affect by the extremely time-consuming check-in and boarding processes, especially
during the busiest peak hours. Improving the efficiency of these processes is a major contribution factor in enhancing the
service quality of the airline. Introducing Near Field Communication (NFC) enabled self check-in and self board-in kiosk
would help reduce the long queues in busy peak hours while keeping the man power required at a minimum level. Having
these procedures operating simultaneously with the man handled counters, enables handling more passengers within a
given period of time, thus enhancing the operational efficiency. NFC is a form of wireless communication and data exchange
method that uses electromagnetic radio fields in closer proximities between digital devices such as smart mobile phones and
tablets. The aim of this paper is to present the findings of the study and understand the adaptability of NFC technology in
passenger pre-departure functions and how it can influence in operational efficiency and performance at an airline. The
study focused on ABC1 Airlines operating in Sri Lanka and concentrate on establishing and understanding the operational
patterns if NFC enabled systems were introduced to airport check-in counter assignments. According to the survey results
and sensitivity analysis of actual airline operational data, it was understood that using NFC enabled kiosk machines would
significantly reduce the counter operation cost and improve passenger service quality, enhancing the efficiency and
performance of passenger pre-departure functions at airlines.
Keywords: NFC, Airline Business, Operation Efficiency, Performance, Passenger Service Quality
Received: 4 January 2015, Revised 4 February 2015, Accepted 10 February 2015
© 2015 DLINE. All Rights Reserved
1. Introduction
International air transportation business has demonstrated remarkable growth in traffic over the past few decades. However, the
airlines performance on handling passengers were barely increased with the ever growing air travel business.Few airlines have
adapted suitable technologies in different passenger handling functions and were able to position them ahead of the other
airlines in the world. Therefore, the adaptation of competitive technologies in passenger handling functions of an airline
1
Name of the Airline is not permitted to reveal
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is a vital factor in increasing the performance and operation efficiency, hence gaining an enormous competitive advantage.
Among many other suitable technologies that can be used in different passenger handling functions at an airline, Near Field
Communication (NFC) technology has numerous other benefits in integration with other value added services in an airport.
Once started with a single operational function such as passenger check-in or boarding, NFC technology can be extend to
revenue generation functions such as loyalty programs, credit transfer, duty free shopping, excess baggage payment, etc. The
NFC technology not only contributes in generating additional revenue to the airline, but it also helps in enhancing the operational
efficiency and performance in the functions it implements with.
1.1 Background of the Study
1.1.1 Operational Efficiency in Global Civil Aviation Industry
Airline industry in past is considered as a luxurious experience that could only afforded by few people. Statistics from the
International Air Transport Association (IATA) shows that about 3.1 billion people flew in year 2013 surpassing the 3 billion
mark for the first time in history and is expected to grow 3.3 billion in the end of 2014 (IATA annual review 2013).
Civil aviation is a vital component of the global transportation system and an important social and economic pillar of the world
economy. The massive reach of aviation industry is affecting the activities in every aspect of daily life and is an important source
of employment supporting 31.9 million jobs globally. Even though the civil aviation is one of the largest scale operational
industries in the world, International Air Transport Association (IATA) reports that airline industry globally lost 11.5 billion USD
in year 2012 (IATA annual review 2011) due to the inefficiency of their operational strategies. Efficiency in airline operations
brings out a sense of reduced airport congestion, smooth operations with minimum delays and less transaction time, ease of use
and self-service systems for passengers and also more revenue generation opportunities available at the airport. Many studies
were carried out to determine the efficiency factors in airline industry and it was identified that improving the ground handling
functions of an airline has positive contribution in enhancing the overall efficiency.
Following points can be used as an indication to understand the overview of operational efficiency in an airline.
• Reduction of ground handling operational cost
• Increase of revenue per passenger
• Improved service levels
• Improved customer satisfaction and loyalty
• Increase penetration of self-boarding
• Easier passenger identification for all necessary points
• Improved processing times, hence reducing the queues
1.1.2 Overview of Operational Cost in Airline Industry
In order to maintain passenger safety and the quality of the airline, it is essential to provision different ICT services at the airport.
This is an important fact to uplift and maintain the airline standards. However, there are certain type of ICT operational cost that
are essential yet can be reduced by adapting certain technologies and standards.
Typically, airlines feature highly complex business processes, supported by specialized IT systems that reside in functional
silos that lack cross functional integration. According to Stroh and Kaib et al., (2009), more than 60 percent of airlines’ software
is custom-built, in comparison with all the other industries which are less than 40 percent in total. Therefore, it can be seen that
a typical airline pays a steep price for maintaining its process complexity and IT legacy systems.
For example, an airline that has not renovated its processes and systems for flight planning and dispatching requires up to five
times as much staff time to dispatch its fleet as an airline that has redesigned and automated these processes using state-of-theart IT systems (Stroh and Kaib et al., 2009).
Further, Lock and Fattah et al., (2010) states in the white paper “Airline of the Future: Smart Mobility Strategies that Will
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Transform the Industry”, that airlines are under unprecedented pressure to produce economic results or perish as fuel, labor,
and asset costs escalate and demand declines. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) reports that the airlineindustry
lost more than US$9 billion in 2009.Furthermore, with the exception of a few years and a few airlines, much of the industry has
not produced a return on investment that exceeded capital costs While industry revenues are expected to reach $545 billion in
2010 (up from $483 billion in 2009), with airlines eking out a profit of $2.5 billion globally, revenues are still well below the $564
billion achieved in 2008 (IATA - Corporate Communications, 2010). Furthermore, a major part of the global industry is still
posting large losses. A stagnating economy, labor strikes, natural disasters, and a currency crisis have left European carriers
struggling with an anticipated $2.8 billion loss (Lock and Fattah et al., 2010). The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at ABC airlines
mentioned on the company annual report 2012/13 that the general downward trend of the global industry always has a negative
impact on the airline industry (p.7).
According to the Corporate Plan reports published by the Ministry of Airport and Aviation in Sri Lanka, the financial and
profitability situation is not so different to the global scenario explained in the previous paragraph. The ABC airline had made 16
Million LKR (Sri Lanka Rupees) losses in the fiscal year 2011/12, while the earning per share is negative 8.84 Million LKR. The
net loss made in fiscal year 2012/13 was further increased by another 2 Million LKR according to the ABC airline annual report
(p.3). Arrival and departure passenger processing time lies between 25 to 30 minutes per passenger (Ministry of Civil Aviation,
2012), which is significantly a long time considering the fact of the airport size and the passenger availability at the airport in any
given time. Further cargo handing is stated as an area of immerging revenue generation stream. However, the cargo movement
still operates at the range of 200,000 Metric Ton per year (Ministry of Civil Aviation, 2012) due to operational limitations of the
cargo handling. Furthermore, the number of transfer passengers handled by ABC airline remains at 40% throughout on several
consecutive years (Ministry of Civil Aviation, 2012), which if increased can be easily turn into another source of revenue
generation. This could be achieved by adding value such as issuing frequent flyer loyalty points which could be used and
stored in more sophisticated manner and by differentiating the airline operations with more futuristic and user friendly fashion
that the passenger is looking forward to use the systems with more enthusiasm.
1.1.3 Technology Adaptation Trend in Airline Industry
Airline industry is well known for its fast paces technology adaptation to strive forward on a highly competitive and demanding
environment. Adaptability in Near Field Communication (NFC) Technology will undoubtedly increase the efficiency in the
airline operations increasing the performance and the productivity. Adaptation of NFC technology will help to achieve the goal
of making the airline operations more efficient. There are several airlines already adapted NFC for different operational functions
and are successfully made the processes efficient. For example Japanese airline had their first NFC enable boarding pass issued
back in year 2012 and now is looking at expanding NFC functions to other domestic airports as well (Balaban , 2013). SAS
Scandinavian Airlines, Air France and Air New Zealand are the other airlines already benefiting from NFC by adapting it for
different operational functions.
1.1.4 Overview of Near Field Communication
Commonly known as NFC, abbreviation for Near Field Communication, is a relatively new technology, yet has a fast adaptation
in many different industries worldwide which in turn starting to influence the daily life of millions of people living throughout the
world. In Near Field Communication Handbook, NFC is introduced as a combination of contactless technologies (Ahson and
Ilyas, 2011, pp. 26-27) while the authors in Near Field Communication: theory to practice book NFC is defined as a new
technology that emerged in the last decade that uses short range, high frequency, low bandwidth and wireless communication
technology between two NFC enabled devices (Coskun and Ok et al., 2011, p. 1).
Therefore, NFC can be introduced as a form of wireless communication and data exchange method that uses electromagnetic
radio fields in closer proximities between digital devices such as smart mobile phones and tablets. NFC devices could either be
active or passive, where passive tags will only transfer data in one direction allowing other active NFC devices to read and
capture data. Further active NFC devices such as smart mobile phones operates in bi-directional communication mode, captures
information from either active or passive NFC tags and alter information (if necessary and authorized) before transmitting it to
other active NFC devices. The communications between NFC devices are often secured by establishing a secure channel
between the devices and use encryption mechanisms for sensitive data transactions.
The main benefit of adopting NFC in any industry is to make the tedious and complicated processes simplified and create user
friendly, easy to use business processors, which will undoubtedly increase the customer satisfaction. Nowadays, organizations
are seeking ways to reinforce their competitive position and improve the efficiency using information and communications
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technologies. Accordingly, there is an increasing consciousness of the necessity to enhance the efficiency and productivity
through investment in the areas of information technologies and communication systems within organizations. Information
technology and communication systems can significantly assist the organizations in the required infrastructure, which is
necessary for provision and completion of appropriate tasks needed at different organizational functions. Information technology
and communication systems can also provide the organizations with competitive advantage among many other organizations in
the industry.
2. Research Issue
Aviation is a unique industry when compared to any other transportation medium in the world having a daily operation of 24,000
commercial aircraft crisscrossing the skies operating 80,000 flights carrying over 10 million passengers. Infusing an annual
figure of USD 539 billion, it is a major contributor to the global economy with a high multiplier effect. However, within the
aviation sector airline returns are generally the lowest in terms of direct return on investment in comparison to other industries,
due to intense competition and high operational cost, as well as the disadvantage of contributions not being directly measurable,
making net profit rather elusive (SriLankan Airlines Limited, 2013).
Therefore, it can be seen that airline operations present a striking dichotomy. Each day, the airlines all over the globe achieve the
remarkable by safely moving nearly five million people more than 40 million air miles across seas and lands. Often, however, most
of these airlines fail to deliver on the ordinary. For example, due to the delay of arrival of the ground staff caused by another
planes maintenance delay could lead the other aircrafts to be taxied to a jetway and wait for its turn to open the door. Even
standout, low-cost performers lose bags, keep valuable employees idle in other sections of the operations, depart late, and have
billions of dollars in chronically underutilized aircraft and other hugely expensive assets.
These extremes coexist because airlines have historically focused on safety, aircraft technology, speed, geographic reach, and
in-flight service attributes; on distinctive regulatory constraints and labor issues; and on the unpredictability imposed by
weather and rapidly shifting demand. Also at the same time, airlines’ attention is divided among the issues such as route
structures, excess capacity, pricing, and yield management. As a result, the airlines haven’t focused on operations factory like,
industrial-engineering scrutiny. Great operators in other heavy industries have worked through these challenges to deliver low
costs, high quality, and satisfied customers using technologies such as RFID and NFC (Doig, Howard and Ritter, 2013). These
models can also be customized and used in the airline industry to enhance the operational efficiency as well.
Yet up to 45 percent of an airline’s cost structure consists of maintenance, ground handling, inflight services, call centers, and
aircraft acquisitions which are influenced by operational variables like aircraft downtime (Doig, Howard and Ritter, 2013). Nearly
one hundred years after the first powered flight, airlines are now matured enough on its safety measures, and are looking to
apply proven operational practices that can streamline the process-intensive activities. It is an opportunity to reduce overall
costs dramatically by reducing labor, materials, and using assets more efficiently, in order to enhance the reliability of service,
and to strengthen the customer satisfaction.
Therefore, in order to deliver exceptional travel experiences, airlines require and advanced check-in processes, simplified load
control and consistent on-time departures. The current technologies used by many airlines, including ABC airline in Sri Lanka
are zapping the efficiency on the ground operations. Therefore, more cost effective and time sensitive tools and technologies
have to be considered in order to enhance the check-in, load controlling and departure performance.
2.1 Symptoms of the Problem
Pre-departure functions address the many service requirements of an airline between the times a passenger arrives at the airport
to the departure gate. Among all the pre-departure functions, the most important functions are check-in and board-in functions.
Speed, efficiency and accuracy are important in the two pre-departure functions in order to maximize the service efficiency and
customer satisfaction. However, According to the latest report released in April 2014 by ACSI - one of the leading survey
agencies in the world, airlines receive the lowest customer satisfaction ratings among all travel-related industries. The survey
found that passengers appreciate that few airlines use technology to speed up the check-in and board-in process while most of
the other airlines are sticking to the traditional approach without considering hassle passengers have to go through at the
airport (Jones, 2014). Skytrax, an organization responsible for rating and reviewing the airlines, indicates in the report released
in year 2013, that waiting time, service efficiency and staff attitudes are the main factors of passenger dissatisfaction in the
check-in process, while board-in system efficiency and boardin priority are the factors for dissatisfaction in board-in process
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while most of the other airlines are sticking to the traditional approach without considering hassle passengers have to go
through at the airport (Jones, 2014). Skytrax, an organization responsible for rating and reviewing the airlines, indicates in the
report released in year 2013, that waiting time, service efficiency and staff attitudes are the main factors of passenger dissatisfaction
in the check-in process, while board-in system efficiency and boardin priority are the factors for dissatisfaction in board-in
process (Airlinequality.com, 2013). Therefore, it can be seen that the airlines constantly strive to make a pleasant passenger
experience at the airport, but often fails due to lack of understanding on the passenger expectations in the pre-board-in
functions.
3. Objectives of the Paper
1. Determine the adaptability of NFC technology in increasing the performance of complicated end-to-end passenger predeparture processes
2. Recommend the best practises and usage of NFC technology and indicate any gaps / limitations that hinder the NFC
adaptation in the Airline industry
4. Previous studies conducted
Authors of the journal article “Impact of Information Technology on Profitability of Airlines Industry: A Case Study of Royal
Jordanian Airlines” published by “International Journal of Business & anagement”, state that over the last years, individuals
and organizations in Jordan and all over the world have invested significantly in information technologies and systems. It is
widely believed that strategic information technology (IT) investments will enable firms to cut costs and working effectively
(Jawabreh and Allahham et al., 2012). The Chief Operating Officer at ABC airlines also stated in the company annual report 2012/
13, that in order to increase revenue, the airline will utilize the modern technology, and significant strides were already made to
improve the passenger experience by introducing state of art technology, thereby reducing the cost of operations (p.9).
However, Jawabreh and Allahham et al., (2012) also states that there are concerns about the choice of these technologies and its
deployment and the organization’s ability to successfully achieve appropriate returns from these technologies.
As airlines struggle to gain market share and sustain profitability in the fiercely competitive and economically demanding
environments at present days, the necessity of developing new ways to manage the customer relationships and optimize the
customer loyalty has aroused. Further, airlines need to explore the possibilities of using tactics to acquire, develop and retain
customers with greater precision and to obtain improved results in return. However, the airlines’ immediate focus is always on
cost reductions in driving operations that are more efficient (Jawabreh and Allahham et al., 2012). Thus many airlines are turning
to customer relationship management (CRM) as a tool for managing customer relationships. Unfortunately, as in many cases,
airlines have failed to recognize CRM as a holistic strategy, instead viewing it as synonymous with the frequent flyer programs
(Jawabreh and Allahham et al., 2012). Therefore, it should be noted that CRM along with frequent flyer programs needs to be
coupled with more convenient method like NFC to provide more state of art passenger experience and ultimately to attract more
satisfied customer to the airline.
NFC deployment incurs a cost as it modifies the existing infrastructure. However, investing of NFC deployment is beneficial in
the long run as the technology helps to reduce existing operations expenses, generate new revenue streams, enhance customer
satisfaction and effectively increase the efficiency of internal communications.
Below section describes the possible infrastructure and service adaptation cost factors, compared with some of the gains on
each factor. It is not meant to be a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis, but rather a guide for a better understanding of the
benefits that NFC could bring into the airline.
Concerning the NFC reader infrastructure, terminals will have to be upgraded to integrate an NFC reader. It should be noted that
in most of the key airports in many counties, the existing equipment are already upgraded to support EMV (Europay, MasterCard
and Visa) contactless payments, in which case the equipment would be totally reusable for boarding pass redemption,
presentation of frequent flyer credential, or other usage. In the annual report of the ABC airline 2012/13 states that the company
has already invested on self-check-in kiosks, handheld scanners and boarding card printer facilities at the airport in order to
speed up the check-in process (p.9). However, adding NFC to the existing contactless reader infrastructure adds two-way
capabilities to enable use cases such as sending back updates and offers (NFC Reference Guide for Air zravel, 2013).
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As for back-office processing systems, no changes would be required as the boarding passes can be transmitted and stored in
smart mobile devices or in any other proposed storage options, without changing the current format or the method in use.
However, if the airline decides to introduce changes to the BCBP (Bar Coded Boarding Pass) format in order to take better
advantages of the new NFC features, then these back-office systems would have to be updated accordingly (NFC Reference
Guide for Air Travel, 2013).
The smart mobile device user interface applications using for the NFC transactions are either brand new development or
evolutions of existing applications customized for airline operations. In either way, implementation of this method should
facilitate these applications to communicate with the NFC chipset over a common-use storage application where boarding
passes or other credentials issued by different airlines are being stored. However, the implementation method using the SE
(Secure Element) such as SIM cards are highly recommended due to the fact that the NFC reader’s capability of communicating
directly with the SE container application to obtain the necessary user credentials. Hence, a user interface in a mobile device is
not a mandatory requirement with this implementation method, but the device application has to follow strict rules to communicate
with the SE application. However, since there are both NFC enabled devices and SEs are operational in the market today, it is
advisable to have the equipment that could be used in any scenario.
While SE application implementation method has a high level of security and restrictions in place, it should also be noted that
the method involves multiple parties and associate others costs such as leasing fees, transaction fees, memory usage fees. A
potential drawback in SE implementation method is that there could be a fee for SE memory usage as SE memory is a limited
resource and the issuer of the SE, typically a MNO has a significant investment in managing it. However, this cost could change
depending on the selling model introduced by the MNO and the country or the region as well. The information on boarding
passes; loyalty points, or offers can be updated on the SE applications and is possible to handle internally or externally.
Updating the content of the SE requires a Trusted Service Manager (TSM) platform to handle the required security. Service
providers can deploy this infrastructure internally or contract it as a service from a third party provider (NFC Reference Guide for
Air Travel, 2013).
According to the past experience and research done by IATA and SITA on similar NFC deployments in many accomplished
airlines in the world, there will be a significant return on the investment in adaptation of NFC technology for air travel industry.
One such example is the use of NFC in check-in and boarding counters and the cost savings from massive amount of printed
tickets, and reduction in customer service agents, as well as the increased revenues from satisfied customer returns, and further
expansions into co-located and other related businesses. It has also been found out by the researchers that NFC readers have
reduced costs over barcode readers, specifically in the airline industry. An added advantage is that NFC readers help to lower
the customer service personnel cost by reducing the number of staff working per shift, and increasing the level of accuracy at
the same time. NFC readers also assist in reducing the time taken to read the documents by the customer service agents
enhancing the passenger experience at the counter or at the self-check-in kiosk (NFC Reference Guide for Air Travel, 2013).
Uses of NFC technology can be worldwide once the organization establishes the global network, which will benefit the passenger.
The NFC global network can be used to extend different partnerships offers on the basis of profit sharing. This can also be
leveraged to attract more passengers into the airline as it offers more convenience to the passenger at a foreign destination.
Moreover, NFC can assist travelers to access airport information such as maps, particular duty free shops and services locations
quickly and without a hassle. NFC could also be used to make payments for airport parking and to find the vehicle location inside
the parking area. This expands the traveller experience with the airline and helps airline to retain and attract more passengers.
Therefore, not only direct applications of NFC such as trouble free payment methods, enhanced loyalty schemes, one-touch
entry to elite lounges, and timely delivery of updates to travelers are contributing to passenger satisfaction, but also using the
extended applications of NFC can increase the customer engagement and satisfaction with the airline as well (NFC Reference
Guide for Air Travel, 2013).
5. Research Methodology and Design
5.1 Conceptual Framework of the Research
According to the conceptual framework described below, the efficiency of pre-departure functions in an airline is a dependent
variable of the degree of adaptability of Near Field Communication (NFC) technology on the pre-departure functions. Adaptation
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Figure 3. Conceptual Framework
of NFC is further influenced by main three independent variables as mentioned in the figure 3.0
5.2 Development of the Hypothesis
Below are the hypothesis developed considering above conceptual framework.
1. H1 - Penetration of smart mobile device usage among the passengers travelling on an airline may have an influence on the
adaptation of Near Field Communication technology in passenger pre-departure functions in the airline.
2. H2 - Knowledge about smart mobile devices and Near Field Communication technology among the ground handling staff of
an airline may have an influence on the adaptation of Near Field Communication technology in passenger pre-departure
functions of the airline.
3. H3 - Readiness of the infrastructure using for pre-departure functions of an airline may have an influence on the adaptation
of Near Field Communication technology in passenger pre-departure functions of the airline.
4. H4 - Adaptation of Near Field Communication Technology in Passenger Pre-Departure Functions in an airline may have an
influence on the Efficiency Enhancement of the airlines’ Pre-Departure functions
5.3 Operationalization Approach
Figure 3.1 shows how the concepts defined in the conceptual framework relate to the testing variables that are derived from the
objectives of the study.
5.3.1 Sampling Design
According to the research concept, three sets of stakeholders were identified to derive the sampling design. The three sets
identified are;
• Higher Management of ABC2 Airline
• Ground Operations Staff at ABC2 Airline
• IT Staff Allocated for Operations.
2
Name of the Airline is not permitted to reveal
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Concepts
Definition of each
concepts
Testing Variables derived from the
objectives that are used to define
concepts
Testable questions for each Testing
Variable defined according to each
concept
Measurement Scale for
each Question
Figure 3.1. Operationalization Approach
Shown below in figure 3.3 is The Venn diagram pertaining to all the identified sets with the respective relationships between
them.
Figure 3.3. Sampling Design
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5.3.2 Population and Sample Selection Procedure
As shown in the figure 3.3, the population N1 is selected from the two sets “Higher Management of ABC Airline” and the
“Ground Operations Staff at ABC Airline”. The population N1 and the sample S1 both became 1 as only the “Head of Operations”
at ABC airline satisfies the criteria pertaining to the intersection of two sets.
The total number of ground operation staff at ABC airline have taken as the population N2, which is 42 in number and the sample
of 36 which indicates as S2. The sample has been selected according to the table 10.3 (p.295) given on the book Research
Methods for Business by Sekaran (Sekaran, 1992). The intersection of the “IT Staff allocated for Operations” and “Ground
Operation Staff at ABC Airline” defines the population N3 and the sample S3. Both population and the sample remain same due
to the less number in the population (Sekaran, 1992).
“IT Staff allocated for Operations” and “Higher Management of ABC Airline” are the two sets that make the intersection for
population N4, which is similar in number to the sample S4 (Sekaran, 1992). The two staff members pertaining to this intersection
is the “Head of IT” and the “Chief Operating Officer” at ABC airline.
5.3.3 Sample Size for the Study
Figure 3.4 indicates the sample size of the study as per the sample selection procedure explained in the section 3.4.2.
Figure 3.4. Sample Size
6. Data Analysis
The sample for the study was selected in a way that the responders are falling into the first line of interaction with the
passengers. Except the three executive officers interviewed, all the others responders are in either counter operations or IT staff
assigned for frontline operations.
The demographics of the general question analysis indicate that the majority of the respondents are females in the age between
18 to 30 years and their work experience in airline industry is concentrated around 6 to 10 years. Out of the majority sample of
female responders, the most number of female responders are in frontline counters while the sample of IT staff responders are
all male except for one female respondent.
The analysis results pertaining to the hypothesis statement H1 indicates that the two variables “Penetration of smart mobile
device usage among the passengers travelling on the ABC airline” and “adaptation of Near Field Communication technology in
passenger pre-departure functions in ABC airline” have a significant positive relationship. This was further confirmed by the
responses from the ordinal question “What is the average age of a passenger traveling in your airline?” that was directed at the
higher management.
The analyzed data which are collected for two concepts “Knowledge about smart mobile devices and Near Field Communication
technology among the ground handling staff of ABC Airlines” and “adaptation of Near Field Communication technology in
passenger pre-departure functions in ABC airline” proved to have a significant positive relationship between the two variables
as well. The result is been further confirmed by the interview question “Have you experienced NFC in check-in and board-in
functions in other airlines in the world?” that was directed at the three executives in the higher management of ABC Airlines.
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NFC Reference Guild for Air Travel, 2013 also suggests that the penetration of smart mobile devices among passengers and the
knowledge on smart mobile devices are some of the key factors on NFC adaptability in Airlines.
Therefore, it can be concluded that the two variables defined in the conceptual framework, “Penetration of smart mobile device
usage among the passengers travelling on the ABC airline” and “Knowledge about smart mobile devices and Near Field
Communication technology among the ground handling staff of ABC Airlines” are positively influencing on the intervening
dependent variable “Adaptation of Near Field Communication technology in passenger predeparture functions in ABC airline”,
proving the data analysis, interviews and also by IATA Publication, NFC Reference Guild for Air Travel, 2013.
The third hypothesis statement H3 that consist with the two variables “Readiness of the infrastructure using for pre-departure
functions at ABC Airlines” and “adaptation of Near Field Communication technology in passenger pre-departure functions in
ABC airline” however do not have a significant relationship between them. When the results of these two variables are further
analyzed, it can be seen that the majority of the responders believe the current infrastructure is capable of handling a new system
with small upgrades. This is further confirmed by the responses for the interview question “What is the percentage do you think
will use the self-check-in kiosk if it can do the check-in in few simple steps?” directed at the higher management. The management
response was positive towards the future but currently they have a concern on the passenger confidence in using the selfcheck-in kiosk.
Therefore, the results of the nominal data analysis can be confirmed with the help of interview question responses. Hence it can
be concluded that there is no significant relationship between the two variable concepts, “Readiness of the infrastructure using
for pre-departure functions at ABC Airlines” and “adaptation of Near Field Communication technology in passenger predeparture
functions in ABC airline
Analysis results for the variables “Adaptation of Near Field Communication Technology in Passenger Pre-Departure Functions
in ABC Airlines” and “Efficiency Enhancement of ABC Airlines’ Pre-Departure Functions” which forms the hypothesis statement
H4, proves to have a strong positive significant relationship between them. Further analysis of the nominal data reveal that
majority of the responders agree with the fact of getting the time reduced with a new NFC enabled system. Also, the knowledge
of the responders on NFC and new Technologies are remarkably high in both frontline and IT staff. Furthermore, the interview
question “Do you think it is best to introduce NFC enabled mobile devices on storing check-in and board-in information, rather
than carrying multiple documents around?” directed towards the higher management executives, who confirmed the fact the
time will get significantly reduced and the COO of ABC airline thinks this will affect the overall operational efficiency as well.
Hence, if can be safely concluded that the “Adaptation of Near Field Communication Technology in Passenger Pre-Departure
Functions in ABC Airlines” has a strong positive relationship with “Efficiency Enhancement of ABC Airlines’ Pre-Departure
Functions”. The fact of efficiency enhancement by introducing NFC technology for passenger pre-departure functions are
further approved by the current successful deployments around the world and further expansion expectations of the airlines
such as Japan Airline, Scandinavian Airline, Air France, Air New Zealand to name a few.
The worldwide adaptation of NFC technology to reduce the cost and make the processes more efficient undoubtedly project the
significance of the study furthermore in terms of adaptation of NFC for pre-departure processes in ABC airlines in Sri Lanka as
well.
Thus, as stated in the problem statement, it is evident that ABCii airline is using conventional methods in pre-boarding
operations and processes which cannot be treated as dynamic where inefficiency of the system leads to higher operational
costs and passenger frustration.
Therefore, it can be concluded that in overall, the study has achieved its intended aim of understanding how adaptability of NFC
can influence on the efficiency and performance of predeparture operational functions in an airline.
7. Conclusion and Recommendations for Further Studies
During the study it was found out that the passengers travelling in ABC airline is would not make a serious attempt to use the
self-check-in kiosk due to the lack of confidence on the process. Therefore, the airline needs to start a process that would gain
the customer trust in selfcheck- in process. It was further understood that passengers would use the kiosk more often if the
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steps were simple enough and if they have already used it at least once before. Hence, it is vital to have a process to get
passengers use the self-check-in kiosk, which compliments the NFC technology. For example NFC boarding passes could be
stored in smart mobile devices and the passengers could only tap the device to print the boarding pass.
Also, it was seen at the study that there is a security issue in introducing NFC technology to the boarding gates at the departure.
Even though NFC could speed up the boarding process the mandatory security checks at the boarding gate will create a bottle
neck.
The study shows most of the employees working at frontline an in IT departments have significant knowledge on smart phones
and latest technologies. However, it is recommended to give them training on NFC technology and how it works before
considering on adapting the technology.
It is also recommend adhering to the standards and regulations made for NFC technology by GSMA and ISO. There are
regulations specifically made for airline industry by IATA when using the NFC technology (Mobile NFC in Transport, 2012).
NFC has many other uses in different areas within the airline, such as baggage check-in and tracking, elite lounge access,
loyalty, smart posters and banners, staff access and cafeteria purchases to name a few. It is recommended to introduce the NFC
technology for staff first for their access control and meal cards and then move it toward to the passenger. This way the staff will
be familiar with all the possible issues that could come up, once it is being rolled out to the passenger side. Furthermore, it is also
recommended to consider on a change management process before implementation of the NFC technology.
While this study can be used as a fundamental approach for adaptation of NFC technology in passenger pre-departure
functions at ABC airlines, an in depth study is recommended that should cover more staff in different departments and
passengers in many different destinations in the survey sample. Also, interviews need to be carrying out for both staff and
passengers on their experience on NFC services in other airlines. Also, independent evaluations on existing NFC deployments
in other airline are also recommended.
NFC technology can be used in many different applications inside the airport and within the airline. Therefore, it is recommend
to position out a long term plan to use the NFC technology for revenue generation mechanisms, such as smart posters and
loyalty points and excess baggage charges redemption on loyalty points, etc. before the initiation on the NFC deployment
design and phasing out plan. In this method the airline can recover the investment in short period by generating revenue
directly. Also, NFC could reduce the queues significantly, enabling the airline to handle more passengers making passengers
satisfied on the service. Eventually in an airline that handles more satisfied passengers will cause an increase in the revenue and
NFC can be a proved solution for the airline to be more competitive in the current demanding conditions.
References
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End Note:
i
Based on a dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the Degree of Master of Business Administration
- Middlesex University, London
ii
I acknowledge the support given by the ABC Air Line (Correct name of the company is not allowed to reveal) to conduct the
survey with their employees and providing with necessary information required to complete the study
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