Emirates has started to equip its staff at Dubai International Airport with a new custom-designed mobile application, developed in cooperation with Samsung and Etisalat, which will help them respond to passenger needs in a far more efficient manner.
The app, which is called Journey Manager, gives the carrier’s managers and supervisors access to real-time information, including the status of inbound and outbound flights, while they can use the Samsung Note 4 device to scan passengers’ boarding passes so they can tell them which gate they will be departing from. This feature is expected to be particularly helpful in dealing with the 20,000 transit passengers who go through transfer desks during a daily six-hour peak period, as 40% of these passengers queue up to find out which gate their connecting flight will depart from.
If a passenger has a short connecting time, the agent can use their device to communicate this to the gate supervisor, and if a passenger has missed their connecting flight, the Samsung Note 4 can be used to find out information on alternative flights for the passenger.
Mohammed H Mattar, Emirates’ Divisional Senior Vice President, Airport Services, said: “Emirates has always been in the forefront of innovation, and our aim is to continue delivering excellent and more personalised service to our customers. The size and scale of our operations at the airport can be a challenge, especially during peak times where we can see up to 140 departures and arrivals in a four-hour window. That is why we have always looked at ways to use technology and automation to improve the customer journey as well as empower our staff whose jobs mean they are constantly on the move across the airport terminal.”
Over the coming months, Emirates will roll out the mobile Journey Manager among 2,400 members of staff, with the aim of making sure equipped staff are on-hand at all passenger touch points.
Mattar added: “Before Journey Manager, most of these functions were done through transactions behind a desktop, and information retrieved from printed reports, which only capture status updates at the time that they were printed. With the ability to quickly scan a passenger’s boarding pass and access live flight information, our staff are able to find on-time solutions and make decisions with more confidence knowing they have the most up-to-date information right at their fingertips.”
