SWISS is to start trialling the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to conduct its passenger count during boarding.
The airline will use the system on selected flights between April and June. It said the new approach should enhance security and ease cabin crew workloads.
SWISS – which is owned by Lufthansa – said it will be putting a top emphasis on data security and data protection in the new procedure, and will ensure its full compliance with Europe’s and Switzerland’s strict data protection laws throughout the trial process.
On selected SWISS flights from Zurich between April and June, a camera will be temporarily installed in the cabin for the boarding process, to record passengers as they embark and determine their total numbers.
The recordings will be used solely to train the AI application in the boarding process.
It must be able, for instance, to distinguish whether a passenger is carrying an infant in their arms, and must also function faultlessly even in challenging lighting conditions.
Results will be constantly analysed throughout the trial phase to steadily improve the AI’s reliability. In view of the new approach’s trial nature, the cabin crew will also conduct a parallel passenger count using the established manual procedure on the flights concerned.
