During the “Are You Exposed” session this afternoon, Dom Nessi, Deputy Executive Director/Chief Information Officer of Los Angeles World Airports, provided compelling – and often frightening- information about how vulnerable today’s IT systems can be.  Airports are vulnerable to attacks to our network or wireless network, baggage systems and websites. Nessi noted the particular risk posed by the widespread use of USB sticks, where 10 percent are infected with a virus. I actually felt a bit vindicated when he also emphasized that smartphones aren’t so smart when it comes to malware, with the rapid roll out of new technology being too quick for current security standards, resulting in more and more breaches.

Nessi also covered an entirely new challenge for airports as they receive service from “eEnabled aircraft”, such as the Boeing 787 and Airbus 380. Emphasizing that “this is going to be a major new frontier”, he talked about the impact that an airport network being hacked could have on such sophisticated aircraft. I found it fascinating and a bit comforting that airlines operating the A380 keep a “sealed CD” so they can reload the necessary software inflight in the event of a catastrophic failure.

Michael Kalt, an attorney with San Diego based Wilson Turner Kosmo, addressed the exposure businesses face with the ever changing and expanding world of social media. When the question was posed “Can you disciple an employee because of comments made using social media?”, the answer was a definitive maybe. That is because so much depends on the individual circumstances, what is in your company policy and the applicable state as well as evolving federal law. The best defense is to stay informed and ensure your policy is up to date and reasonable. You can’t just say no, given the important role social media plays in most people’s lives.  (But not mine…)

The session was very educational in providing valuable information about cutting edge challenges airports face. Also, I learned a new term so I can better communicate with both the cool tech kids and the informed HR directors – “dooced”.   Never heard it?  Well, the Urban Dictionary defines “dooced” as to lose one’s job because of one’s website.  I can’t wait to use it the next time I play Scrabble- which I still play the old fashioned way; not on a computer!

The Business Information Technology Committee jumped right into a “Hot Topic” session on passenger self-tagging.

Fortunately, an American Airlines representative was on hand to brief the committee on their self-tagging installation at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.  American Airlines, in concert with the airport, opened the installation as one of three sites the TSA approved under a pilot program.  Although passenger self-tagging has been in place at many locations outside of the U.S., including Canada, this is a first for U.S. passengers.

After applying the tags, which are printed at a self-service kiosk, passengers take their bags to a counter where they are quickly scanned into the tracking system and placed on the luggage belt.  This process continues to empower passengers through self-service channels while streamlining the check-in process.

As noted above, American is one of three installations, the other being an Air Canada installation at Boston Logan and an Alaska Airlines installation in Redmond, OR.  TSA has expressed their enthusiasm for all three self-tagging trials and airports and airlines should be able to move forward with self-tagging, albeit with a minimum set of requirement, in the next six months.  The BIT Committee’s Passenger Self-Tagging/Common Bag Drop Working Group continues to track this initiative and invites any interested parties to join the group.

You won’t want to miss any of Sunday’s BIT Seminar sessions in Ballroom 6C.  Topics include enterprise asset management, cyber security, common use issues, and updates from outside of North American from ACI’s Airport IT Standing Committee.

Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard is a set of requirements for ensuring protection and security of credit cardholder data. The standard was developed by Visa International, American Express, Discover Financial Services, JCB International, and MasterCard Worldwide to facilitate the adoption of a consistent data security program on a global basis.

You might be a service provider. Do you provide a common use kiosk? Do you manage payments for any parking facilities? Do you provide systems to the airlines/merchants for their own use?

At Business Information Technology Pre-Conference Seminar the panel explored these standards and the impacts that an airport needs to consider when reviewing its credit data, retention polices and system that process credit card payment transitions.

San Jose International Airport obtained payment card compliance over a year ago, and briefed the committee on lessons learned. San Jose and Orlando echoed that compliance is not only an IT project; it must involve the executive management and various departments.  It is a continuous process of monitoring, assessments, quarterly scans and spot audits during the year.

Peter Maeder from IATA stressed the challenges airlines face with payment card standards. Airlines have their own sales channels, with airlines using outsourced websites and with the increase in ancillary services offered, payment card standards has become extremely difficult to manage data.

David Jividen with Barich concluded the session with reference to the rock band “Journey”. PCI compliance should be accepted with “Open Arms”, with a positive attitude that you “Don’t Stop Believin’ ” that you will achieve success.  “Be Good to Yourself” and begin “Just the Same Way” you would with any major project.  Assess the need, sell the cause, set the urgency, and build a plan to succeed.   Otherwise, if you ignore compliance thinking “I’ll Be Alright Without You”, you may find that “After the Fall” you must answer the question “Who’s Cryin’ Now?”

The BIT pre-conference continues tomorrow morning with sessions on Key to Successful Enterprise Asset Management and Airport Cyber Security.

Airports Council International-North America (ACI-NA) has launched a redesign of its website at www.aci-na.org.  The new design is intended to better serve the needs of its airport and associate members by focusing on the most relevant content and providing enhanced functionality with improved navigational aids.

“We’re pleased to introduce the redesigned website, www.aci-na.org, as the definitive resource on airports for our members and stakeholders,” said ACI-NA President Greg Principato.  “The new site better showcases the work of ACI-NA on behalf of our more than 350 North American member airports, which are critically important for commerce and economic development for their local communities and provinces. The new design encourages visitors to learn about ACI-NA’s 17 committees and provides easier access to data, news and available business opportunities in the airport industry,” concluded Principato.

The re-designed home page boasts two new features:

• Call to Action: At the top right of the home page, the site features a ‘call to action’ quote from ACI-NA President Greg Principato which links to a supporting document and a specific call for member action on legislative, regulatory or other industry issues.

• Slide-Show Marquee: The slide-show feature, located just below the navigation bar on the home page, is designed to draw visitors deeper into the website or ACI-NA blogs by highlighting the latest news, blogs and conferences.

Additionally, each committee section now offers a one-stop, all you need home page for each of the 17 ACI-NA Committees. These home pages list the latest committee news and upcoming events including webinars, conference presentations and resource materials.

Other Key Improvements:

• The Communication hub of the home page features quick access to all ACI-NA blogs, social media outlets, news and publications.

• The Education hub of the home page features quick access to upcoming ACI-NA events, ACI’s Global Training, and the most recent presentations.

• The Job and Business Opportunities hub of the home page features quick access to two of the most visited locations of the site, job opportunities and RFP offerings, which is now more prominently displayed at the bottom of the home page.

Bill Restall, of the Saskatoon Airport Authority, kicked off the session highlighting the shift in reliance from aviation fees to non-aviation fees to allow the airport authority to become a low-cost airport for their airline partners.

First speaker Lois Kramer set the context for the need for revenue development from a big picture perspective. She laid out market factors that impacted airports in the past and those factors that will continue to challenge airports such as airline bankruptcies and mergers, technology, and the shortening of airline use and lease agreements. As many of the airport revenue sources are passenger dependent and there is future risk of insufficient trust funds, she believes future revenue opportunities exist at the boundaries of shared responsibility.

Lysa Scully of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey presented their revenue strategy from non-traditional aviation operations: new concession programs that allow passengers the ease of ordering food right from the gate area, premium reserved parking, digital signage advertising, and new customer services that have a revenue component.

Hans Miller then presented mobile opportunities designed to interact with airport revenue generation such as pre-order dining, car service, express security, premium parking and last-minute hotel.

Bourgon opened the session with a discussion on the importance of self-tagging and how it is necessary for airports to change the way they think about their check-in model so that it includes the capacity to self-tag.

Self-tagging offers the possibility to speed-up the drop-off process and facilitates less interaction time with agents, thus increasing passenger flow. Among the short term goals that the ACI-NA Working Group on Passenger Self-Tagging has been working on include the preparation of a joint ACI/IATA/ATA Self-Tagging and Common Bag Drop Implementation Guide and gaining official commitments from the TSA. Long-term goals for this group are focused on keeping the airport industry informed of the self-tagging/common bag drop.

Barich then updated the seminar attendees on the current uses of self-tagging at airport in New Zealand, Toronto, Amsterdam, Montreal, and Geneva, as well as outlining some concerns the industry still has over security and the type of services provided.  He also provided an update on the ACRP 10-07 Decision Making Tools which are designed to understand the passenger self-tagging process, learn the various means and methods used and being tested, conduct an objective analysis of the impacts and benefits of passenger self-tagging, obtain information to help make a business case much more valuable and quantitative, and help produce concrete results regarding the planning for self-tagging. This ACRP project is completed and currently in the editing phases.  Look for the final report early next year.

Finally, VanGerpen detailed how self-tagging could increase his SEA-TAC’s throughput without inducing a major capital investment through a confluence of ideas.

If your lunch period is free on Saturday, you won’t want to miss a report out from the authors of ACRP Report 30: Reference Guide on Understanding Common Use at Airports.

Report 30 is reference guide and tool set that can assist airports and airlines exploring the possibility of, and evaluating the appropriateness of integrating “common use” in their operations.  Spanning all aspects of “common use,” the report is useful to those responsible for planning, operations, facilities management, information technology, business management, and executive management.  The purpose of this session is to provide an overview presentation and to discuss how to achieve the greatest benefit from the information contained in the report.  The authors of Report 30 will walk through various scenarios, using the information contained in the guide and tools.  Ample time will be provided for questions and follow on discussions.

So grab your box lunch and find room 406, the same room the BIT Committee’s pre-conference seminar will be taking place in, for a “can’t miss” discussion.

Posted on 04/30/2010 on CAK Blog Port

I had the pleasure of speaking on a panel with Benet Wilson, Biz Aviation editor at Aviation Week (and oh so much more) and Morgan Johnson, social media guru at jetBlue Airlines at the ACI-NA Technology Conference in Orlando this past Wednesday.

Now, I’ve been on what seem like a gazillion social media panels since we started blogging, tweeting, FBing, Flickring and YouTubing but this ranks as one of my all time favorites. Benet is an uber-social, super cool journalist who is clearly on top of all things aviation. Morgan shared some very cool examples of how they have used social media to help solve customer problems and to respond to a crisis (like that big snow storm around Valentine’s Day 2007- poor dears).

What was even cooler was that the IT managers in the audience were very engaged in the topic and genuinely interested in supporting their respective airports marketing and communications departments get more involved in social media. Sometimes IT and Marketing don’t see eye-to-eye on issues like access to social networking sites and legal issues. This group, however, really seemed to get it.

I learned a couple of things too:

Social media isn’t a perfect fit for every company, airport or outfit

1. Airlines with massive followers and fans cannot possibly be expected to answer every call for help immediately but they can get a team assembled to address most issues quickly and effectively.
2. Benet is even cooler than I thought originally…and that’s saying a lot…because I’ve always held her in high esteem. Follow her tweets @AvWeekBenet, if you are an aviation fanatic like me.

Disney World is renowned for its ability to evoke fantasy and wonder in the young and old alike.

But according to Meg Crofton, president of the Walt Disney World Resort, the magic begins when travelers enter the airport.

“Your business and mine are closely linked,” Crofton said in an April 27 keynote presentation at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin, the setting for the 2010 ACI-NA joint conference of the Business Information Technology Committee, Operations and Technical Affairs Committee and the Public Safety and Security Committee.

Crofton said one the reasons Walt Disney chose Orlando for the park was the lure of the McCoy Air Force Base—now the Orlando International Airport—which had the promise of becoming a major gateway.

Crofton offered valuable insight into Disney’s exceptional treatment of their guests, which could certainly apply to airports.

To create “memories that last a lifetime” staff—or “cast members,” as they are referred to—go above and beyond with customer service and attention to detail. It is part of Disney’s value chain, where great leadership leads to excellent customer service, resulting in guest satisfaction and, thus, growth and profitability.

Crofton said Disney does it with the license to dream and encouragement of like-minded individuals.

Quoting Walt Disney, she said: “You can dream, create, design and build the most wonderful place in the world…but it requires people to make the dream a reality.”

These Millennials are the offspring of the Baby Boomers, and are expected to soon outnumber the Generation X-ers and the Baby Boomers. These customers are tech-savvy and are hungry for technology-related convenience. Ticketing kiosks, electronic bag tags, e-boarding passes, and electronic check-in are just a few of the many ways Boggus recommends airports can keep up with the Millennials’ needs. With all the extra space offered up by these transitions to advanced technology, airports can expand their services in other areas (e.g. bag drops, concessions, etc.). It’s a win-win situation.

Airports are changing because consumers are changing. Proof that airports are, and always will be, devoted to improving the customer service experience.

Kudos to the BIT Committee for getting these great speakers!
-Vicky Houghton, Sr. Mgr. Communications & Marketing