Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) will trial the use of artificial intelligence to count passengers.
The three-month test will see SWISS utilise an external partner to conduct passenger counts during boarding on selected flights between April and June 2023.
With the digitisation of the process, the airline intends to improve security and ease the workload on cabin crew.
To carry out the test, SWISS will temporarily install cameras in cabins to record travellers and determine their total numbers as they embark in the aircraft door area.
Among other things, the technology will need to tell whether a passenger is carrying an infant and must reliably operate in any conditions, such as in challenging light.
And in case you’re worried flights might depart without passengers on account of something going awry, cabin crew will continue to conduct a manual passenger count (at least during the trial period).
SWISS says it will focus on data security and data protection during the trial, complying with Europe’s and Switzerland’s strict data protection laws.
To this end, the carrier will only use recordings to train the AI application for the boarding process and delete files straight afterwards. No passengers will be identified and only visuals will be recorded. That means, no audio.
The airline will also advise passengers of the trial before embarkation.
SWISS will analyse data throughout the trial to help improve the AI’s reliability, and after the trial concludes, decide upon the next step including a possible introduction of the process.
Last month, the carrier revealed its new ‘SWISS Senses’ air travel experience, which it will roll out on long-haul aircraft from 2025 onwards.
