Airport Experience® News - ACDBE & Small Business Issue 2024

BEFORE YOU TAKE OFF

FINDING LOST TREASURES Aided By AI, Lost Items Are Reconnected With Travelers At DFW

BY SARAH BELING

well as photos, if available) about the missing item. Once a customer reports an item missing, DFW and Hallmark’s AI-driven image recognition system automatically identifies all similar found items, including their color, and location found. DFW staff members then sort through potential matches and reach out to the customer to finalize the match. Once the match is final, the customer is given the option of an in-person pick-up or to have the item shipped to their home address. Carmen Carson, general manager for lost and found at Hallmark Aviation Services, believes that “the integration of the lost and found Software at DFW International Airport has revolutionized our ability to reconnect owners with their lost property while simultaneously providing an exceptional customer experience,” she said. Unlike more analog lost and found programs, Hallmark’s marriage of AI-powered identification software and human-powered troubleshooting “offers an amazing customer experience tool that allows guest in real time to be in control of their lost property reporting and restoration preferences,” adds Kenneth Pierce, senior vice president at Hallmark Aviation Services. Returning items lost in travel - which have ranged from high-end jewels and watches to wedding dresses, stuffed animals, blankets and personal documents - is a fulfilling aspect of the job for the DFW team, adds Buchanan. “The lost and found team recognizes the value of every item found and is committed to reuniting all items found to their rightful owners,” he says. Implementing new and cutting-edge technology to improve their customer-facing systems is something the DFW team makes a priority, he adds, noting that “DFW Airport is a global leader in innovation and continues to explore, pilot and implement the newest technology available to elevate the customer experience and enhance operational excellence.”

o lose something at the airport once meant losing it permanently, but the lost and found process has

Above: DFW uses AI technology to reunite travelers with their belongings, but the effort still requires a human touch.

T

gotten significantly less painful and more accurate, thanks to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW)’s innovative identification technology. Five years ago, DFW partnered with airport technology firm Hallmark Aviation Services in 2018 to design an artificial intelligence-aided platform built to more accurately identify and match lost items with the correct passenger. Since implementation in December 2019, the system has returned more than 35,000 items to customers, says Ken Buchanan, executive vice president of customer experience and revenue management at DFW. The multi-step system relies on both human and AI technology: first, DFW’s lost and found team performs daily sweeps of the airport’s property, including the terminals and rental car center. Passengers, meanwhile, are able to use DFW’s online system to file a report as soon as they realize they’ve lost something, using prompts to add in identifying details (as

44

AX NEWS JULY/AUGUST 2024