The Airport is BrokenI love traveling but I hate going to the airport
I love traveling but I hate going to the airport
Here is what is wrong with airports:
Date: May 11th, 2016 — Coming home from my first year of college! (happy as can be)
I really really like to travel, but the current state of airports makes it so so annoying. And yes, this is a first world problem — but its an observation of friction — an industry that needs to change. Preferably sooner rather than later.
The hard part about this industry is the fine balance between safety and speed.
One one hand, there are people who want to zip through the airport, without talking to humans, and merely get from point to point.
But on the other hand, everyone wants to be safe. And so, the question comes up…What is the balance between speed and safety? Is there a world where a faster system could actually be more safe?
Well, for whoever is planning on building this innovative solution…I’ve got some ‘areas of improvement’ for you.
Here are some problems with airports
#1 Automation is Taking Forever!
There is this weird dynamic of automation and human interaction that is put together for your ‘enjoyable’ travel experience. And it starts with check-in. Kinda.
Today I stood in line for 25 minutes only to be told, once I got to the front, that I needed to use this check-in kiosk.
Thanks.
And once I got to the kiosk…it didn’t work…so they sent me back to the counter so a real live human could help me out.
But I believe in a world where automation is the future of the “check-in” process. There is no reason to still have our flimsy boarding passes printed out every single time we board a plane. Let’s make this quicker!
#2 Incentive Problem in Security
No one likes standing in line for long periods of time. Everyone is in a rush to get in and out of the security wait.
But slow down for a second…doesn’t that take away from the overall goal of security.
If we are going to just run through the lines without properly identifying individuals and making sure everyone is safe…why even have a security line? It would be faster to just let everyone go through at once.
That weird balance between security and speed…TSA thinks…is being saved by TSA Pre-Check.
And the deal is pretty damn nice — keep your shoes on and cut the line! Every 4th graders dream.
But that cannot continue to work unless they continue to raise the prices. Their brilliant form of price-discrimination (actually a good idea) is not a long term solution.
How can they keep it safe while making the process better?
I’d like to know that answer…there has to be one, right?!
Rushing to nowhere
Then after getting through security we are all in a rush to go sit down again. And then we wait to go sit down, this time on our crowded airplane. Does that not seem weird?
Someone should do something about this 🙂
ps:
come on
Woah. You read the whole thing! Thank you so much. I’d really appreciate if you shared this with a friend!
Let’s continue this conversation
twitter — @itsjordangonen
email — jordangonen@wustl.edu
By jordangonen on May 16, 2016.
Exported from Medium on February 17, 2018.