Getting Disconnected

March 2001

Are you connected?
To borrow from an introductory letter sent to industry, the association’s goal is "to provide recommendations, models, and best practices for the provision of wireless services at airports in a manner that will best meet the needs of passengers, employees and airport tenants." An admirable goal, but a tall order nonetheless.
My take on it is whose technology can do what, will it speak to other technology, and how do we make a buck out of it?
Based on the attendance (300-plus) and sponsors with names like ARINC, Wayport, and Cisco Systems, I get the feeling that:
a) No one is quite sure how all of this is going to roll out (both vendors and airports/airlines); and,
b) Everyone smells gold and wants to get their fair share.
The reality of the marketplace is that no one has yet built a model of technology and business that makes economic sense. There is promise galore, and just about as many ideas for tying all of these technologies together.
But to make this work we need standards that are in place from one location to another. We also need the volume that only a nationwide, or even worldwide, network can provide and make profitable.
Testing by the airlines is showing a few of the many anticipated uses that show promise. For example, at Atlanta, Delta has equipped tugs with receivers to give them real-time assignments for gates and aircraft movement. American Airlines is experimenting with mobile kiosks that can be moved to wherever bottlenecks with check-in are occurring.
Airports also see many benefits and income streams for themselves. However, many are reluctant to gamble and make the huge commitment in terms of infrastructure and dollar investment that’s needed to accommodate the wireless airport.
As Faith Varwig, president of Ross & Baruzzini, put it to me: "Wireless for the end-user certainly does not mean wireless to the airport administration."
The cost to gear up for wireless is significant and airports and/or their partners need to invest to build the infrastructure before, for example, wireless laptop use is as prevalent today as cellular telephones.
It’s the classic chicken and egg dilemma. What business traveler would want to sign up for wireless Internet access only available at one or two airports? Which airport wants to spend a gazillion dollars upgrading its wireless capabilities until there are enough users to break a profit?
I suspect the reality is that the wireless explosion at airports won’t occur yet in 2001, nor will it implode. The Wireless Airport Association has definitely got its work cut out for it, but that’s exactly why it was formed.
The year 2001 is off to a great start, if for nothing else than the fact that the American Association of Airport Executives, Airports Council International, and the Air Transport Association all agreed that collectively they could accomplish more than would be possible individually.
For more information contact the Wireless Airport Association at www.wirelessairport.org.
e Wireless Airport Association has definitely got its work cut out for it, but that’s exactly why it was formed.
The year 2001 is off to a great start, if for nothing else than the fact that the American Association of Airport Executives, Airports Council International, and the Air Transport Association all agreed that collectively they could accomplish more than would be possible individually.
For more information contact the Wireless Airport Association at www.wirelessairport.org.