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Jan 24 2017

Airport/airline live streaming: time to try? (PAXwise #4)

PassengerWise Issue #4

As of 2017, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram all allow users to live stream video content. It’s simple: Open the app, click stream and you’re connected with your followers. Each are notified that you’re live and will see and hear whatever you point your phone at. If you’re an airport or airline with hundreds, thousands or even hundreds of thousands of followers, there’s no better way to put your brand in front of customers (and fans) in such a raw and personal way.

Take LAX for example. They are a frequent streamer on Instagram. Their ops team live streams from the airfield and hundreds of followers tap to watch and interact with the airport. It’s not a planned and edited video either. It’s simply the team, out on the airfield, doing what they do and giving followers a glimpse at how a large international airport runs. The footage is often shaky and it’ll occasionally drop out, but the fans don’t care. They watch to get a different perspective on the airport. Sure, you can achieve that partly with a recorded and edited video, but it's the live factor that adds an element of truth.
 

Or Vancouver Airport. Last week they turned to Facebook to livestream to launch their ‘Flight Plan 2037’ roadmap for the airport’s future. They then took questions for the CEO through social media.

So what should you do if you want to trial live streaming?

  • Stream something that you do everyday. What you think is boring might be interesting to your customers. Think about who your current followers are. Is it the community? Travellers? Aviation fans? The media? What might interest them.
  • Make sure you’ve got a reliable phone or WiFi connection in the location you’ll stream. 
  • Everything is proportionate to the follower base you already have so don’t be dissuaded if just a few followers tune in to begin with. 
  • Don’t make your first live stream an announcement where a stage or audience is involved. For that'll you want to interface with professional AV gear. Instead, do a one to one video in a quiet room with the CEO or person responsible. It’ll be cleaner and viewers will appreciate the one-to-one nature.
  • Be aware of any privacy laws that apply if you're showing people. 
  • Check out the streaming guides for each of the networks: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram.

Enjoy the rest of this issue.


Cheers,
Michael Meloni
+61 410 223 843
michael@passengerwise.com
http://www.passengerwise.com

Which top 20 US airport has the fastest public WiFi?

Ookla (or speedtest.net), which you've probably used to test the speed of your internet connection at home, has a lot of data on people's internet speeds. Including airports. They've examined their data for the top 20 airports in the USA to see which has the fastest WiFi speeds. You can see the full results here.

The fastest:
Denver (DEN): 61.74 Mbps average download speed. Philidelphia (PHL) is second.

The slowest:
Hartfield-Jackson Atlanta (ATL): 2.71 Mbps average download speed. Orlando (MCO) is not far behind. 

BNE is helping you get a little fitter while you wait

But most importantly, charge your phone while doing it. Nice to see Brisbane Airport.

Web round up
KLM Airlines: 5 lessons learned using design sprints to prototype the airport experience

KLM Airlines: 5 lessons learned using design sprints to prototype the airport experience

An in-depth look at how KLM accelerated innovation and the creation of a new department called X-Gates at Schiphol. I wonder if they work out of a basement?
Why mobile boarding passes are ripe for a PaxEx-friendly redesign

Why mobile boarding passes are ripe for a PaxEx-friendly redesign

John Walton at RGN takes a look at what can be done to improve the design of mobile boarding passes. 
LG made some cool robots for airports

LG made some cool robots for airports

One can lead a customer to their boarding gate after they feed it their boarding pass. The other cleans. However, they remind me of airport holograms: loved by marketing teams, loathed by passengers. They just aren't all that practical. You need a lot of robots to have an impact and there's better ways to achieve the same result.
How's this for a personalised touch from Cathay Pacific

How's this for a personalised touch from Cathay Pacific

Marco Polo Club members will receive a personalised work of contemporary Chinese art via email on their birthday, inspired by their own travels with Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon over the past year.

Holistic design extends airline branding beyond the cabin

There's a chance you will spend just as much time preparing and waiting for a flight as you will actually flying. Hence the importance of a consistent brand experience not only on the ground and in the cabin, but also digital channels before and after. 

Designing passenger experience around an age of digital disruption

The five key qualities of an airline that is ready to embrace the digital age.

TheDesignAir 2016 award winners

TheDesignAir announces the winners of the best airline product launches of 2016.

Changi T4: Building the airport terminal of the future

Insight into the vision behind Changi Airport's T4 build from their PMO VP. Naturally, like the rest of Changi Airport, creating a 'destination on its own' was key.

The war of the data​: airlines vs airports

Sharing data between airports and airlines: Utopia?

Australian Government wants to radically overhaul Australia's international airports

Passengers would be 'whisked through immigration and customs without stopping or encountering humans'. Which is kind of exactly what it's like for Australian and NZ travellers right now. The difference this time around is there'll be no incoming passenger cards to complete or passports to show. Providing the machines recognise you of course. The scope is a little loose at the moment because the government is open to ideas and innovations to make travelling easier.

Shortlist revealed for The Moodie Davitt social & digital media awards

The shortlist for this year's Moodie Davitt Digital Awards, the airport-specific digital, mobile and social media awards, has been announced across 19 categories.

What If Airlines Measured Revenue Like Traditional Retailers?

Nearly every brick-and-mortar retailer measures sales the same way — by determining how much revenue they earn from each square foot of store space. By that measure, Apple stores are often considered the world’s most effective use of commericial real estate.  But airlines have a more byzantine approach for testing revenue. In the United States, they …

Mistaking a tiger for a kangaroo

There's nothing unusual about this Facebook post from Qantas, until their fans noticed it's a Tigerair aircraft. A constant reminder that on social media even the smallest mistake gets noticed.

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The PassengerWise newsletter is curated by Michael Meloni. You can learn more about Michael at http://www.passengerwise.com/about/ or contact him at michael@passengerwise.com

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