Redefine end-to-end passenger experience and business performance

The first air transport innovation network

Redefine end-to-end passenger experience and business performance

The first air transport innovation network

Initiative | Robotics and Artificial Intelligence // November 2021

As a member of the FTE Innovation Center, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG) has accelerated the pace of its innovation and transformation actions to continue to advance its business operations during the COVID-19 pandemic, rather than downsizing. In addition, as Amazon opened a new $1.5 billion air cargo hub on the south side of the airport, CVG has taken another step forward as the fastest-growing cargo airport in the United States. FTE talked with Nashom Marx, CVG's senior manager of strategic innovation, who worked with universities, start-ups, venture capitalists, governments, and large companies to reshape the airport experience and help lead changes in the airport. Prior to his presentation at FTE Global in December this year, Marx shared more about some of the latest technological advancements introduced by the airport, as well as its focus on automation, robotics, advanced air mobility and sustainability.

FTE: "Innovation" is a term we often hear in the industry. What does "innovation" mean to you and your team?

Nashom Marx: At CVG, we have four pillars around innovation: cleanliness, connectivity, safety and transportation. My focus is cleaning and transportation. For our team, innovation mainly revolves around change management, finding solutions outside the industry, and failing fast and forward.

FTE: How do you and your team ensure that airport innovation is not carried out in silos, but in the entire organization?

NM: Our team not only cooperates regularly with our airport employees, but also with our campus partners to ensure that innovation does not isolate. This helps us fulfill our mission of bringing innovation throughout the airport and transforming projects into daily operations over time. An example of this is the use of VTOL in cooperation with the FAA for perimeter and road inspections. We work hand-in-hand with the airport operations team and the planning and facilities team, recognizing that over time, they will become daily contacts.

FTE: What is the impact of COVID-19 on airports? Can you share some examples of technological advancements that CVG has introduced during this period to improve passenger experience and improve operational efficiency?

NM: There is no doubt that COVID-19 has disrupted us, but we are very happy that DHL and Amazon cargo hubs are operating at the airport, which has really helped us to maintain normal operations for the past year and a half. In terms of technology, we have been experimenting with automation. Automation can be daunting, however, by testing various automations, we can ensure that our campus not only finds it useful, but also essential. For example, we tried a variety of autonomous floor cleaning robots. Since then, we have chosen Avidbots as our first choice for AV floor scrubbers because of its efficiency, ease of mapping and cleaning, as well as the dashboard and data mining it provides. Soon after, we partnered with ThorDrive, an autonomous company that specializes in retrofitting existing ground service equipment (GSE). Given our supportive visits and insights operating in the complex airside environment, and gaining traction from interested airlines and ground handling operators, they have been able to accelerate their technology development. We will soon launch two other robotic companies, which are new members of the industry, which will help drive customer service and allow our skilled employees to focus on priority tasks so that the robots can operate ordinary "milking". It should be noted that automation is not meant to replace people's jobs, but can help people take their careers to a new level.

FTE: At the beginning of this year, CVG launched a new five-year strategic plan called New Heights. Can you share more details about this strategy?

NM: After launching our previous strategic plan in 2016, we began to focus on innovation as an organization. We are very clear that for the benefit of CVG and our entire industry, we need to think in a different way. We have a good environment for innovation; we are flexible and able to scale up or down quickly. This brings us into the 2021 New Highland Strategic Plan. One aspect of our focus through this plan is sustainability. DHL and Amazon have ambitious sustainability goals, and we must support them to succeed. Several of our passenger airlines are also concerned about sustainable development, and we are working hard to support them in achieving these goals.

FTE: Which technologies and trends are currently at the top of your watch list, and which technologies and trends do you think have the most potential for the industry?

NM: I can study advanced air traffic, automation, high-speed rail and sustainability all day long. Serving more than 9 million passengers each year (before the pandemic), and our airport park has two major cargo hubs, we must keep up with the needs of tenants and the demand environment of the entire community in a rapidly changing and increasingly multimodal transport environment.

FTE: During the upcoming FTE Global conference, you will give a speech titled "What did CVG learn from its food/baggage delivery robot Gita and the airside autonomous vehicle for luggage?" Can you briefly discuss some key points that you would like to share with our representatives?

NM: Not all automation is created equal. Robots such as Gita are just as useful as fully autonomous or level 5 automation. When I first called Piaggio Fast Forward, the creator of Gita, to learn about their automation capabilities, this was not what I expected. I quickly learned that Gita is designed to help people with mobile needs. It helps people rather than being completely autonomous. Although the Gita team and I are not sure how the airport will use the technology, we both think it is worth a try. We brought four Gitas to the terminal for employees to use to interact with customers and see what they think of them. We quickly saw their usefulness—whether it's carrying carry-on luggage for tired passengers or helping families who need extra help. Let's watch Gita come to help. Currently, employees use Gita to bring clean and untouched tablets to the door for customer interception investigations. This not only helps passengers comfortably touch objects during the pandemic, but it is also a good icebreaker game. We are very happy to see At Your Gate cooperate with Gita in other airports to realize non-contact food and cargo delivery. We hope to see more automation in the United States. The next generation not only aspires to automation; they want this to become the norm. Even this small follower robot may eventually lead to the adoption of self-driving cars and so on.

Learn more about the key experience of Gita deployment in FTE Global's day 2 keynote in Las Vegas from December 7th to 9th. CVG's Naashom Marx will join San Diego International Airport Airport Innovation and Customer Experience Program Manager Gina Jacobs and Vancouver Airport Authority Innovation Vice President and Chief Information Officer Lynette DuJohn, who will have a special focus on digital twins, automation and robotics. Click here to register before November 17 to enjoy the best registration and on-site hotel prices. 

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