Airline Safety — Canary in the Coal Mine

An open letter to the airline industry:

If passenger safety is really the priority for commercial airlines, then the recent battery issues with the Galaxy Note 7 should be a wakeup call.

Consumer technology is getting more complex, not less. Paradoxically, a quick look at Indiegogo.com affirms that launching a new consumer technology product has become almost as simple as opening a lemonade stand. Is it unreasonable to expect that another resource-laden technology organization or crowd-funded tech startup will have a similar issue with batteries catching fire? Yet, with this increasing risk, airlines have done little more than shift the burden to individual passengers with warning messages during online check-in and gate agent announcements during boarding. Exacerbating the risk, on some airlines passengers are encouraged to gate-check their luggage, which not only allows for avoiding the checked-bag fee, but also allows for avoiding the more rigorous TSA screening of bags that are checked before passing through the security checkpoint. All it takes is one lithium battery to be inadvertently left in a gate-checked bag to cause a catastrophic fire.

I believe the airlines could and should take proactive steps to better mitigate this risk — beyond relying on individual passengers’ attention, knowledge, and diligence. While the Note 7 issue is a catalyst for making some much needed changes, the results can also serve to enhance the overall consumer experience if approached with an eye toward human-centered design/innovation. Ultimately, meaningful changes would include incentives to check bags rather than carry them on, e.g., in-flight vouchers, points/miles, charitable donations, combined with disincentives for “unreasonable” carry-ons, e.g., strict adherence to size limits, elimination of gate checking (excluding strollers and car seats).

I realize that most change, even when it ultimately improves overall value/experience, is initially perceived negatively — no one likes change — but the Note 7 issue provides great “PR cover” from which to pivot from the status quo.