SWISS to adopt AI-based flight passenger counts

By the end of 2024, Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) plans to implement a new artificial intelligence-based process for counting passengers as they board the aircraft. Manual passenger counts on board should become obsolete as soon as the new AI-based process is implemented.

Berlin-based startup Vion AI GmbH won the tender process to find a corresponding IT partner for the new procedure. For short-haul services, the new AI-based passenger counting process should be implemented in the third quarter of 2024; for long-haul flights, it should happen in the fourth quarter of 2024.

In the spring of this year, SWISS decided to implement the new AI-based passenger count process after three months of testing. Video footage of the boarding procedure in a variety of aircraft types and conditions was recorded for the trials. These recordings were used to create the first iteration of the new software needed, which was subsequently utilised to use artificial intelligence (AI) to count passengers during boarding. It successfully completed the trials by doing so consistently.

The software that is being tested over the next few months will now be further developed and improved by Vion AI and SWISS. On some flights, this work will also involve the reintroduction of camera use during boarding. For the affected flights, crew members will still manually count additional passengers.