Technology has played a very
significant role in the transport industry in different ways. It has made work
easier and more efficient more sore in the air transport industry. It has been
of very great impact in the different forms of transport. This includes the air,
water and land transport. Water transport is another important form of transport
for both people and goods. In most cases, bulky cargo is transported using large
transport vessels. Solar technology is used to help navigate through the water
bodies by helping in the power provision. Some solar powered boats functions as
libraries and classrooms to those in islands.
Road transport is one of the most common ways of transport compared to the other
transport means. Technologies such as the black box can help in record any
situation that occurs in the vehicle in which it has been installed. It again
records it. This helps in the tracking of the vehicles as the technology also
has a GPS installed on it.
Communication Technology in Air Transportation
The air transport sector now operates highly in the use of technology more than
ever. Many systems have been put in the air transport devices to help the body
fly effectively. Booking of air lines have been made easier. Automated passport
kiosks have again enabled easier access of air lines. Communication has been
enhanced in most airplanes due to the increased improvement of technology.
Pilots and co- pilots can now communicate effectively with the administrators at
respective control rooms. Networking has enabled it easier for the pilot or any
cock pit staff to effectively communicate to anyone at the plane at any given
point.
In the booking of airline tickets, almost all airline companies have an online
way of booking. Technology has made it easier for the airline companies to
design their websites where any form of communication can be done. A passenger
does not necessarily have to be at the airline physically so as to book his or
her ticket.
In the booking of seats, the online booking system prompts the passenger to
enter his or her personal details that helps the system to carefully allocate
the passenger a suitable seat.it is not advisable for some people to sit next to
the emergency exits or next to windows. The booking system therefore helps in
selecting a suitable space for such individuals. Once a seat has been booked by
a passenger, the same seat cannot be booked by a different passenger until the
destination is reached. This is through the help of the booking technology that
has helped network all the airlines in all the country so as to enable this
functionality. This helps avoid collision of passengers in the seats.
AV Tech’s Alt Alert is a type of technology that was launched in 2004. The
technology is a kind of personal altitude pressurization monitors which lighter
in weight than most cell phones and also smaller in size than most cell phones.
The technology helps in aircrafts in mounting against the instrument panel. It
also has a clip that attaches it to a visor. Technology has also helped pilots
in terms of controlling the air crafts. Before the enhancement of the
technology, pilots used to operate almost all the controls as the air crafts are
on board. However, since the introduction of the autopilot system in most air
crafts, piloting has become more relaxing to the pilots.in most cases the pilots
are needed only during the departure and the arrival of the air craft.
The autopilot system allows the pilot to configure the bearing of the
destination in which the air craft is expected to be over a given period of
time. Once the pilot has set the configurations, he or she can comfortably sleep
or do another thing without worrying since the autopilot system controls the
whole thing. This helps mostly when the weather is not conducive. New systems
known as the auto flight systems have evolved from the basic pilot function.
This function includes the wing leveling to more sophisticate three axis auto
pilot and coupled approached functionality. As a result, full authority digital
engine controllers emerged suddenly. Statistics show that a majority of the air
crashes have occurred due to pilot error. Using a combination of image& seat
pressure sensors, algorithms that analyze the posture and visual appearance of
the pilot’s face and eye blinking rate, it is possible to detect if he is under
a medical stress or fatigue and alert him or the co-pilot and the ground control
appropriately.
Once someone is sleeping on a bed, the airline can be configured such that it
produces a certain kind of alarm to the person. Assume a pilot is tired and
takes a rest, he or she can set the alarm in the plane to wake him up some few
minutes before he starts preparing for his landing. This helps in controlling
the time. In the plane, it is easier to know the time and temperature of the
place. This is through the electronic thermometers that have been set in the
plane as well as a well programmed system that displays the details. This helps
in determining the kind of clothing that one should be prepared with during the
travelling.
Aircraft cock pit illumination is one of the very important piece of equipment
which creates the ambience passengers look for during their journey. Cock pit
illumination comprises of ceiling wash lights, dome lights, seat lights, window
lights and stairways. Today, the technology has helped in controlling the lights
just through some buttons. Through the improvement of technologies, pilots can
simply get assistance from a different control room since most of the airlines
have been networked to view each other. It is therefore easier for a pilot in a
cock pit to view almost all control rooms by looking at the radar which helps in
directing the plane.
The problem of large fuel consumption by most aircrafts has always been a
challenge. Fuel is always the largest component. Currently, it costs up to about
thirty percent of the total expense in airlines. According to Boeing, one of the
largest aircraft manufacturers, advanced aircraft technology provides a
reduction in the fuel by double the digit percentage. The technologies that use
fuel in aircrafts has reduced the noise by around thirsty percent. This has
rather increased the revenue of the industry as well as increasing the profit
made in a flight compared to how it would have cost if the expenses will have
been the same as in airlines without the technology.
The operations that are usually carried out by the workers have been reduced by
most systems. For example, engineering and in-flight operations that would have
taken much time have been now improved. This has been done considerably by
adapting the use of innovative technology solutions. Monitoring of airplanes has
been made easier by the introduction of digital maps that are connected to the
aero planes (Belobaba, Odoni, Barnhart, & John Wiley & Sons, 2017). These
airplanes have fixed devices that through networking have been fixed to the
maps. This helps in monitoring the movement of an aero plane. It can help detect
a problem if the plane gets stagnant.
Air travel volume is increasing exponentially and so is the demand for more
aircrafts. With increasing fuel costs, aircraft manufacturers and airlines are
equipping their cock pits with new and better features for safety, comfort and
ambience and are also adopting modern technologies to remain competitive at an
affordable cost. The use of technology has also helped in viewing of the
different parts of the aero plane. Most CCTV cameras have been placed in
strategic positions so as to assist in the viewing of the aero plane areas by
both the pilot and the security if there be any need. This assists in solving
any technical problem that is detected on the plane.
Another kind of technology is the use of various CPUs so as to help in
navigating through the whole journey. Multi-core CPUs – The current IMA systems
have been designed to work with single core processors (International Conference
on Sustainable Design and Construction, Chong, Hermreck, Construction Institute,
& University of Kansas, 2012). Through this it is easy to see what every control
is doing at the same time using the several screens that have also been set on
the plane at the cock pit This helps pilots and the co-pilots to help each other
in case there is a misunderstanding. They can as well use the screen to view
what is going through the plane.
Cockpit door and passenger cabins are being equipped with cameras and the pilots
and the cabin crew will be able to monitor all areas of the aircraft using
display devices. The videos can as well be transmitted to equipment outside the
aircraft when the aircraft is on the ground, to analyze and archive the video
footage. Finger print recognition as a technology in the cockpit has also been
considered to ensure that no one other than the pilot takes control of the
aircraft. With face recognition and tracking systems maturing, continuous
monitoring of the pilot position is possible to sound an alert if anyone else
occupies the pilot seat during flight.
Highly sophisticated systems such as for tracking passenger movement, passenger
authentication and identity protection are also being designed. However, it will
need a higher level of systems maturity to implement such systems. This helps in
the access of authorized persons in the different parts of the aero planes only.
Generally the improvement of aero plane technologies helps in reducing the cost
in terms of keeping the aero planes much longer in the air. Technology has then
improved the security of the plane making it to be like a more sure and
convenient way of transportation comparing it to the other ways.
Most airline operators use the internet technology among them in the exchange of
innovative mechanisms as well as transaction structures with the customers that
use the airline company. This increases the expectation of customers as to what
and how the airlines offer their services (Wojahn, 2012). Air lines keep their
aero planes in the air longer with less time spent on the ground. This is an
impact of the technology that helps keeping the information of the status and
performance of individual parts. This also allows the staff maintenance to help
see how the components are operating without.
Cargo and large amount of goods, have been improved and baggage handling. This
is done through the help of location transmitters that are capable of
broadcasting its where about. Technology also allows different transport
impressions as well as flexibility and the creative content which can be updated
any time.
Cloud Computing Technology Application in Air Transportation
Cloud computing has also helped in helping the air lines with virtual resources
that would have taken a large space in the various aero planes. Cloud based
information technology models have suddenly become the most suitable for the
aero planes since it allows it be more flexible to when used. The entertainment
in an aero plane has greatly been improved by the introduction of the different
types of technologies in the aero planes. In flights most passengers can now get
the entertainment from their own electronic gadgets. This makes the customers
more comfortable when travelling.
Business tablet has also arisen as a new technology. Some air lines are already
applying the technology. They are doing this through their flight crews so as to
reduce the paper work that they have to generate. They also receive the details
of passengers in a more effective way.
In communication with passengers, air lines have changed their communication.
Mobile devices have altered how the airlines communicate to their passengers.
The usage of smart phones, wearable devices and iPad has allowed airlines to
provide information effectively on the changes made if there be. In terms of
advertisement, technology has become one of the most effective and the most
influential way of advertising airline service. This has been enabled through
such services as using the websites, creating mobile applications that make the
work of booking easier for the customers.
Through the internet, pilots have been able always to check a solution of any
problem if there be any in the plane. Search engines such as Google have made
this easy. In case of an emergency, the technology in the plane is simple in
that a pilot can simply press on a button just to make an alert to the
passengers.
Some machines produce a lot of heat as well as polluting the air in the areolae,
this has made it not suitable to use several machines. In the case of a power
surge, or a tamper in the network, most technologies will be non-effective, such
as the mobile phones in the aero planes that are regularly used.
When constructing aviation facilities, huge investments are made. This includes
setting up electronic devices that technically help in the operations in the
aviation facility. This creates employment to the highly qualified personalities
hence a positive impact in the economy of the country. Technology has made it
easier to know the whereabouts of the cabin staff. This is because all the
details pertaining the staff and where they need to be at specific times have
been computerized. It is therefore easier to know whom to refer to incase of any
issue in the actual aero plane.
Technology has helped in keeping the records in an aviation facility. These
records include the departure time and the arrival time of different aero
planes. They also include the staff that are needed to go with a given kind of
an aero plane, when and the respective destinations of the journey. Due to air
traffic control or the fail of technological equipment, a delay can arise.
Nowadays, the technology around helps avoid this kind of technicality by
providing a melancholic way of handling the situation. Technology has now helped
control the traffic around air lines.
Technological devices produce noise that pollutes the air. Different air crafts
have tended to attract different concerns as they require different thrust force
during their take of hence creating a proportionate noises that are differently
produces unless the noise is treated immediately it is produced.
Online mapping is the process of using maps delivered by geographic information
systems (GIS). The technique of online mapping in the transport industry makes
planning of all aspects of a delivery to be a simple process (Taneja, 2017).
This ensures the highest level of customers’ satisfaction. It has always been a
big challenge to keep track of the flow of passengers. Using aggregated
geo-location data, airport operators can no keep an eye on these passengers’
flows and advanced operation procedures. The airports staff can as well give the
customers exact queuing times.
The use of sensor technology is becoming very common in our day-to-day use.
Proximity and sensing helps detect objects that are near the airplane. This
helps the pilot and other cabin crews to be aware of any kind of risk if
expected and how they can overcome it prior to its event of action. Batteries
are some of the little black boxes of chemistry. When the batteries fail, it is
usually hard to detect if the batteries have failed. Scientists have now
embedded them with special sensors. These sensors are known as fiber optic
sensors which have internal data which can help pinpoint a problem if it occurs
in a battery.
Through technology, the emergence of a decision support system has erupted. This
decision support systems includes the alerting systems, planning system as well
as guiding systems. The evolution of the alert systems is from the basic vehicle
state monitoring eg fuel, temperature and stall warming. Data bus is one of the
trending information technologies in the air transport industry. The
technologies allow multiple usages of data by multiple elements in the
information architecture. This enables a degree of functional interaction as
well as coordination between the infeasible components in analogue information
transmission systems.
The data bus technology has both physical elements and interface standards.
These standards help maintain the usage of data in the various kinds of elements
without any alteration. This is according to (Salvey, 2015) his documented work
that he stated how this data bus operates. As a result of the technology
introduction in the transport system, most employees have lost their job
opportunities. This is because the work or task that the employee was to do has
been replaced by the new computerized machines which do it even more effective
and without any form of tiredness or an inconvenience. The introduction of
technology has also increased the cost of production of the new aero planes.
This is because new systems and software products have to be developed by the
individuals whom have been given the task to make the specific kind or type of
an aero plane to be used in an airline.
Conclusion
With several new aircraft programs being launched and a growing fleet of ageing
aircrafts requiring retrofits. Technology therefore has had a significant role
in improving the affordability, capability as well as the safety of the
different forms of the current transportation system. Technology therefore has
both positive and negative impacts in the transport industry. It still plays a
major role in the transport industry. The importance of technology to the
airline industry as the ultimate form of transportation cannot be
overemphasized.
There is total dependence on technology from the radar transmission to the
operation of the aircrafts from the cockpit. Pilots apply computerized operation
to detect and rectify problems arising when airborne. Faulty flights can be
landed safely as the computerized systems running the flights can be backed up
remotely from surface stations. The future looks bright whereby the operations
of flight might not require the physical participation of the pilot and instead,
they be present to monitor the operations by the automated systems.
References
Belobaba, P., Odoni, A. R., Barnhart, C., & John Wiley & Sons. (2017). The
global airline industry. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.
International Conference on Sustainable Design and Construction, Chong, W. K.,
Hermreck, C., Construction Institute, & University of Kansas. (2012). ICSDC
2011: Integrating sustainability practices in the construction industry :
proceedings of the 2011 International Conference on Sustainable Design and
Construction, March 23-25, 2011, Kansas City, Missouri. Reston, VA: American
Society of Civil Engineers.
Salvey, C. (2015). Transport, Technology, and Trust. Transport in British
Fiction, 151-166. doi:10.1057/9781137499042_10
Taneja, N. K. (2017). Driving Airline Business Strategies through Emerging
Technology.
Wojahn, O. W. (2012). Why does the airline industry over-invest? Journal of Air
Transport Management, 19, 1-8. doi:10.1016/j.jairtraman.2011.11.002