Swiss counts passengers with AI support

In the period from April to June 2023, the airline Swiss is testing the counting of passengers with the help of artificial intelligence. The company emphasized in a media statement that it would comply with data protection regulations.

Swiss International Air Lines and an external partner are planning to carry out passenger counting using artificial intelligence (AI) during a three-month test phase. The purpose of digitizing this process is to increase safety while at the same time relieving the cabin crew. From April onwards, a camera will be installed in the cabin during boarding on selected SWISS flights from Zurich to record the boarding of passengers and their total number.

The recordings are used to train the AI ​​for the boarding process. This must be able to recognize, for example, when a person is carrying a child in their arms and must function properly even in difficult lighting conditions. The findings are continuously analyzed in order to continuously increase reliability. Since this is a test phase, the cabin crew carries out a regular, manual passenger count during boarding as usual.