Artificial intelligence to be deployed airside at Seattle-Tacoma

Despite the current COVID-19 crisis, the Port of Seattle has initiated a project for the implementation of a surface area management system that includes artificial intelligence: Assaia’s Turnaround AI Solution.

The aim of the project is to improve efficiencies in taxing of aircraft, gate allocation and turnaround activities at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA).

Tim Toerber, Airline Resource and Scheduling Manager at SEA, said: “Video analytics is crucial in providing full visibility over turnaround activities as well as improving safety for airside operations. It’s 24/7 automatic monitoring and reporting capability will help the airport, airlines, air traffic managers and ground handlers to better understand safety-related issues and thus reduce the number of incidents on airside.”

The artificial intelligence system is scheduled to be rolled out to 85 aircraft stands at SEA in the first quarter of 2021.

Max Diez, Chief Executive Officer at Assaia, said: “Seattle-Tacoma is the fastest growing airport in North America and operates inside a very constrained apron footprint, which makes it an especially compelling customer.”

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport has seen tremendous growth in recent years and handled 52 million passengers in 2019 with 450,000 aircraft movements. Alaska Airlines, Delta Airlines and Southwest Airlines are the largest operators at the airport.