William Gallagher
Apple and United Airlines are reportedly planning to upgrade the latter's airport terminal. The airline revealed the news but said it was being "deliberately vague" about Apple's aims.
According to Bloomberg, Apple is looking to upgrade United Airlines' terminal at San Francisco International airport. It's been revealed that United is in early discussions with the company, but there is no indication of what either firm wants to achieve.
"The Apple team in San Francisco has been in our baggage hold areas, customer service and the lobbies," Linda Jojo, executive vice president of technolgy at United Airlines told Bloomberg at a company media day in Chicago.
"I'm being deliberately vague [ on details]", she said.
United is based in Chicago and has been holding a two-day media event to announce a range of initiatives. These include increased routes and flight numbers, plus unspecified revisions to how the airline handles queuing and gate-checked bags.
The airline operates out of SFO's Terminal 3 East, which it previously modernized in 2014 with a revamped boarding area and a yoga room.
United recently revealed that Apple spends $150 million per year on flights with the airline, with the most-used destination being Shanghai.
Marko Zivkovic
Christine McKee
Andrew Orr
Malcolm Owen
Amber Neely
25 Comments
Get ready for the autonomous electric Apple Jet.
https://mobile.twitter.com/lilium/status/1186287521505918977
Apple Tags so we can track our bags through their system in real time, from the time it loads into the plane, then gets unloaded, sorted and put into baggage claim.
It's probably a new WiFi protocol to improve security. No, it's a super secret underground autonomous Apple Shuttle for higher level employees who don't rate a spot on the Apple private jet.
Access through hidden passages in four different stalls in public restrooms, it'll take them to a dedicated TSA station if needed and then onto a private pre-bording ramp, ahead of all other passengers, including the 27 relatives pre-boarding with one person in a wheel chair.
I'll bet Apple is looking to do some innovative tracking of luggage and travellers with their U1 chip, tags, iBeacon, et cetera.
Indeed it's most likely the new Apple Tag deployment, but it could also be the first Apple Store inside an Airport Terminal. And I think it's the latter.