While walking through CVG, the average traveler might not realize how much work goes on behind the scenes to bring the best products to the airport. For instance, CVG Innovation partnered with Canada-based startup Avidbots to bring an autonomous floor scrubber to the airport. In 2018, CVG collaborated with local start-up Losant to become the first airport to communicate TSA wait times to the public, which more airports have adopted.
Brian Cobb, CVG’s Chief Innovation Officer, is one of many people who is leading the charge for innovation and adaptation at CVG.
“It’s really to position the airport as a forward-thinking airport, and it’s also about change management,” Cobb said. “I think the term innovation means a lot of things to a lot of different individuals. For us, it’s about product placement and it’s about the experience for travelers and employees.”
CVG Innovation focuses on four areas in technology: “security, cleanliness and sanitation, mobility and transportation, and connecting passengers and staff with real-time data.”
A decade ago, CVG decided to be an ombudsman and measure the wait times. “Immediately, our wait times dropped significantly just by simply capturing information and sharing it with TSA and with our airlines,” Cobb said. “Once CVG was comfortable with the wait-time product, we started sharing the information with our customers via a monitor that’s in front of the security checkpoint. We also started displaying the wait times on our website.”
Cobb said seeing those wait times takes the anxiety out of traveling. “We were looking for a situation where we could eliminate the fear of the unknown by sharing an estimated wait time to travelers.”
Automation is a big part of the consumer experience. Pre-pandemic, the airport introduced the floor scrubbers, and then temporarily added a concession bot in which travelers could have food delivered to their gates via a robot.
“Back in 2018, we really started to evaluate labor gaps that we could potentially see in the future,” Cobb said. “Someone has to maintain those robots. Is there an upskilling opportunity for a traditional environmental services employee to start learning about robotics and automation?”
Of course there’s the concern of replacing people with robots, but in the floor scrubber’s case, CVG consulted with their environmental services team and realized it made more sense to use automation. “Why would you block a path? However, if you’ve seen the floor scrubber, it’s running during the day and there are no questions asked as to why the robot is out,” Cobb said. “If we were to use staff and cordon off a passenger walking area, there would be a lot of questions.”
Unlike some other airports, CVG works with university professors, students, and startups to perfect and test the products before presenting them to the consumer.
“There are airports out there that have innovation programs,” Cobb said. “The typical model is to pull a new product off the shelf, plug that product in and say, look how innovative we are—that is not what our model is about. It is more about understanding what the product is. One of the very first questions that we’ll have for our startups is, ‘are you willing to change the product that you have with feedback, mentorship, and intellectual property from our team? And if you are, you’re probably a good match. If you’re not, and it’s just the product is as is, then they’re probably not the team for us.’”
Having CVG nestled in NKY adds to the innovation in a region already filled with innovators like Procter & Gamble, Kroger, and GE Aerospace.
“We are a humble region,” Cobb said. “We just don’t brag about ourselves. It’s fascinating to talk around the world and hear people who don’t necessarily realize that Procter & Gamble started here and is still here. Our roots are really our right to claim the innovation space. Will we be a Silicon Valley? Not necessarily, but we can find our niche in advanced manufacturing and consumer product development. That’s absolutely where we’re taking our verticals and finding the right mix of how do we bring in startups not just to the airport, but also to the region, and give them an environment and ecosystem to really develop their product.”
Mindy Kershner, CVG’s director of communications, stated NKY’s “collaborative spirit” builds a strong core in the ecosystem.
“I’ve heard leaders in the community say that we all really do work together very well across county lines,” she said. “I think everybody really wants to see our airport succeed, so they’re willing to be at the table.”
As for long-term goals, CVG Innovation wants their products to click with the traveling consumer.
“We understand your traveling preferences may change,” Cobb said. “Today, you might travel with your aging parent. Tomorrow, you might be traveling with your children. The next day you might be traveling with your partner. So each time you travel, there’s a little bit of a nuance as to what you might expect.”
