Improving the Airport Customer Experience (2016)

Below is the uncorrected machine-read text of this chapter, intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text of each book. Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.

146 The rapid growth of mobile technology is changing the way people interact with society and the world around them. Airports are moving quickly to leverage this change and take advantage of the smart phone and other mobile technologies as a means of improving the customer experi- ence, building customer relationships, and communicating with stakeholders. This chapter looks at recent innovations and trends in technology and how airports are using new technologies to improve the customer experience. Most, but not all, of the new technologies are centered on the ubiquitous smart phone. In many cases, new technologies are improving, rather than replacing, the way customer service is delivered, and are supplementing existing practices described in earlier chapters. The introduction of the personal computer in the late 1970s was the beginning of a computing and information revolution whose present outcome could not be foreseen. The introduction of the smart phone has led to a similar mobile computing revolution and access to information virtually anywhere and at any time. The range of potential applications for smart phones has significant implications for airports. However, the pace of development of new applications and the lack of industry standards bring uncertainty about the future and, for some airports, a hesitancy to invest in technologies that may be obsolete in a few years and for which there is no clear road map available. Nevertheless, smart phones, social media, near-location technologies, mobile websites, and instant connectivity with businesses that use the airport provide the building blocks to improve the customer experience. 10.1 Information Technology and the Smart Phone The smart phone offers a number of ways for providing information to customers, with the two most important platforms being the mobile website and the airport-specific app. Airport apps also compete with third-party apps provided by airlines, concessionaires, commercial app developers, and other companies responding to a need in the marketplace. Many of the commercial and airline apps offer the advantage of providing information on mul- tiple airports, although the information is generally not as comprehensive as that from an app designed for a specific airport. On the other hand, airport-specific apps may not be able to compete with airline apps that can provide schedule and departure and arrival information related to the cus- tomer’s specific trip—for example, flight information and boarding passes for connecting flights. 10.1.1 The Airport Website The primary tool for communicating with passengers and other customers remains the air- port website. C H A P T E R 1 0 Improving the Customer Experience—New and Innovative Technologies

Improving the Customer Experience—New and Innovative Technologies 147 The World Travel Awards, an organization that recognizes airport, airline, and tourism indus- try excellence, conducts a poll of travel industry executives each year and recognizes the World’s Leading Airport Website. In 2014, the award went to Zurich Airport. Nominees included the air- ports at Abu Dhabi, Amsterdam Schiphol, Hong Kong, London Heathrow, Munich, San Fran- cisco, and Seoul Incheon. All of these airports are major international connecting hubs, and San Francisco is the leading airport serving Silicon Valley and the software and multimedia industry. Airport websites serve a purpose that goes beyond passenger/customer communication and service. The information on a well-developed airport website can be classified in several categories. • Passenger information. The information of value to the largest group of airport users includes flight departures and arrivals, airline locations, parking and ground transportation informa- tion, concession information, terminal maps, and advice on using the airport. • Business-to-business (B2B) information. Airports use their websites for B2B communica- tions, offering information on upcoming business opportunities; explanations of how the airports contract for purchase of goods, services, design, consulting, and construction ser- vices; advice for small and minority-owned businesses; and other procurement information. • General airport information. As important economic drivers of the local community, there is always a high level of interest in airports. Most airport websites offer information on gover- nance and ownership, annual financial reports and passenger and cargo statistics, media infor- mation, fact sheets, press releases, and information about tours and educational opportunities. • Community involvement. Airports need to stress their relationships to the communities they serve; they will typically provide information on sustainability initiatives, economic impact of the airport, noise abatement efforts, and social responsibility initiatives, and they will give links to local organizations with which they work, such as convention and visitors’ bureaus and special event sponsors. Table 10-1 presents a listing of common elements found in a sampling of large hub airport websites. Passenger information, the first grouping of elements shown in Table 10-1, is the infor- mation most likely to be adapted to airport-specific apps and mobile websites and to be used by third-party commercial app developers. An airport’s website is an important vehicle for communicating the airport’s brand. There- fore, a successful website will: • Express the airport brand, • Convey the personality of the airport, • Differentiate the airport from others, • Avoid looking generic, • Emphasize strengths, • Provide news of interest, • Load quickly, and • Incorporate the airport’s logo and brand identity in a consistent and complementary manner. On the other hand, a lack of commitment to the website can give negative connotations to users and negatively affect their perceptions of the brand identity of the airport. A lack of main- tenance attention, failure to update information, poor grammar and spelling, non-working or out-of-date links, and a cluttered, confusing layout are all attributes to be avoided. 10.1.2 Airport Apps A mobile app is a dedicated application designed for a smart phone or tablet. Unlike a mobile website accessed through a web browser, a user must download and install an app. Most apps are downloaded from major app markets, like Apple’s App Store or Android’s Google Play store. An

148 Improving the Airport Customer Experience app offers greater control over the user experience and is better for building customer loyalty and a personal relationship. Mobile apps can send push notifications that appear on the smart-phone screen and, when permitted by the user, push notifications can be sent based on location. Mobile apps offer the best opportunity to employ loyalty programs and learn about the preferences of the user. An app offers greater ease of use and functionality than a mobile website but requires the customer to download it and allocate storage capacity that is sometimes scarce on the device. Multiple App Providers Airport managers have plenty of competition when it comes to apps providing information about their airports. They compete with airline apps, third-party apps covering multiple air- ports, and narrowly focused apps that concentrate on one category of information, like flight arrivals and departures, flight tracking, or concession information. Note: ACDBE = Airport Concessions Disadvantaged Business Enterprises; RFPs = requests for proposals. Table 10-1. Common airport website content.

Improving the Customer Experience—New and Innovative Technologies 149 Most airports lack the economies of scale to launch a well-tailored app. Major hub airports may have the scale to provide an app for their local originating passengers and regular connect- ing passengers, but passengers making a one-time visit would be unlikely to download a specific airport app. Frequent travelers may prefer to use an app provided by their preferred airline for information about the important airports in the airline’s network. For passengers not originating at a local airport, a mobile website would be easier to find and use. One airport that has chosen to work closely with its major airline is London Gatwick Airport, which has entered into a collaborative arrangement with easyJet, its largest airline tenant, to support easyJet’s Mobile Host app. Gatwick has invested in providing data platforms that pro- vide Internet-based real-time information to airlines. The Mobile Host app provides an alert and a welcome when the passenger reaches the airport and provides information on getting to the check-in and bag-drop area if the passenger has a bag to check, or to the entrance to the departures area if there is no bag to check. In the departure lounge, the app receives a push notification with the gate number and a map to guide the passenger to the departure gate. On arrival, the app receives a push notification if the customer has checked a bag along with a map to the baggage claim belt. The app also supports car rentals, hotel booking, flight tracking, and boarding pass storage. Despite the airport/airline collaboration, the app does not provide airport information on parking, concessions, services, and amenities. According to Gatwick airport, the sharing of data is intended to provide a service to the passengers and their airline partners and not serve as a branding, marketing, or information vehicle for airport services. Versions of the app are avail- able for iPhone, Android, and the Apple Watch. Airport Apps The following is an overview of the types of apps available: • Airline apps. Delta, American, United, and Southwest airlines, among others, offer their own apps with flight booking, flight status, boarding pass, and maps featuring gate locations. These apps offer little information about the airports they fly from, and often restrict information to their own flights and those of alliance members. For many frequent travelers with a strong loyalty to a single carrier, the airline app may provide most of the functionality they require. • Reservations apps. Travel companies offer apps with booking and flight information but with limited airport information. Expedia, Kayak, Orbitz, Hotwire, Marriott, Hilton, Cheap Tickets, and most other major travel booking sites and hotel chains have dedicated apps that have highly variable functionality. Airport apps vary widely in information content and functionality. Perhaps unsurprisingly, some of the best airport-specific apps are offered by major international connecting hubs. Some outstanding airport-specific apps include: • DFW mobile app (free, iOS and Android). DFW’s app, shown in Figure 10-1, is colorful, well organized, and offers one-touch access to information on flight arrivals and departures, weather, parking options, concessions and services, and airline contact information. The app also has a “voice concierge” feature, allowing the app to be searched verbally. Links to Face- book and a feedback interface are also present. The app is available in Spanish, Portuguese, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, and Korean. • MIA Airport Official (free, iOS and Android). Miami International’s mobile app contains flight information, shopping, dining, parking, ground transportation and flight information, airline links, and an “around me” feature that tells the user what shops and services are nearby. It also includes social media interfaces for Facebook and Twitter, a comments section, and links to the MIA e-magazine. It is available in English and Spanish. Figure 10-1. DFW mobile app.

150 Improving the Airport Customer Experience • FRA app (free, Android, iPhone, iPad). The Frankfurt Airport app provides extensive infor- mation on the airport, real-time flight arrival and departure information, local traffic infor- mation, interactive terminal maps, and information on airport parking and shopping. Airport services are organized by category, with colorful photographs and hours of operation listed for each location and type of service. Terminal maps are supplemented by step-by-step instruc- tions for navigating the terminals using an extensive list of locations. Passengers may also scan airport location codes displayed throughout the terminals or can mark their current location on a multilevel terminal map. • Schiphol app (free, Android, iPhone). The Amsterdam Schiphol Airport app, like the FRA app, provides extensive and easy-to-use information about the airport, plus taxi reservations, parking reservations, social media check-ins, terminal maps, discount vouchers, airport news and events, a personal travel planner, and real-time flight information with push notification options. • Incheon airport app. Similar to the FRA and Schiphol apps, the Incheon airport app provides real-time arrival and departure information, real-time ground transportation information, car parking location assistance, terminal directions, concession information, and airport news and events information. Its unique feature, however, is its augmented reality function, which allows the user to point the smart phone’s camera at a portion of the terminal and see what concessions and services are within the field of view. Other Apps Other app providers offer a different slant, depending on their core business. • GateGuru (free for Android and iPhone). GateGuru is a product of TripAdvisor. The app shows the day’s itinerary, information on major airports the passenger will be visiting, includ- ing concessions in the relevant terminal, and travel statistics by month and year. It also pro- vides an interface for car rentals, including last-minute discounted offers and hotel booking. Passengers can email their itineraries to the app provider, which uses software to consolidate their itinerary from different sources and also provides airport-specific information. Accord- ing to the company, GateGuru has more than 1 million users. • iFly Airport Guide (free for Android and iPhone). iFly is a website that attempts to serve as an alternative to individual airport websites. The iFly app provides information on 700 airports and generates revenue from travel booking and providing links to the websites of ground trans- portation providers, hotels, and off-airport parking providers. Terminal maps are static. The app provides a mobile interface with the website’s user forum, which provides airport-specific reviews and tips. • FlightBoard ($3.99 for Android, iPhone, and iPad). FlightBoard provides real-time flight information for airline flights around the world, along with a flight tracking feature. No air- port information is provided. In addition to general third-party apps, there are some specialist apps available that meet the needs of some passengers. These include: • My TSA (free, Android, iPhone). My TSA offers weather and airport flight delay informa- tion, but its main feature is showing the estimated wait times at TSA checkpoints around the country. Standard TSA information on what can be taken through checkpoints, TSA videos, and travel tips are also provided. • Ground transportation provider applications. Many ground transportation providers have apps that let customers get price quotes as well as book and modify trips to and from airports. Many also have a locator to allow customers to see where their vehicles are prior to pickup. For most airports, the cost of development and the distribution challenges of competing with the many commercial apps on the market make mobile websites a more cost-effective alternative

Improving the Customer Experience—New and Innovative Technologies 151 that is also easier for customers to find than a dedicated airport app. Further, the differences in the Android and iOS operating systems are so great that it requires two separate versions of each app, thereby increasing development costs. Mobile apps also consume smart-phone memory, which is an issue for many users. 10.1.3 Mobile Websites Mobile websites are designed to use the information on existing airport websites and repack- age it for smaller screens, which provides for easier navigation than websites designed to be viewed on computers. Mobile websites will typically contain only essential information needed by travelers, so much of the information on airport websites [traffic statistics, requests for pro- posals (RFPs), board agendas, press releases] can be left out. The emphasis is on displaying real- time flight information and information on concessions and services. Terminal maps can also be displayed, such as those showing directions from one place in the terminal to another, but without the functionality of the app-based maps. According to Forbes magazine, the time spent using smart phones is heavily tilting toward apps over browsers. Users are spending an average of 2 hours and 42 minutes a day on their smart phones, but only 22 minutes are spent using the browser, or about 14% of the time using the phone (Spence 2014). Both iOS and Android offer developers the tools to build a better user experience compared with mobile browsers. However, mobile websites are more easily found and used and do not require a download. The increasing availability of free airport Wi-Fi also makes it easy to make the customer aware of the airport’s mobile website when the customer first accesses the Wi-Fi service. Indianapolis International Airport offers both a mobile website and a dedicated airport app. The website offers much of the same functionality as the airport’s app, although the app offers real-time parking shuttle information based on current location, links to the airport’s Facebook and Twitter accounts, and links to Yelp reviews. The DFW mobile website also offers many of the features of the DFW app described previously, but without the voice concierge, social media links, and customer feed. 10.2 Information Technology and Facilitation As described in Chapter 7, automation is changing the way airport terminals are used and designed. Online check-in and boarding pass printing combined with automated check-in kiosks and dedicated baggage drops in the ticketing area have changed the way terminals are designed. Many existing terminals now have surplus airline ticket counters and back offices as airlines have been able to aggressively reduce labor costs while speeding passenger processing and enhancing the customer experience through automation. This has brought about considerable discussion of further uses of technology and the airport of the future, which would be designed around technology to speed passenger processing and inspection. There are varying views on just how far technology will change airline and airport processes. One view is from the travel think tank Future Travel Experience (FTE). FTE predicts that, in the near future (2025), airports will commonly see a range of technological innovations (Future Travel Experience 2013): 1. Self-boarding. FTE predicts that, by 2025, a large majority of airlines and airports will have adopted self-boarding, where the passenger scans his boarding pass and is admitted through a turnstile or gate. Las Vegas McCarran airport has installed self-boarding machines at 14 gates

152 Improving the Airport Customer Experience in Terminal 3, with reported good results. Two are installed at each gate. The self-boarding gate speeds up the boarding process and allows airline personnel to spend more time resolving issues with passengers. The gates are also common use. Automated self-boarding is capable of filling the loading bridge faster than passengers can find seats on the aircraft. The machines are also being tested at Mineta San Jose airport. Self-boarding may have broader application in domestic operations where there is no need to check passports and visas as there is with international flights. Outside the United States, Lufthansa and British Airways have been using automated boarding gates for several years. Reportedly, frequent flyers find the system preferable to gate agents. 2. Premium check-in and departure areas. Domestically, the major airlines have long had separate check-in counters for premium passengers and top-tier loyalty program members. Airlines are now taking it one step further. Separate, lounge-style check-in areas are being installed by U.S. carriers in their major termi- nals. For example, at Los Angeles International, American Airlines has separated both ticketing and security inspection by class of service. Passengers do not mix until they have completed security inspection. American offers separate Flagship Check-in areas for its premium first-class and top-tier frequent passengers; these areas include a dedicated doorway into a separate check- in lounge. United has installed new lounge-style Global Services/First-Class check-in lounges at Newark Liberty, San Francisco, and Chicago O’Hare airports. Going one step further, American also offers a premium Five-Star Service for departing, arriving, and connecting passengers featuring concierge service, curbside meet and greet, expe- dited security inspection, escort through immigration and customs inspection, assistance with luggage, Admiral’s Club or first-class lounge access, and personal escort to or from the gate. Service is $250 within the United States and $300 outside the United States, where available. These premium add-on services have long been available at major European airports where the service is often provided by the airport rather than the airline. The Abu Dhabi airport terminal includes a separate level for use of first- and business-class passengers, separating them from the coach passengers on the main level. Premium passen- gers have use of separate retail concessions as well as access to first- and business-class air- line lounges. This may be feasible for Abu Dhabi, which has a high proportion of long-haul international premium passengers, but few airports have the passenger volumes necessary to afford such vertical segregation and to support separate concessions. 3. Permanent baggage tags. FTE also predicts wide adoption of permanent baggage tags using RFID or other technology that would allow sensors to send a message via an app or text mes- sage to let the passenger know the bag has arrived. This would allow passengers to manage their time on the way to the baggage claim device and avoid some of the congestion where passengers are all waiting for bags. Air France-KLM, with input from Delta Air Lines and luggage manufacturer Samsonite, has introduced a permanent bag tag called an eTag, which allows continuous real-time tracking using GSM cellular, GPS, and Bluetooth technology and for the bag to be tracked by smart phones with an app. 4. Self-service kiosks. FTE predicts customer service agents will “retreat to the airplane” as auto- mation handles the vast majority of check-in and boarding work. Instead, tablet-equipped agents will roam the terminal to provide assistance. 5. Virtual assistants. Robots, holographic images, and off-site agents using video links are already assisting passengers in resolving issues or acquiring needed information at several airports. 6. Common-use facilities. FTE also predicts greater use of common-use gates and equipment, allowing better use of scarce resources. Biometric technology also has the potential to both improve the reliability of passenger screening functions and make the process faster. Passive facial recognition systems, iris scanning, and gait recognition systems can make sure that the passenger who checked in for a flight, went through security screening, and is attempting to board the flight is the same person.

Improving the Customer Experience—New and Innovative Technologies 153 London Gatwick Airport uses iris scanners at the baggage drops in the check-in area to register the biometric identity of the passenger and then compare it to the person using automated self- service departure gates. This provides a high degree of assurance that the passenger who checked the bag is also the passenger on the flight. 10.2.1 Queue Monitoring and Predictive Software New technologies are also able to monitor queues and make predictions of wait times, allow- ing airport and security staff to adjust staffing levels or open additional check-in positions. SITA did a mobile tracking study of North American airports and concluded that an extra 10 minutes spent in a security line reduced the average customer’s retail spending by 30%. Queue Monitoring Examples One new technology for managing queues is from CrowdVision, a UK-based company that has developed software and hardware that analyzes groups of people (crowds) and how they are moving, how they are distributed, the time they are spending in a given place, and how many people there are, then predicts movements and flows. Originally developed for the London Olympics, the technology uses overhead cameras and software to monitor persons without the use of facial recognition systems. The predictive software can monitor the status of queues at, say, airline check-in or security, and then provide counts, densities, travel times, and predic- tions based on movements. A mobile app can inform airport managers of current conditions and issue alerts that allow them to make decisions about staffing and opening new counters or checkpoint lanes, and can inform other decisions. It can also monitor the movements in and out of concessions and, combined with transaction data, provide insight into the usage and penetration rates of passengers using individual concessions. The technology is now being tested at a UK airport. Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport and the TSA worked with Blip Systems, a Danish company that is partnered with Lockheed Martin, to develop a real-time Bluetooth- based system for monitoring queues at the airport. The airport had earlier partnered with Purdue University to develop a technology-based concept to measure the improvement in security processing times with the construction of new checkpoints in its reconfigured termi- nal. Like other Bluetooth-based systems, this approach uses the unique Media Access Control (MAC) address of phones and mobile tablets when Bluetooth is enabled to monitor the time it takes passengers to go through the checkpoints using sensors on predetermined paths. Blip Systems believes this technology can also be useful for monitoring and managing wait times at check-in, in taxi queues, at retail concessions, in baggage claim, and in immigration and customs queues, and can provide an overall picture of how terminal facilities are actually being used on any given day. Facial Recognition Another new technology is facial recognition software applications for airports. The MFlow system developed by Human Recognition Systems, also a UK company, is installed at London City and Gatwick airports and is an example of a state-of-the-art queue management system. The MFlow system uses overhead cameras throughout the airport to measure and monitor the number of persons in queues, times their processing to identify current or predicted bottlenecks, and pro- vides guidance on real-time staffing to manage current and projected queue lengths. The benefit to the airport is passengers spending less time in queues and more time in the retail concessions. Unlike a Bluetooth-based system, which relies on passengers having their smart phones’ Blue- tooth function switched on, the MFlow system uses facial recognition to identify passengers and time their movements through the system. According to the company, the system does not

154 Improving the Airport Customer Experience identify individuals, but it does track an individual anonymously throughout the airport. The system creates a biometric, numerically coded identifier for the passenger upon the passenger entering the terminal. At each waypoint, the customer’s face is matched to existing identifiers. The cumulative data of many passengers is used to develop average, minimum, and maximum wait times, which are communicated to airport staff at a desktop computer showing the MFlow dashboard, which includes current and predictive reporting, or through a mobile app. Airport staff can respond by opening additional lanes, adding staff, or diverting passengers to another queuing area. The system can also be used to match biometric identities with airport ID badges. The airports are also able to use the software to analyze concession usage. For example, where an individual passenger is identified and tracked through the airport, the system can measure the time a passenger spends in a duty-free shop. Aggregate data for each flight can be developed that matches time spent in the shops, timing relative to departure, and retail spending and penetration per flight. This type of queue management software has perhaps wider applications at airports abroad, which typically operate security checkpoints and manage common-use check-in counters and departure gates. It may also be useful at some large U.S. airports. 10.2.2 Impediments to Technological Improvements in Passenger Processing While the promise of using technology to keep the passenger fully informed while moving through a terminal without delay is high, the impediments are real. • Airports and airlines often have different visions of how such technology should be delivered. In Europe and Asia, many large airports have greater control over their facilities and are able to implement common-use solutions rather than single-airline (or alliance-based) proprietary solutions. • The major airline organizations (A4A and IATA), airport organizations (ACI and AAAE), and civil aviation organizations have not always worked together in developing common standards and approaches. • There is resistance to sharing customer information that is considered proprietary. • Competing technology innovators are incentivized to deploy proprietary technology as quickly as possible in hopes of becoming, or influencing, future standards. However, standards in the airport industry are not industry-driven but are supplier-driven. As FTE points out, “the problem with common use is that it is not based on common specifications” (Future Travel Experience 2013). 10.3 Digital Media and Signage Advances in light-emitting diode (LED) technology are creating opportunities to create large- scale high-definition (HD) displays of unlimited size, similar to the HD replay screens used in major sports stadiums. Large-format LEDs offer an affordable means of display for advertising, sponsorship information, local tourism promotions, public art, and other messaging. The most extensive and elaborate use of this technology in the United States is in the expanded Tom Bradley Terminal at Los Angeles International Airport, where the installation serves as the public art component of the terminal project. Video art was chosen because the moving image is the medium for which Los Angeles is best known around the world. Two views of the Great Hall in the departures area are shown in Figures 10-2 and 10-3. The installation, dubbed the “Wow Project,” includes 3 hours of custom video imagery, including a Busby-Berkeley–inspired dance performance on the 72-foot tall “Time Tower” in the

Improving the Customer Experience—New and Innovative Technologies 155 terminal’s Great Hall, along with a 120-foot long array of screens termed the “Story Board” sus- pended over one side of the Great Hall. The original video production, according to its producer, Moment Factory, is “focused on the passenger experience, the iconography of Los Angeles, and the destinations served by the Tom Bradley International Terminal” (Art Future 2014). Besides its enormous entertainment value, the video walls also give passengers another reason to stay in the terminal’s Great Hall, which also features an extensive array of duty-free luxury shops and boutiques and a variety of dining options. On either side of the Great Hall at the entrances to the north and south concourses, ten 28-ft. tall columns of stacked LED displays provide a series of interactive experiences based on the destination cities of flights departing from the concourse and serve as a transition from the Los Angeles–themed Great Hall to the departure concourses and the commencement of travel. An 80-foot tall Welcome Wall greets arriving international passengers on the way to the immigration and customs halls. In the lobby outside the international arrivals area, meeters Figure 10-2. LAX Bradley International Terminal video art display. Figure 10-3. LAX Bradley International Terminal video art display—elevator tower.

156 Improving the Airport Customer Experience and greeters are entertained by an undulating 58-screen video wall titled “Filmstrip” displaying digital artwork created by 17 visual artists. Other airports are embracing this new technology for revenue-producing purposes—mainly advertising. At Denver airport, advertising concessionaire Clear Channel has installed four 26-foot-tall LED video towers in the airport’s Great Hall. The towers have exposure to all of Denver’s originating and arriving passengers. The concessionaire and the airport plan to intro- duce an additional 118 LED screens throughout the airport. London Stansted Airport has a 39-foot-wide curved LED screen that shows HD advertisements and serves as a departure board. The installation was made by UK advertising concessionaire Eye Airports. Digital signage can be easily updated with essential passenger information from a centralized control center or can be automated using sensors or links to other applications or information. Boston Logan airport is investing heavily in digital signage throughout its terminals and curb- sides. At Boston, 27 signs are being installed along the curbsides to provide countdown information for the next scheduled ground transportation departures, allowing the passenger to make choices among available modes and ground transportation options. Some 20 screens will be installed in baggage claim areas, and interactive touch-screen displays are being tested in terminals and the international arrivals re-check area where arriving international passengers can get information on how to get to their next flight. Displays will also be placed near security checkpoints to show current wait times. According to Massport, the airport operator, the signs were the result of focus groups and on-airport interviews to find out what kinds of information customers valued the most. Boston Logan airport is also investing in infobars (see Figure 10-4), which are kiosks with interactive touch-screen devices that provide information to passengers, including automated maps showing how the customer can reach a desired location; concession information; and information on airline, concessions, and other services. Passengers can enter their mobile tele- phone number or scan a QR code to sign up for flight information updates using text messages. The infobars are attractive, have four interactive stations, and have lighted signage with an “i,” the commonly used symbol for information. 10.4 Virtual Assistants and Robots Virtual assistants and robots are a way of providing customized information to customers without the necessity of posting a staff member (or volunteer) at a fixed location. The approaches to providing virtual assistance can vary from inexpensive off-the-shelf robotics to elaborate holographic imagery. 10.4.1 Robots The use of robots as a supplement to airport information staff is discussed in Chapter 9. The technology and costs are discussed here. The technology that Indianapolis International Airport uses for its information robots is an off-the-shelf Double Robotics Telepresence robot that serves as a virtual assistant that roams the terminal and responds to questions from passengers. The robot, which is shown in Figure 10-5, costs $2,600 equipped with an audio kit accessory that includes an amplified speaker and direc- tional microphone, plus the cost of an iPad that serves as the video screen mounted at the top of the unit. The robot is capable of remote operation using a remote app that can run on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Windows programs. The robot, which resembles a smaller version of the Segway transporter, is controlled via Wi-Fi connection, with the iPad showing a live video image of the operator, also carried by

Improving the Customer Experience—New and Innovative Technologies 157 Courtesy of Massachusetts Port Authority. Figure 10-4. Boston Logan infobar interactive kiosks. Figure 10-5. Indianapolis International Airport’s personal airport consultant.

158 Improving the Airport Customer Experience Wi-Fi, who can maneuver the robot and conduct conversations with passengers. IND staff equip their robots with a polo shirt with the airport logo and a nametag to give it a human touch, as shown in Figure 10-5. The robot is called a “personal airport consultant” and is popular with airport users and creates a human connection with passengers. It combines functionality with novelty, personalization, and a dash of humor. The robot and its operation are considered by airport managers as wholly consistent with the airport brand. 10.4.2 Virtual Assistants Other airports are experimenting with virtual agents or assistants, although in a less dynamic manner than the use of robots. At Orly Airport, Paris, virtual boarding agents are used in common holdrooms to announce flights that are ready for boarding. The virtual boarding agents were the idea of Aeroports de Paris and are actually video images projected onto a human-shaped silhouette constructed of Plexiglas. The announcements are recorded, and there is no human interaction. The concept allows for remote announcements to be made while maintaining the suggestion of a human presence. Similar virtual assistants, made by Tensator, are used at Manchester, London Luton, and Birmingham airports. The virtual assistants use holographic imaging technology and make the standard information announcements on prohibited items and inspection procedures to pas- sengers entering the security checkpoint. The virtual assistants are attention grabbers and are cheaper than using staff. The airports reported that the number of items confiscated since their introduction has declined 5%. The holograms at Luton airport were recorded using actors, while Manchester used members of their customer service team. The Manchester airport virtual assistant is shown in Figure 10-6. 10.5 Concession Information As airports expand their concessions and service programs, customers have more choices. Finding their preferences is often a challenge, particularly in larger terminals, but customers have a number of choices available to assist them. Figure 10-6. Holographic virtual assistant at Manchester Airport.

Improving the Customer Experience—New and Innovative Technologies 159 The most common model was the analog terminal directory showing the location of various services. Technology now provides more options to assist customers in locating preferred choices: • Interactive terminal directories provide quick access to detailed information about the con- cession offerings. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, for example, is spending $2.1 million to replace 46 static directories with touch-screen directories that allow passengers to zoom into specific areas in the north and south terminals and six concourses. Minneapolis– St. Paul airport was an early adopter of touch-screen directories; it installed 55-inch screens that provide information about shops, restaurants, and services, including menus for the full- service restaurants; current flight information; ground transportation options; terminal maps and walk times; and weather information. The touch-screen interface is built off an interface that also powers MSP’s FlySmart mobile app, providing similar functionality and consistent information regardless of whether the mobile device or interactive display is used. • Airport and third-party smart-phone apps with concession information (see Section 10.1.2). • Mobile airport and third-party mobile websites with concession information (see Sec- tion 10.1.3). • Review sites, such as Yelp and TripAdvisor, which are already downloaded on many travelers’ smart phones or are easily accessed via the Internet. Yelp’s users tend to be locally focused, while TripAdvisor’s users are mostly leisure travelers. 10.6 Arrival Information Unlike departure information, arrival information is mostly used by those meeting flights, including family, friends, and ground transportation providers. Arrival information is predomi- nately provided by flight information displays showing the status of individual flights. Other means of disseminating arrival information are: • Text messages from the airline to individuals designated by the passenger at the time of book- ing or thereafter. These messages usually consist of a standard confirmation notification plus notifications for any change in schedule. • Email notifications to designated individuals named by the passenger, similar to the text message notification. • Push notifications to airline app users. • Passive flight information on airport apps or mobile websites, where the individual must look up the information. • Passive flight information from flight tracking websites or apps, such as flighstats.com or flightview.com. 10.7 Ground Transportation The proliferation of the smart phone has led to new ground transportation options for cus- tomers traveling to or from the airport. Smart-phone–based transportation applications allow customers to reserve a ride in real-time, with the ability to see the driver, vehicle, driver rating, and how far away the driver is at the time of booking. Many of the services provided through these smart-phone applications cost less than a similar trip made using conventional transpor- tation services. At the conclusion of the ride, the customer exits the vehicle and uses his or her smart phone to authorize payment via credit card and rates the driver, eliminating the time a customer typically requires to pay the driver and receive a receipt. Instead, a receipt is automati- cally sent via email to the address saved in the customer’s profile. This technology can be used by new providers such as transportation network companies and legacy providers such as lim- ousine, taxicab, and shared-ride van operators.

160 Improving the Airport Customer Experience 10.8 Parking Technologies There are several technologies available that enhance the customer experience in selecting, finding, and paying for parking at the airport. These include parking guidance systems, credit card in-and-out systems, and automated toll systems. 10.8.1 Parking Guidance Systems Parking guidance systems indicate the number of available spaces in a parking facility. The guidance system may identify open spaces by facility, level, row, or on a per-space basis. Signage indicates the number of available spaces on each level to inform customers of the most likely location to find open spaces. The need for a parking guidance system may depend on the size and layout of the parking facility. Parking guidance systems are most effective in large structures with helical ramps, allowing customers to bypass floors that have few or no remaining spaces. Guidance systems may have limited impacts on the customer experience in parking lots or parking structures with sloping floors because customers will need to drive by many spaces regardless of the availability on that level. With a single-space detection system, red or green lights above each individual space and at the end of each row indicate whether that specific space is open or whether there are spaces available in that row. This information can also be displayed on the airport’s website, allow- ing customers to see which facilities have the most available parking prior to arriving at the airport. Dallas/Fort Worth airport has a single-space parking guidance system in its Terminal A park- ing structure. The system has an LED light above each space that shows green when unoccupied, red when full or occupied, and blue for a handicap space. For the short-term parking area for pickups and drop-offs, which has a 1-hour limit, there are lights that also blink pink when there is a car parked that has exceeded the 1-hour limit. The different colors have varying degrees of brightness so that color-blind customers can differentiate the status of each space. Baltimore/ Washington and Portland (OR) airports also have a single-space system, and Fort Lauderdale- Hollywood airport is installing one as well. 10.8.2 Credit Card In-and-Out Systems Credit card in-and-out systems allow customers to use their credit cards as the parking ticket. Instead of pulling a ticket when entering the parking facility, the customer inserts his or her credit card. Upon returning, the customer does not need to locate a ticket, pay at a pay-on-foot station, or wait in line for a cashier. Instead, the customer can use any lane, insert the same credit card used when entering, and immediately pay and be issued a receipt. 10.8.3 Automated Toll Systems Similarly, technology allows for the use of toll tags (e.g., E-ZPass, FasTrak, or SunPass) to enter, exit, and pay for parking at airports. A number of airports in Florida, California, and the New York metropolitan area accept toll tags, as does the Minneapolis–St. Paul airport. The sys- tem is practical where a significant proportion of airport customers have toll tags. A challenge found when accepting toll tags is that the parking fee may exceed the balance on the customer’s toll tag account, resulting in delays. A second challenge is the amount of the clearinghouse fee toll agencies may charge airports for processing parking payments.

Improving the Customer Experience—New and Innovative Technologies 161 10.9 Social Media The development of social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube has changed the way people interact with each other. Real-time information from social media is also changing the way airports communicate with their customers, resolve complaints, and respond to changing conditions. Social media platforms provide a means for airports to build a positive relationship with passengers and other customers by communicating with them directly and individually. Popular social media platforms are shown in Figure 10-7. 10.9.1 Facebook Along with Twitter, Facebook is the social media platform most used by airport opera- tors, according to ACRP Synthesis 56: Understanding the Value of Social Media at Airports for Customer Engagement (Perry et al. 2014). In the first quarter of 2015, Facebook had 1.25 bil- lion average monthly users, by far the largest among social media platforms. Facebook is the Figure 10-7. Popular social media platforms used by airports.

162 Improving the Airport Customer Experience preferred platform for customer engagement, offering a broader experience and the ability to link related organizations, businesses, and individuals. 10.9.2 Twitter Twitter is the preferred platform for current communications, with over 300 million average monthly users worldwide as of the first quarter of 2015. Twitter has a 140-character limit so is used for short messages, and has the ability to provide links to documents, stories, pictures, and Instagram photos. Because of its immediacy, airlines have begun monitoring their Twitter feeds for rapid response to customer complaints and problems. A number of airports, includ- ing Miami International Airport, monitor their Twitter accounts throughout the day, while others, like Sacramento airport, check their accounts during the day as staff workload permits. Miami airport has a full-time social media person assigned to monitor and engage customers through the social media platforms. Figure 10-8 shows the number of Twitter followers for a selected group of airports, including the top 20 U.S. airports, the five major international hub airports reviewed in Chapter 5, and a sampling of other representative U.S. and international airports. 10.9.3 YouTube YouTube, owned by Google, is the leading social media platform for posting videos. Although it has fewer users than Facebook or Twitter, YouTube can be a low-cost way of distributing video related to an airport’s operations, construction, development, and events. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta, Atlantic City, Austin-Bergstrom, Charleston, Miami, Dallas/Fort Worth, Denver, Grand Rapids, Louisville, Oakland, Pensacola, San Diego, Sarasota-Bradenton, San Francisco, Washington Dulles, Washington National, and Wilmington airports are just some of the U.S. airports with active YouTube channels, where the airport’s videos can be grouped and users have the option of subscribing to the channel. The subscription shows up when subscribers come to the site, and recent videos are highlighted. The limitation on use of YouTube is the airport’s ability to produce videos that are of a sufficient quality to support the desired brand image of the airport. 10.9.4 Foursquare A location-based social network site, Foursquare works on mobile devices and allows users to check in at airport concessions using the mobile app or text messages and share experiences with friends. Foursquare claims it has 55 million worldwide users who have checked in more than 7 billion times. Users receive points for each check-in. 10.9.5 Instagram Instagram allows users to take photos with their smart phones and overlay a short message, title, or caption. Instagram was bought by Facebook in 2012. Instagram had 400 million average monthly users as of September 2015. 10.9.6 Yelp Yelp is a user-generated review site with a local focus. Users can look up commercial entities, including airports and the concessions within, and read or post reviews and star ratings. As of May 2015, Yelp had about 100 million unique users each month, divided about evenly between

Improving the Customer Experience—New and Innovative Technologies 163 mobile and desktop users. As a local review site, Yelp frequently hosts reviews of airport restau- rants and other services. 10.9.7 TripAdvisor Like Yelp, TripAdvisor is a user-generated review site with a focus on travel destinations. It is a subsidiary of Expedia. While not currently a factor in terms of airport reviews and perceptions, the company announced in 2015 that it would begin hosting reviews of about 200 airports around the world. Singapore Changi, New York Kennedy, Las Vegas McCarran, London Heathrow, and Doha airports are among the first to have their own pages. Source: Twitter.com. Accessed June 22, 2015. Figure 10-8. Twitter followers for selected airports.

164 Improving the Airport Customer Experience The TripAdvisor reviews will focus on three topics: stay near the airport, eat before you board, and inside the terminal. TripAdvisor currently hosts over 250 million individual reviews, operates in 45 countries, and generates an average of 375 million unique monthly visitors as of September 2014. 10.9.8 Tools for Managing Social Media Platforms There are a number of tools available to airport customer service staff for managing social media across platforms. Two of the more popular and versatile tools are: • Hootsuite, a web-based tool that allows users to manage multiple social networks from a single dashboard and includes bulk message scheduling, monitoring conversations’ analytics reporting, and content curation. It also allows for a team of individuals to share responsi- bilities and set permission for various users—for example, airport operations or marketing. Hootsuite is relatively inexpensive; it is free for the first two users and is about $10 per month for each additional user. • Tweetdeck, a Twitter account management system with team management features that allows users to track timelines, monitor activity, and track topics and hashtags. The system is free. 10.10 Bluetooth Monitoring/Beacons and Tracking One of the most promising technologies is the beacon, a low-energy transmitter that first used Apple’s iBeacons protocol and Bluetooth low energy (BLE), a technology built into iPhones since 2010 and higher-end Android devices since 2013. Made by a growing number of manufacturers, beacons are inexpensive hardware transmitters that broadcast a unique identifier to nearby portable electronic devices such as smart phones and tablets. The identifier is used to determine a physical location or to initiate an action such as a push notification or a check-in on social media applications. Beacons are more effective at identifying the user’s position than GPS, which is not as effective indoors. While GPS and use of triangulation between cellular antennas can also provide location identification, beacons are more accurate and more readily available. The low energy consumption of the BLE beacons is particularly important for large venues like airports. The low energy levels used allow these devices to be powered by small, coin-sized batteries for several years. The cost of beacons can be as low as $20. With their low initial costs and low energy consumption, beacons have the potential for widespread and rapid introduction. Beacons are one-way devices, issuing a simple coded signal that requires an application on the mobile device. The application determines the location and can initiate notifications. Beacons require an app and for the user to have Bluetooth turned on and for the relevant application to opt into receiving push notifications. (Many users leave Bluetooth switched off as it drains battery power.) If the passenger has a specific airport’s app on his or her phone, a beacon located near one of the airport’s art exhibits could, for example, trigger the app to pull up pictures, descriptions, and videos about the art exhibit. Some other examples of how beacons can be used in conjunction with an airport’s app include: • Showing a map with the user’s current location and destination, such as a departure gate, and displaying the required route to the destination. The customer would know how much time is available to reach the destination and how much is available for other pursuits such as shopping or dining.

Improving the Customer Experience—New and Innovative Technologies 165 • Updating the passenger on gate changes and departure times. • Marketing of nearby shops and services, showing special offers or coupons. • Informing passengers about the documents they need to have ready at the security checkpoint, passport control, and customs. Beacons can form a common infrastructure system that can be used by others without the need for duplication, thus avoiding tenants and airlines installing their own beacons in common-use areas and avoiding the risks of too many beacons causing disruptions to other wireless systems. SITA offers to set up a transportation-specific common-use beacon registry so that a number of companies can use the same set of beacons in an airport. The registry allows app developers to use the existing beacons in the registry. An approach that is being used by Miami International Airport is to deploy the beacons and make the data sets available to airlines and third parties. Airlines could also deploy their own beacons in exclusively leased areas and make the registry information available to the airport and others. American Airlines, as an example, is installing beacons in its major hub terminals.