Guidelines for Improving Airport Services for International Customers (2016) / Chapter Skim
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Pages 51-100
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51 C H A P T E R 3 The international departing passenger experience at U.S. airports is primarily the same as for domestic departing passengers.
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52 Guidelines for Improving Airport Services for International Customers 3.1.1 Customer Needs and Expectations The challenges experienced by international departing passengers may include travel anxiety or a culture and/or language barrier. In addition, some passengers have anxiety about being in an unfamiliar airport environment and may have a stressful or enjoyable experience depending on the effectiveness of the wayfinding system.
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International Departing Passengers 53 3.2 Pre-Trip Planning Pre-trip planning is an essential activity for departing passengers, especially those not familiar with their departure airport. The ability to gather information about their departure experience in advance of their trip helps to reduce the anxiety of being in an unfamiliar place.
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54 Guidelines for Improving Airport Services for International Customers • What terminal building do they need to access to board their flight? • How will they get to the airport?
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International Departing Passengers 55 The example in Figure 3-3 illustrates how customers can locate their airlines. The Miami International Airport's homepage has a user-friendly quick links box located above the scroll with the "AIRLINES LOCATION MAP" link that connects to a map with terminal alpha listings; it is color-coded to indicate the recommended area to park.
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56 Guidelines for Improving Airport Services for International Customers at the same airport but in different terminals. This issue can be further compounded because domestic flights can operate in the named international terminal and conversely there may be international flights that operate in more than one terminal.
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International Departing Passengers 57 Regardless of the type of web technology, customers expect to be able to use the airport's website to find these processes in one format or another. Airport websites utilizing the latest web trends convey trust to the customer that the information is accurate and up-to-date and provides the next level of customer service.
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58 Guidelines for Improving Airport Services for International Customers interfaces and videos. Websites provide tools for advance planning that educates customers and provides visual consistency from home to gate.
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International Departing Passengers 59 with a voice-to-text translation engine to deliver near real-time cross-language communication (Ghee 2014)
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60 Guidelines for Improving Airport Services for International Customers 360 Emirates virtual tours provide virtual tours in the U.A.E., coined Dubai360, and as popularity with the technology increases, more vendors are supplying this service. The size of the facility is what dictates the timeframe, cost of implementation, and the level of difficulty.
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International Departing Passengers 61 experience. Table 3-3 provides a summary of the implementation considerations for airport websites with videoconference translation.
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62 Guidelines for Improving Airport Services for International Customers Table 3-3. Implementation considerations for website videoconference translation.
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International Departing Passengers 63 • Choose between parking or drop-off • Choose between curbside check-in (if available) at a remote location (if available)
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64 Guidelines for Improving Airport Services for International Customers 3.3.3 Customer Service A variety of airport stakeholders interact with customers during their journey to the terminal departures roadway. These entities likely include ground transportation drivers, parking attendants, law enforcement officers, and airline skycaps.
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International Departing Passengers 65 Basic Requirements Departures Roadway Configuration: The private vehicle drop-off area for departing passengers should be on the same level as ticketing/check-in so that customers do not have to change building levels. Passengers arriving via commercial vehicles, however, are commonly dropped-off on another building level.
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66 Guidelines for Improving Airport Services for International Customers include a wide range of air carriers which in turn determines the capacity requirements for the roadway signage. Airlines also tend to change for a variety of reasons, such as mergers, new startups, season service, etc.
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International Departing Passengers 67 The example in Figure 3-13 shows how the international terminal identification at Los Angeles International Airport is repeated three times: on the canopy, on the building, and over the entrance. Combined with dynamic airline identification signs, this level of redundancy helps provide customers with confidence and a level of comfort that they are at the correct terminal.
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68 Guidelines for Improving Airport Services for International Customers purpose allows the airport to update the sign dynamically each time there is a position change. Additional benefits, such as better space allocation and utilization, exist by allowing the available departures roadway positions to adjust to where an airline is operating its ticketing/check-in functions versus a static position based on the signage.
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International Departing Passengers 69 • Dynamic signage will typically cost considerably more to implement up front, but can save money in the long term by making changes to the airline information quickly and efficiently without the need to physically change the signage. Display capacity issues can be addressed by programming the dynamic signs to accommodate additional airlines.
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70 Guidelines for Improving Airport Services for International Customers 3.3.6 Arriving at the Terminal Departures Roadway Segment Evaluation Tool Figure 3-16 provides a summary of the basic requirements and notable innovations described earlier for the arriving at the terminal departures roadway journey segment for international departing passengers. The items are provided in chronological order to give an indication of when or where they should occur in the customer experience for this journey segment.
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International Departing Passengers 71 Once inside the terminal, passengers can become overwhelmed with visual information from overhead signs and stanchions located to the left, to the right, and straight ahead as they visually scan the hall for the check-in counter associated with their airline. While airlines operating international flights typically offer passengers different options for the check-in process (e.g., self-service or agent)
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72 Guidelines for Improving Airport Services for International Customers Source: ACRP 03-35 Research Team Figure 3-18. InfoGate counter at Munich Airport Terminal 2.
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International Departing Passengers 73 Amenities: International departing passengers typically arrive at the airport earlier than domestic passengers due to the guidance from the airlines to arrive at least two hours prior to departure. Also, depending on where the customers are staying, such as a hotel, and the departure time of their flight, they may arrive at the terminal several hours prior to departure.
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74 Guidelines for Improving Airport Services for International Customers spaces that can become congested during the busy periods but seem grossly oversized and empty outside of those times. Access to the departures hall may be from various points as customers arrive via private vehicle, ground transportation services (likely located on a different level)
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International Departing Passengers 75 Logical Passenger Flow: In combination with natural wayfinding, the passenger flow from one step in the process to the next should be logical and not require backtracking or circuitous routes. Many international terminals have ticketing/check-in counters arranged in an island layout whereby passengers flow from the entrance of the departures hall, to the check-in counters located in the islands, and then onward to the security checkpoint, progressing through the departures functions in the same direction of travel.
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76 Guidelines for Improving Airport Services for International Customers departure terminals utilize angled ticketing/check in counter islands to create a logical passenger flow from the entrance of the departures hall toward the security checkpoint. Airline Check-in Options: Passengers departing on international flights should be given an opportunity to select the type of check-in process that they are most comfortable with: agent-based full-service or self-service.
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International Departing Passengers 77 flight information using e-paper (like an e-reader)
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78 Guidelines for Improving Airport Services for International Customers Passengers with disabilities finding their way from the departures roadway to the ticketing/ check-in areas can benefit from several enhancements and strategies. Tactile routes (that use markedly three-dimensional texture designed to be perceived under the feet)
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International Departing Passengers 79 Source: ACRP 03-35 Research Team Figure 3-23. Left photo: Accessible tactile route leading to key points like information center and ticket agent.
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80 Guidelines for Improving Airport Services for International Customers Location of the FIDS for international travelers is another consideration. Mapping international customer circulation paths that account for both horizontal and vertical flow within the terminal will help to identify the best overall FIDS location.
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International Departing Passengers 81 lose customer trust in all digital content. Table 3-7 provides a summary of the implementation considerations for FIDS with alternate content.
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82 Guidelines for Improving Airport Services for International Customers passengers. The items are provided in chronological order to give an indication of when or where they should occur in the customer experience for this journey segment.
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International Departing Passengers 83 Research by McIntosh et al.
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84 Guidelines for Improving Airport Services for International Customers 3.5.4 Physical Environment The physical environment for the check-in to security checkpoint journey segment is an important component of the customer experience. The route to the security checkpoint should be clear of obstacles and the space where the security checkpoint is located should facilitate passenger processing and provide a sense of calmness.
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International Departing Passengers 85 process as pleasant and efficient as possible. The materials used in the floor and ceiling reflect nature and create a sense of calmness.
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86 Guidelines for Improving Airport Services for International Customers spots for customers to divest their belongings without feeling rushed because they are holding up the line. In conjunction with the automatic bin return system, this ensures that the throughput capacity of the x-ray is fully utilized.
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International Departing Passengers 87 requirements while lower wait times would give customers more time post-security to shop or dine before their flight. While the TSA Checkpoint Design Guide (Revision 5.1 issued May 7, 2014)
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88 Guidelines for Improving Airport Services for International Customers 3.5.6 Check-in to Security Checkpoint Journey Segment Evaluation Tool Figure 3-33 provides a summary of the basic requirements and notable innovations described earlier for the check-in to security checkpoint journey segment for international departing passengers. The items are provided in chronological order to give an indication of when or where they should occur in the customer experience for this journey segment.
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International Departing Passengers 89 3.6 Security Checkpoint to Gate Once through the security checkpoint, departing passengers have many choices for how they spend the remainder of their time before boarding their flight. For international departing passengers, this may be a substantial amount of time if they arrived at the airport two or three hours before their flight as commonly recommended by airports and airlines.
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90 Guidelines for Improving Airport Services for International Customers to customer service to create a holistic environment that enhances the customer's experience. The range of amenities available is another important consideration as international departing passengers may have a substantial amount of time before their flight departs and they likely do not want to spend it sitting in the departure gate holdroom.
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International Departing Passengers 91 • Ease of wayfinding • Accuracy and availability of flight information • Departure gate holdroom seating availability • Ease of using the airport's WiFi Free WiFi: As indicated in the survey, free WiFi is especially important in the post-security area, as customers may need to conduct business or contact family members before a long trip, particularly for foreign visitors who do not have international data plans. All of the airports visited for this Study provided free WiFi for at least a limited amount of time and most provided unlimited free WiFi.
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92 Guidelines for Improving Airport Services for International Customers • Smoking areas • Short-stay sleeping pods or private suites where customers can sleep, work or relax • Exercise and meditation facilities • Unique amenities such as casinos, libraries, and museums • Pay-for-access lounges • Small carts for carry-on baggage and purchased items Smoking Areas: Smoking areas were provided in the secure concourse in all of the foreign airports visited for this research. While smoking indoors in the United States has been nearly eliminated in recent years, it is still common in many parts of the world.
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International Departing Passengers 93 should be provided. The moving walkways should be located as close to the key intersection, such as a security checkpoint, as possible to benefit the greatest number of customers, including those whose gate is less than 1,000 feet from the intersection.
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94 Guidelines for Improving Airport Services for International Customers Source: ACRP Report 109 Figure 3-37. Departure holdrooms with integrated concessions at San Francisco International Airport Terminal 2.
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International Departing Passengers 95 so that there is overflow space when one gate is in the boarding process and the holdroom is at maximum occupancy. The amount of seating area also may be adjusted based on the concession seating provided adjacent to the holdrooms.
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96 Guidelines for Improving Airport Services for International Customers counters)
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International Departing Passengers 97 Figure 3-41. FIDS and maps at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol that highlight walk times to a specific gate and gate areas.
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98 Guidelines for Improving Airport Services for International Customers Interactive Digital Wayfinding Signage: Digital wayfinding signage may be used during many segments of the airport journey; attention should be paid to the content to ensure it is appropriate to the location. As mentioned earlier on the terminal roadway to check-in journey segment, customers need to be able to determine the location of amenities and services and the options available to them.
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International Departing Passengers 99 Table 3-9. Implementation considerations for digital wayfinding signage.
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100 Guidelines for Improving Airport Services for International Customers 3.6.6 Security Checkpoint to Gate Journey Segment Evaluation Tool Figure 3-45 provides a summary of the basic requirements and notable innovations described earlier for the security checkpoint to gate journey segment for international departing passengers. The items are provided in chronological order to give an indication of when or where they should occur in the customer experience for this journey segment.
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