Passenger Terminal World | MARCH 2016 passengerterminaltoday.com

66 AIRPORT SERVICE QUALITYJOE BATES ■

qualitycontrol

The ACI’s Airport Service Quality program celebrates its 10th birthday this year – learn how you can boost your ASQ Survey score

Longqueues

Very clean

Wi-fi is too slow

MARCH 2016 | Passenger Terminal World passengerterminaltoday.com

AIRPORT SERVICE QUALITY 67

Blame it on the smartphones and tablets we now carry in our pockets

and bags. We live in an age of instantaneous comparisons, real-time feedback, reviews and star ratings. From a simple ‘like’ on a Facebook page to a scathing review of a hotel on TripAdvisor or a tweeted complaint about delays at an airport, everybody can be a critic or reviewer.

In this digital era the need for airports to keep passenger satisfaction levels high has never been more pressing. For the past 10 years the go-to resource for airports in this area has been the ACI’s Airport Service Quality (ASQ) program. This customer-service benchmarking tool is now used by over 300 airports in 80 countries worldwide, which serve more than half the world’s 7.1 billion annual passengers.

The backbone of the program is the ASQ Survey. It comprises 55 questions covering 34 key service areas, with each question scored from one to five. Key areas include access, check-in, security, airport facilities, food and beverage, and retail. On a quarterly basis the questionnaires are distributed by field agents at the departure

Delayed at security

Easy to Navigate

Excellent shopping

facilities

Seating areas too

overcrowded

Find out why the world’s best airports are part of the Airport Service Quality programme

Excellent customer service, excellent airportsFor more information on how to join the ASQ network, contact the ASQ team:

ICN

JNB

TLV

KULELS

MRU

HKG

BOM

UIO

TPE

DUR

JAX

PVG

CMN FEZ OUD

OOL PKU ITM GMP

FLL SLP PUJ

WLG

MBA NBOMEL NTL

PPT REP LYS

YTZ BNA TFN

PLM DUR EBB

CLE

YYT

ZAZ PDL MOL

CMH

TRD

BUD KEF MXP

SJO MAN ZRH

COK LGK MLE

RGN

PPT

BLQTAM

LOP ICN

BOS IND TFS

GVA GIG YWG

VCP OVD BMA

LLA POS

RAK LAX

PIT YMM

JNB

ITM

ALC

DRW

MLARIX

DUB CPH

NRT ICN JAI

IBZ GLA

TSV UTN

IST BGI NAS

YYZ IKA BKK

GYE SAP

OSL

SHE

DEN

TPALPA

DME

YQM DEN YQM DUS

FAO JAI

AUS CUR

VCE SYD

ABZ SVX CNX BLQ

CGQ BPN

MCT

KKN VGO

TPA YLW

FUE VBY

DGO ABZ

DEL PENCAN

SXF CIA EVE AER

GMPMLA

SJO

AUS

NGO

ZRH

MBJ

GYE

SIN

DOH

YHZ

OPO

BMA GRX

AMD CKG TRV UTN RBA

SLL PWM NCESPC

SEA

RNB BCN

SCQ

FNC OPO

TOS CDG

KHNMTY RUH

TRC ELPKUF AGP

PNR TSV

CVG YLW

FCO TAO TNG ADL SXR DPS

AMS GOJ MMX

BOM CHC YYZ REU

BNE NKG

KRS KRK

REX MSP

MLE TPE

PNH GAU

STL KNO

CGQHAK

YYJ

FRAYQB

TSN

MZTPEK

RUH

CTP

DEL

NASDXB

HYD

GOT

MJV

KEF

LED

SAT

DFW

YOW

CCU NRT

DTW ZIH

TAM YXE

EAS UME

PNA SOU

ATL EMAGRO VBY

MAH

VLC YQR

AER

SVGSHA

LHR SLP

YUL

MRS IST

THR MUC

ACE VDE

MBJ YQB

LGW SMF

YEG BIO

GOT KZN

POP GRR

BOH LPLEDI MLN

MAA OLB

BLR TXL ORK OHD EIN AESBGO ZAG LIN FRA MXP

MAD

LGK

IND

AUH

SKP

SVO

CUL

SDQ

BOO

AMM

LED

AKL

BAH

LIS OTP

TXL

KKNCMN

+ 1 514 373 1200 @ACI_ASQ http://www.aci.aero/Airport-Service-Qualityaciasq@aci.aero

*Airport code sizes are based upon Director General’s Roll of Excellence inductees and ASQ Award winners since 2006 ** The ASQ Awards are provided based upon the top three mean scores on overall satisfaction from the ASQ Survey

C

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

K

MARCH 2016 | Passenger Terminal World passengerterminaltoday.com

RIGHT: Airports with poor queue management may get a low ASQ scoreBELOW: Angela Gittens, ACI World director general

AIRPORT SERVICE QUALITY 69

gate to a minimum of 350 passengers to ensure statistical validity. The completed questionnaires are then returned to the ASQ team, who analyze the results before sending them to all participating airports.

According to Angela Gittens, ACI World director general, one of the distinguishing features of the ASQ Survey compared with other passenger satisfaction surveys and award schemes is its immediacy: “Memory is fallible and the accuracy of feedback fades with time, so the advantage of gathering information in person, at the airport, on the day of travel – as opposed to after – can’t be overstated.”

The core ASQ survey hasn’t changed much over the past decade. However, the tools available to help airports analyze the data they receive have improved. A relaunch of the ASQ program in February 2015 ushered in a suite of resources for airports, including a plan-management tool, quarterly sample plans, an online reporting portal to deliver tailored analysis, enhanced reports, better data quality control and audit processes.

Gittens notes multiple benefits for airports of using the ASQ program: “ASQ identifies the areas where investments will most improve levels of passenger satisfaction. Knowing where to invest and focus financial and human resources just makes good sense for airports’ bottom lines.

“ASQ is also used as a tool to monitor supplier performance,” she adds. “By enabling comparisons with other airports, the ASQ Survey enables airports to set service level target ratings alongside those of other airports, on either a regional or a global level. In this way an airport can monitor targets included in service level agreements.

“Sharing best practices with other airports is another key element of the program. Airports that are part of this global network share all passenger satisfaction information with the entire ASQ community of airports, which drives the use of best practices and promotes discussions aimed at helping airports improve their passenger service levels. Airports also have the capability to assess the performance of management by setting similar service targets.”

Canadian exampleMontréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport in Canada is typical in its enthusiasm for the ASQ program. Aymeric Dussart, director of strategy and business data for operator Aéroports de Montréal, says, “It is not very difficult to implement the survey. It requires some effort to set up the process initially, generally with the help of a fieldwork agency, and also some management time afterward. However, the efforts are well worth it just by the number of improvement opportunities the program provides.

The advantage of gathering

information in person, at the airport, on the day of travel

– as opposed to after – can’t be

overstated

Advice for airports looking to improve their ASQ score1. Monitor your performance against the competition“It helps to see how you’re doing compared with others in the same situation. It also enables you to see the specific areas you should do better in. Then you can target them directly.Volker Wendefeuer, chief operations officer, Northern Capital Gateway

2. Focus on areas that matter to every traveler“Focus on things that have the possibility of raising the score in more than one passenger sector. For example, improving wi-fi raises that score [wi-fi provision], but also the overall satisfaction of business passengers as well as leisure travelers.”Hlynur Sigurdsson, terminal manager, Keflavik International Airport

3. Find space for your passengers “Space is one of the key drivers of customer satisfaction. The more people you put into a terminal, the less space there will be for passengers and the lower satisfaction will be. We’ve seen in a number of airports satisfaction levels have gone down as the number of passengers has grown.”Damien Kobel, director, DKMA

4. Keep staff in the loop“It’s crucial to regularly inform staff of the airport’s performance as demonstrated by the ASQ score. Seeing real feedback and specific low-performing or successful areas can be a great incentive for further improvement.”Volker Wendefeuer, chief operations officer, Northern Capital Gateway

5. Self-empowering technology is a good thing “We often hear that airports need to be personal and that passengers are looking for personal interaction. But our research shows the opposite. Whenever a process is completely automated, the passenger satisfaction ratings are higher than when there was an element of personal interaction.”Damien Kobel, director, DKMA

Ton

yV31

12/S

hu

tte

rsto

ck.c

om

The facts are the facts. And they tell a powerful story.

Montreal is leading the way as a top choice for North Atlantic routes. And with six brand-new international gates on track for May 2016,

our world-class service is only getting better.

With facts like these, it’s easy to see why Montreal is the ideal choice for over 30 leading airlines.

Care to join us?

admtl.com

More good news. More good reasons.

TOP 3 in North America

for choice of North Atlantic

routes!North Atlantic

for International passengers and destinations in Canada

#2 NEWS

direct service routes with

30 regular partner airlines130

MARCH 2016 | Passenger Terminal World passengerterminaltoday.com

AIRPORT SERVICE QUALITY 71

Dussart reveals that insights gleaned from the ASQ survey led Aéroports de Montréal to invest in improving its wi-fi service to passengers after it discovered how important a fast and reliable solution was deemed. However, where the ASQ program really comes into its own is as a benchmarking tool, he argues. “This allows us to measure the airport’s performance with reference to peers and not only to past performance. This facilitates the identification of improvement opportunities and helps us to prioritize passenger experience initiatives,” he notes. “Comparison with neighboring or similar-sized airports, prevents service-quality gaps with peers.”

A high ASQ score is also an excellent marketing tool. “ASQ is known in the aviation business and therefore eases communication with airlines,” says Hlynur Sigurdsson, terminal manager at Iceland’s Keflavik International Airport, which was named Best Airport in Europe in the 2014 ASQ Awards, which recognize airports that have achieved the highest passenger satisfaction ratings in the ASQ Survey. “We always use our ASQ scores when we speak with potential airlines and when we have status meetings with the current ones.”

Back to basicsAccording to Gittens, the service priorities of passengers vary according to type. Thus, a business traveler is likely to want to move through the airport quickly and efficiently, find a business lounge and connect to the internet. In contrast, a family on vacation is going to be more interested in the duty-free shopping and food and beverage offerings.

However, there are some universal concerns, she says. “Cleanliness of washroom facilities, ambience, a sense of place and wayfinding consistently place near the top of the list. On the lower end tend to be the check-in and security screening processes, although evaluations of both have improved over the years.”

Damien Kobel, director of airport consultancy DKMA, which has implemented customer surveys at more than 300 airports in the past 15 years, agrees that cleanliness, sense of security and ambience should never be underestimated. “These areas are where airports need to be placing the most effort as they have the highest impact on satisfaction. If you get them wrong you will never achieve high levels of passenger satisfaction.

“Unfortunately it is often the case that airports prefer to focus on shiny new things, such as shops and restaurants, instead of getting the basics right,” he continues. “But if your airport is not clean, if your toilets are filthy, it’s going to be difficult to make a passenger happy with your shops and restaurants and you can actually lose sales as a result.”

Halifax Stanfield aims to ease passengers’ stressHalifax Stanfield International Airport in Nova Scotia, Canada, boasted a healthy overall ASQ score of 4.36 out of five in 2015. Vice president of Corporate Communications and Airport Experience, Peter Spurway, partly attributes the airport’s rising customer satisfaction levels to its customer satisfaction program, called ‘The Stanfield Way’.

The airport, which is named after a former premier of Nova Scotia, introduced The Stanfield Way in 2012 to unite the disparate on-airport agencies and organizations that travelers come into contact with during their journey through the airport. The program is a simple but effective half-day training session at which attendees are taught to strive toward five qualities in their everyday work: happiness, helpfulness, caring, courtesy and kindness.

Spurway explains, “We have built the program around the tenet

that airports are emotional places. Regardless of the purpose of the trip and what brings a person to the airport, our experience is that passengers are arriving in a somewhat altered state of mind.

“People have a great deal of things on their mind when they come through the door,” he adds. “So we designed a program to help everyone in the airport community, whether they are a front-line person or work in the office, to understand the mindset of passengers and visitors. We try to do our best to lower their stress by reaching out to people to offer help before they even ask for it.”

Spurway says almost 800 people have now graduated from The Stanfield Way, including 120 volunteers who regularly help out at the airport. The airport is now running refresher courses for employees who were among the first to take the course back in 2012.

Comparison with neighboring or

similar-sized airports, prevents

service-quality gaps with peers

ABOVE:Passengers gave positive feedback about the service they received at Halifax Stanfield International Airport

BELOW:Halifax airport helpers wear traditional Nova Scotia tartan vests to create a sense of place for travelers

Passenger Terminal World | MARCH 2016 passengerterminaltoday.com

72 AIRPORT SERVICE QUALITY

Advice from IncheonOne of the high achievers in the ASQ program is Incheon International, which has ranked top in the ASQ Survey for the past 10 years. So what is the Korean hub’s recipe for success and how does it guard against complacency? Airport operator Incheon International Airport Corporation’s (IIAC) customer service (CS) manager, Ja-Hwan Kang, explains, “We use the ASQ Survey results as very important management information. Our CS management team analyzes the results in depth and then builds an improvement plan for service categories with lower results.

“Many entities are involved in the running of an airport, including the government, airlines, concessionaires and outsourcing companies. Maintaining harmony between them is a very important factor in customer service.”

Kang says IIAC’s customer service promise boils down to three key values: safety, speed and convenience. In terms of safety he cites the airport’s runways having an ILS Cat IIIb landing system on both sides, which enables flights to take off and land when visibility is down to 50m. Incheon is the only airport in Asia to have the system, cutting delays to a minimum and winning recognition from international organizations such as ICAO and the TSA.

As for speed, Kang says Incheon is committed to self-service-oriented technology such as self check-in, mobile boarding passes and automated passport checks, which all speed up passenger processing times. The average time for the departure process is just 19 minutes and arrival is only 12 minutes. Similarly, Kang claims the airport has one of the fastest and most efficient baggage handling systems in the world, with only seven out of one million bags going astray.

Best improvementRussia’s Pulkovo Airport in St Petersburg has enjoyed a remarkable turnaround in terms of passenger satisfaction in recent years. It was named in the ASQ Awards as the top airport in Europe for Service Quality Improvement in 2014. Volker Wendefeuer, chief operations officer at Pulkovo’s private-public Northern Capital Gateway (NCG), attributes the airport’s reversal of fortunes to the opening of an international terminal and the closure of two old terminals (Pulkovo 1 and 2) 6km from each other.

“The new Pulkovo terminal has state-of-the-art infrastructure and equipment that make service to passengers efficient and their time here comfortable,” comments Wendefeuer. “Such features as increased numbers of check-in counters (88), border control booths (110) and

Passenger Terminal Conference 2016The ACI’s director of Airport Customer Experience and Technology, Antoine Rostworowski, will chair a panel discussion at the Passenger Terminal Conference in Cologne, Germany, on March 15, 2016, at 2:45-3:35pm, looking at the Airport Service Quality program and the tools needed to facilitate airport decision making. Rostworowski will be joined by Aéroports de Montréal’s director of strategy and business data, Aymeric Dussart; Incheon International’s customer service manager Ja-Hwan Kang; and Heathrow’s head of research, data and reporting, George Efkolides.

security checkpoints have cut waiting time in lines to the minimum.

“The newly installed Vanderlande automatic baggage handling system has decreased the waiting time for luggage,” he notes. “In addition, the new terminal was quickly filled with commercial facilities, F&B, and stores of a wide brand and price range to provide passengers with the maximum variety of options.”

As well as these capital improvements, Wendefeuer also credits the role of NCG’s own Corporate University in raising customer service levels among staff. “To give an example, in 2014 the university set up a workshop for security personnel. It was introduced in the beginning of 2014 with the purpose of helping newcomers as well as experienced employees adapt to the new facilities and make their interactions with passengers more efficient in the new environment.

“The program has proved successful and is now a part of regular biennial training for security staff. It includes training on communication, active listening, conflict resolution and corporate values.”

Although airports often conduct their own in-house and third-party customer satisfaction research, the ASQ program continues to go from strength to strength, and Gittens urges more airports to get on board. “As with all the services ACI offers to the global airport industry, we actively and continually encourage commercial airports large and small from every region of the world to become involved. We leave no airport behind,” she explains. n

ABOVE: For the past 10 years Incheon has topped the ASQ SurveyRIGHT: Pulkovo has been praised for improving its customer service in recent years

RIGHT:Antoine Rostworowski, ACI director of Airport Customer Experience and Technology

Hello

Goodbye

BBHS is taking baggage handling into the 21st century.BBHS has created an intelligent and automated solution to the current challenges of manual baggage handling. Through the use of new carts and new methods, this revolutionary system produces less flight delays, improved working environment, reduction in damaged and lost baggage, faster turn-around time, need for less equipment, increased capacity on ground and overall improved productivity. BBHS provides the missing link between the sorting systems and the aircraft side. Efficient cooperation is hereby achieved for all stakeholders and creating satisfied passengers.Visit bbhs.dk for more information.

BBHS A/S Hovedgaden 451F 2640 Hedehusene, DenmarkPhone: +45 31781012Email: info@bbhs.dk / sales@bbhs.dk

Exruptive re-thinks the entire value chain from check-in to gate to deliver better experiences for passengers and more profitable solutions for airport operators and retailers.

Create the futureAirport Experience

Stackable trolley design

Intelligent tablet

Multiple basket platform

Plastic moldedtrolley frame

The Commercial Intelligence Trolley offers:

Exruptive A/SHovedgaden 451F2640 Hedehusene, DenmarkContact: Morten PankokePhone: +45 40 45 64 66Email: mp@exruptive.comwww.exruptive.com

Personalized guidance of passengers

A strong cross channel sales platform at the passengers’ fingertip

Deep insights to passenger behavior

No early- or late gaters

Flexible design solutions to meet your needs