Winning the Airport Waiting Game

We are a population that hates to wait. In fact, the age-old notion of "waiting your turn" has taken on associations of inefficiency and incompetence.

The demand for instantaneous results is one of the single biggest challenges facing the transportation business - where there will always be elements beyond our control. Customers expect more out of their air travel experience than ever before. And while there is more technology innovation available to meet these increasingly complex demands, even the briefest application error adversely affects customer loyalty.

So how can we, as airport operators, gain an edge in an increasingly difficult waiting game?

Prioritizing Passenger Experience

Craig Richmond Craig Richmond is president and chief executive officer for the  Vancouver Airport Authority, the operating authority of Vancouver International Airport (YVR). Skytrax’s annual passenger survey recently named YVR the Best Airport in North America for the fifth consecutive year. Under Richmond’s leadership, YVR continues to focus on innovation, sustainability and teamwork.

International airports, major airlines and airport authorities across North America have begun to see enormous potential in improving the overall passenger experience. In 2009, Vancouver Airport Authority, the not-for-profit organization that manages Vancouver International Airport (YVR), set out to discover our biggest areas of inefficiency and congestion and analyze how they were affecting the airport experience.

Following an in-depth analysis of passenger flow and bottleneck points, we discovered that the border clearance process required a significant amount of time and personnel. Furthermore, it wasn't producing very good results. What followed was a series of business decisions made with our international passengers and U.S. counterparts in mind.

Beyond the Border

We initially designed a self-service border solution for use only at YVR. We expected a faster process for Canadian residents returning to Canada. The response was swift and dramatic: Reports from the front lines indicated that foreign travelers also benefited, thanks to overall shortened lines. Within just a few months of installing the kiosks at YVR, our airport was in compliance with the International Civil Aviation Organization's target to process 95% of arriving international passengers in 20 minutes or less.

That success quickly led to the development of a self-service solution for U.S. and Canadian passport holders arriving into the United States. BorderXpress is our Automated Passport Control system for U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The idea that the Customs waiting game could, in fact, be won at home and abroad was a story we wanted to tell, and U.S. airports - 13 to date - have taken notice. 

Early adopters reported significant competitive advantage and happier international travelers. In the first 40 days of operation, passengers using the kiosks at Chicago O'Hare took an average of just four minutes to proceed through Customs, while non-kiosk users spent 38 minutes. In addition, peak wait times were reduced by 33% for all passengers. Compared to 2012, waits of more than 60 minutes were reduced by 58% overall, and missed connections were reduced by 62%.

Strategizing for the Future

Weighing the financial implications of technology purchases against airport needs will continue to be a difficult task for airport operators. But as consumer adoption of technology grows exponentially and consumer expectations for a pleasurable travel experience continue to increase, there is opportunity for airports to simultaneously improve their bottom lines and our industry's reputation.

The opportunities to use technology to improve the entire passenger lifecycle are limitless, and the time to act collectively to end the airport waiting game has arrived.