Airport Experience® News - Customer Service Issue 2023

Alongside a comprehensive customer experience program, every quarter GSP offers customer appreciation events that simply thank travelers for using GSP. “We have an airside garden, where we set up cornhole games, we give out trinkets and coloring books to the little travelers, and we give out free food and drinks,” says Tyra. “The looks on the customers faces is pretty amazing when they [realize] we’re having a cookout in the garden.” GSP has a lot of the amenities that many other airports offer: live music performances, a virtual art tour, a history museum. “We think that taking the next step, having with having dedicated once a-quarter programs that just say ‘thank you’ goes a long way.” Next up for GSP is an app-based program connecting all the people who work at GSP, both for the airport directly and for tenants at the airport. “With the app we can provide [GSP workers] with updates on customer satisfaction scores, and we can reward folks who have had outstanding performances,” Tyra says. “We can [highlight positive guest feedback] that sometimes doesn’t get shared. We can continually give some tutoring, some mentoring, some pats on the back - those types of things that are all customer focused. We’re trying to make sure that people know that the service they give is noticed, that it’s appreciated and that it sets us apart from a lot of other airports.” An Airport-Wide Approach At SEA Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) has a robust internal customer service approach that addresses a variety of issues, but it also reached out to its tenants to partner on customer service initiatives that “cut across the airport,” according to Julie Collins, director, customer experience and brand strategy. “The SEA Experience Partners is an airport-wide group,” she says. “We realized that there are many incredibly important issues that affect all of us across the airport. The group - involving representatives of airlines, concessionaires, federal agencies and others - meets quarterly to discuss everything from how to manage unhoused people who use the airport as shelter to ensuring there are enough break rooms and parking for employees.

Above, Right: Airport employees, tenants and stakeholders at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport join together to troubleshoot areas of concern ranging from passenger wait times at security checkpoints to how to ensure employees have access to convenient parking.

SEA Managing Director Lance Lyttle attends every meeting, Collins says, as do several tenants with out-of-state offices who join virtually. Issues are brought to the fore and organized by topic. “We’ve built out some subcommittees from that larger group because we find that some of these topics really do take some concentrated discussions with smaller groups,” she says. One emerging issue garnering a lot of discussion is the need for more amenities for employees of SEA and its tenant businesses. “We have challenges for our employees to find flexible hours and to find convenient and affordable childcare, so the group is discussing that issue,” Collins says. “We have issues involving employee parking because we have a limited amount - how do we make sure that we’re getting employees to work in a timely manner?”

Other subcommittees are looking at other aspects of the traveler experience, such as a focus on security checkpoints. “We look at things like, is there signage? Do we need to set the cues differently? Is there technology that we should be looking at and thinking about and trying out?” Collins asks. Airport employees - and how to ensure workers stay happy and engaged - are also the subject of discussions. With employee satisfaction top of mind, one recent effort - suggested by a committee member from an airline - involved a “surprise and delight” event aboard a bus that shuttles employees to an external lot. “We had music and pompoms and food, and just really gave that thank you so much to our employees for what you do,” Collins says. “Those are the kinds of ideas that can be generated when we get people together.”

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AX NEWS CUSTOMER SERVICE ISSUE 2023