Introduction
The peculiarities of air traffic and passengers’ expectations from airport services create a significant basis for competitions between different airline companies. In the past century, it was the government that used to own and operate the airline industry. Nowadays, a number of changes occur because of the process of privatisation in this sector that leads to the creation of certain improvements and challenges in custom services (Ostrowski, O’Brien & Gordon 1993; Morash & Ozment 1994; Oliveira 2013). Airline companies have to solve many questions in order to meet customers’ expectations, promote changes, and introduce the effective performance. The idea to measure the quality of passenger waiting time at airports is frequently discussed by many companies as one of the main issues in customer services that have to be improved to make an airport competitive and preferable among customers.
Importance of Custom Services in Airports
Airport managers have to measure the level of performance in airport terminals in relation to the expectations of customers and the possible quality of services offered. Passengers have different opinions and attitudes to airport customer service (Fodness & Murray 2007). It has been recognised that the assessment of the capabilities in airport passenger terminals and the possibility to handle passengers and their baggage is not enough. The introduction of new techniques to study the requirements and expectations of passengers has become essential (Park, Robertson & Wu 2004; Tolpa 2012). Several models of airport passenger terminal assessment have been introduced that measure factors such customer comfort, convenience, and the ambience at airport passenger terminals (Zidarova & Zografos 2011).
Attitudes to Waiting Time in Airports
Passengers and visitors may have different expectations in regards to the services they could get in airports. Still, the majority of people believe that waiting time at check-ins is a crucial factor in airports (Wiredja, Popovic & Blacker 2015). It is necessary to admit that departing and arriving passengers face different problems when they have to wait in airports (Kamarudin 2015). On the one hand, departing passengers may consider waiting time as their priority to solve their possible immigration issues or baggage problems. On the other hand, arriving passengers may not like waiting time because they have already passed certain check points and want to leave airports as soon as possible. There is also the division of passengers in regards to the purposes of their travelling. There are business passengers and leisure travellers, who may demonstrate different attitudes to airport services and the waiting time concept. Finally, there are regular and occasional passengers, who also demonstrate different attitudes to waiting time and the services offered by airports (Lubbe, Douglas & Zambellis 2011).
Waiting Time Peculiarities
Comfort while waiting is an important aspect in airport passenger terminals. Such comfort includes proper seating arrangements, clean washrooms, ample eating joints, ambience, and easily visible display boards (Fodness & Murray 2007). Another area where waiting time is considered to be important for departing passengers is the passport inspection counter. Waiting time and courtesy of the inspecting staff are the two factors that play an important role for passengers (Kramer, Bothner & Spiro 2013).
Techniques to Evaluate Waiting Time
There are several techniques used to evaluate the waiting time at airports. For instance, in many airports, the psychometric scaling technique is used to evaluate the waiting time at baggage claiming points. Passengers are subjected to experiences of being handled during boarding and alighting. The passengers are requested to rate their experience based on various factors (Falcão 2013).
Another technique that is used to measure customer satisfaction at airports is the method of successive categories. It allows the user to convert qualitative data into quantitative data. Passengers share their perceptions of airport services offered to visitors from different perspectives. As a rule, a category that has to be rated is chosen by a passenger (Falcão 2013).
In addition to check-in and managing baggage, various service-oriented procedures, such as the waiting time reduction, need to be followed at airports. Managers should consider the cost of providing service in comparison to the waiting time (Olapiriyakul & Das 2007). Passenger security screening is a typical model that aptly demonstrates the actual problem. There is no other alternative except to accept it in a larger perspective of customer services. Passengers have to stand in queues in order to be screened and enter the terminal (Saidi & Barros 2013).
Factors to Reduce Waiting Time
The factors to reduce waiting time are based on the theory of demand and supply. Supply means the capacity to manage the passenger flow, and demand means the number of incoming passengers. If there is less checking staff at an entrance gate A, people have to wait and create a long queue. In such a situation, people should have a chance to use another entrance gate B where the queue is not that long. Such approach would apparently increase the inflow at the gate B. However, this decision cannot solve the problem if there is enough staff at gate B. Therefore, the real problem is rooted in the existing infrastructure, staff, and the level of performance (Felkel & Klann 2011).
Conclusion
Ongoing competitions in the airline industry make airline companies introduce new strategies to meet the expectations of their customers. Waiting time at airports is one of the most crucial factors that can annoy passengers and influence the reputation of an airline company. It is necessary to adopt statistical measures and evaluate their customers’ satisfaction. There are several statistic software products that airlines can use in order to assess the comfort of their passengers. Airlines have to identify the needs of passengers and their own possibilities to find out the required balance.
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