Airports Customer Experience rated
Good ASQ Q2 scores reported for PANYNJ airports
BY JEFF YAPALATER
Opinions about airport experiences can
be found regularly in the media with occasional
critical headlines blasting a bad travel
experience. These complaints, although
few and far between, are not ignored by the
airport operators, and surveys of customer
experience are regularly taken at JFK, LGA
and EWR airports to measure attitudes. According
to the top executives at the Port Authority
which include the Executive Director
Rick Cotton and Aviation Director Huntley
Lawrence, the best “Customer Experience”
it on the top of the list to achieve.
At every Port Board meeting, at every
new unveiling of a service or development,
the “Customer Experience” is
spoken with passion. This experience includes
all aspects of travel and passengers
are regularly interviewed to understand
their needs and concerns.
In 2017, the Port Authority began participating
in the Airports Council International
– Airport Service Quality (ACI-ASQ)
passenger satisfaction survey allowing
the Port to better understand what matters
most to today’s passengers and
benchmark passenger satisfaction results
across the Port Authority’s airport system
and with peer airports around the world.
Surveys are conducted each quarter
in-person with passengers at the departure
gate. JFK conducts 3,000 surveys
quarterly, the largest quarterly sample
size of any participating ASQ airports.
EWR and LGA each conduct 1,000
surveys quarterly, the 10th highest sample
size of participating airports in Q2 2021.
Most recently, JFKIAT and LGA Terminal
B were recognized for their new
20 AIRPORT VOICE, AUGUST 2021
bathrooms. This may sound a bit odd,
but according to surveys, bathrooms and
cleanliness are foremost on the minds of
travelers. With the resumption of services
at NY airports and more people getting
back to flying, the airports are again achieving
good reviews that are reported through
the Airports Council International-Airport
Service Quality ( ACI-ASQ) surveys.
In the most recent report, ASQ results
across all airports show improvement
from Q2 2019 on nearly all ASQ attributes
and continued strong performance on key
drivers of overall satisfaction, including facility
measures (e.g.,terminal cleanliness)
and courtesy measures.
Facilities across PANYNJ airports that
performed higher overall also performed
higher on these key drivers of overall satisfaction.
ASQ results in Q2 2021 continue
to focus on reducing customer pain points
The Security experience remains the
most commented-on step in the passenger
journey with disruptive experiences inconsistent
with their expectations, such as finding
the PreCheck lane closed or expecting to
be able to purchase a product before a flight
only to find closed concessions or long lines.
According the LGA Interim General
Manager Tony Vero, “ Addressing these
inconsistent experiences may contribute
to improved satisfaction scores.”
However, he reported that the overall
performance in Q2 2021 continues to be
strong and should be commended, exhibiting
clear improvements over Q2 2019, and
exceeding many of their performance goals.
WeSoar awards
The airport worker is key to excellent
Customer Experience. The Port understands
this and created the We Soar program
before the covid outbreak. Regardless
of the pandemic, the airports have
continued to function, albeit very quietly
throughout 2020, but the workers showed
up, handled all aspects of service, and
were recognized. The We Soar program
recognizes and awards airport workers
for their high level of service for providing
outstanding Customer Experience. Nominations
for these awards come from travelers
or co-workers. The Individuals are
chosen each quarter based on the number
of excellent nominations submitted
and the winners receive a $500 check for
their efforts. Each airport holds an awards
ceremony each period and these workers
are congratulated and their service applauded
by airport management. To participate
go to http://wesoarhigher.com/
WeSoar Q2 Awardees
JFKIAT 4Good Programs
Donations assist local community
JFKIAT, the operator of Terminal 4
at John F. Kennedy International Airport,
recently presented $100,000 in
donations to Greater Allen A.M.E. Cathedral
of New York, Boys & Girls Club
of Metro Queens, the CUNY Aviation
Institute at York College, and the Jamaica
Center Business Improvement
District to support each organization’s
mission of strengthening the Queens
community.
“As our community continues to
recover from the pandemic, it is of the
utmost importance that we support
organizations that serve the Greater
Jamaica area,” said Roel Huinink,
President and CEO of JFKIAT. “As a
Queens-based business, we hope to
make a meaningful impact through
our 4GOOD program, and we are
grateful to each of our partners for
working with us to make these contributions
possible. We are very proud
to support these organizations that
provide direct support to local businesses
and residents in our community.”
Aimed at promoting educational,
social, and professional success,
the 4GOOD program consists of two
components: Community (Corporate
Philanthropy) and Sustainability (Environment).
Corporate resources include
financial contributions, charitable
giving, employee volunteering
and community outreach. Since
JFKIAT launched 4GOOD in 2016, the
company has distributed more than
$150,000 annually in funds for charities,
organized events at Terminal 4,
and worked closely with several organizations
in Queens.
/
/