Passengers are known to arrive at airports stressed, short on time, and distracted by any number of concerns. The stress is intensified when faced with long and seemingly endless queues. With increasing competition among airports and airlines to earn the business and loyalty of travelers, the experience of waiting in line – for security, concessions, ticketing, taxi service, and more – is rightfully becoming a concern and focus. Intelligent queue management technology allows airport queuing managers to monitor passenger flow and KPIs with real-time information that can help keep wait times under control and deliver a better passenger experience. With queue management technology, airports can realize 6 key operational benefits:
1. Monitor passenger arrival rates
Knowing flight departure and arrival times help in assessing when passenger arrival rates are likely to increase or decrease across queues in the airport, but there is another way to monitor the number of travelers passing through. By monitoring a queue in real-time, you can know the arrival rates of passengers and manage the queues accordingly, whether that means opening up new lines, adding more service agents, or adjusting a queue’s configuration.
2. Measure peak times and seasonality
Intelligent queue management systems continually collect data to create historical records that can be used to anticipate staffing and queuing needs. Yes, airports will be busy at Thanksgiving, but just how busy? What consistent patterns emerge from season to season that can inform queue management? For that matter, what does every Monday look like at a particular airport? Queue monitoring will tell you the busy and slow times of a queue at any particular day and time.
3.Count the total number of passengers waiting in each queue
It’s possible to know, at any given moment, how many people are waiting throughout the airport, a terminal, or a single queue. With this information, traffic can be redirected to shorter queues when necessary. Airline passengers can appreciate a quick trip to the front of the line, any line, whether it’s security, ticketing, or the currency exchange queue.
4. Assess average waiting times of passengers in each queue
With intelligent queue management, managers can know how long people have been waiting in each queue and adjust staffing needs or open more queues at a moment’s notice. Having this knowledge is valuable in improving the customer experience since a shorter wait time is on the mind of every traveler.
5. Manage passenger expectations
Known waits are shorter than unknown waits, and far more tolerable. Queue managers can access real-time data to display estimated wait times on digital screens within the queuing area so that passengers are informed accurately about their wait. If passengers know how long they can expect to be waiting, it can help diffuse tempers and anxiety about being pressed for time when catching a flight.
6. Determine which queues are being under- or over-utilized
Some queues are inevitably over-utilized, and that’s when queuing problems can arise. Intelligent queue management with real-time information shows the queues that aren’t as crowded. Queue managers can redirect traffic so that travelers move to a shorter queue for faster service. Even if they have to walk to another area of the terminal, most people will appreciate knowing there is a shorter line to be had. In fact, the act of being in motion toward a faster queue makes passengers feel like they’re making progress and ultimately reducing the perceived wait time further. Airport passengers have to get where they’re going, and it’s the airport’s job to help them get there as quickly and efficiently as possible. Focusing on queue management is a great way to do that, and it helps keep passengers happy at the same time.
