CUSTOMER SERVICES AT AIRPORTS

A RELENTLESS PURSUIT IN EXCELLENCE

(A CASE STUDY OF AIRPORTS AUTHORITY OF INDIA)
- Dr. Tayyab S. Shaikh*
Introduction
Customer services passenger facilitation in civilian Aviation parlance has been engaging
attention of Airport Authorities world over for quite some time now. No wonder then the British
Airports Authority had engaged Scandinavian Service School to design, develop & deliver series of
training programmes for British Airports Personnel on the theme please the passenger in the early
eighties. As a part of training material SSS had brought out 150 odd pages work book, neatly
dividing theme of customer services training in several chapters, exercises, games and the text
written in lucid language with generous spread of eye-catching pictures & figures laced with humor.
Interestingly, large portion of this programme and its material was devoted to the personal aspect of
service. No wonder then, relationships, stress and how to control stress, non-verbal & verbal
communication, assertiveness, positive attitude to life etc. finds prominent place in the programme
and material design. Such organised & professional approach goes on to lend credence to the
important role customer services play in Airport operations.
Airport Customers - Airport Customers are the users of Airport. Travelling passengers
also called as pax comes on to the top of the list. And distinguished participants of this Oxford
Brooks University organized International Conference on Services Management are urged to take
note of the fact that each of the hundreds of thousands of passengers is different from the other.
Nationality, age, sex, economic status, corporate vs government organization travellers, leisure vs
business travellers length of flying hours, departure / arrival time, all these and other factors make
each passenger a unique customer in terms of expectations of the services from airport operators.
Notable among other airport customers are: airlines operating from the airport; govt. agencies viz.
custom, immigration, health authorities, security personnel; concessionaires; banks; forex agencies;
oil companies; cargo & travel agents; visitors and so on & so forth. Since most of these agencies pay
rentals service charges to Airports Authority (for the space provided or for granting license to
operate) they, and rightly so, think as their divine right to expect value for money paid to the Airports
Authority.
Customer Service Defined In the Airport scenario, customer services can be defined as
series of initiatives launched by the Authority to ensure smooth, quick, & safe transiting of
passengers & their luggage & ensuring it by such other initiatives so that other agency operations are
run in uninterrupted manner depending upon their requirements.
Airport Customers What do they want As mentioned above Airport Customers are
different with great variations in terms of their expectations. Even when it comes to passenger
service, these are not only classified at macro level such as: domestic & international passenger, with
further classification as: arriving, departing & transit passengers; but can be further classified at
micro level based on factors such as: gender, age group, nationality, business vs leisure traveller,
frequent vs occasional travellers etc. See Box 1 for a list of Airport customers at International
Airport.
Sheer variety of Airport customers is further compounded when it comes to their demands &
expectations. Passengers look for hassle free approach and exit from Airport (city side of the airport
facilities parking area for taxis, private cars, bus/rail service); flight arrival/departure information;
*

Dr. Shaikh is Executive Director (Training), National Institute of Aviation Management And Research, Airports Authority of
India. He could be reached at: drtsshaikh@aai.aero
** A paper presented in the International Conference on Service Management organised by IIMT & Oxford Brooks
University, UK at New Delhi (Mar. 05)

clear audible flight announcement system; space for free movement inside the terminal building;
clean toilets and resting areas; smoking /non-smoking area segregation; effective signage of
international standards indicating various facilities inside the terminal; well stocked duty free &
other merchandise shops and outlets; communication facilities (telephones, cyber cafes, fax etc.);
clean & hygienic restaurants & snack bars; medical & first aid; toilets etc.. Elderly & physically
challenged passengers & mothers travelling with infants & small kids have different expectations.
And all of them wanted safety and security of their baggage & more importantly friendly and helpful
staff on duty. The list is unending. While passenger expectations are individual centric, other
agencies and organisations requirements hinges on commercial principles. Airlines wanted adequate
check-in area for passengers inside the terminal building & back-up office space, both on more
(space) for less (rental) principle, air-conditioning, water & power supply, availability of conveyor
belts, toilets & rest room facilities for duty staff, etc. Regulatory Agencies i.e. Customs and
Immigration look for more space at vintage points, so does duty free shop operators and other
concessionaires. In fact everyone clamours for best & spacious location for their operations in
otherwise limited space available in Terminal Building for commercial purpose.
The customer satisfaction survey - AAI conducts, with the help of external professional
agency, nationwide survey of customer satisfaction with the objective to maintain high standards of
services/facilities provided at Indian Airports and to improve these services in the light of opinions of
Airport users. In particular objectives of the survey are:
a) to assess the adequacy of Airport facilities, services and conveniences.
b) to understand expectations about the facilities of respective Airport
c) to study the preference on desirable attributes of services and facilities.
Airport Services users includes passengers (arriving & departing i.e. embarking and
disembarking), transiting passengers, visitors, airlines, exporters & importers and regulatory agencies
such as custom, immigration, and commercial banks and concessionaires.
Development & Research Services (DRS) was commissioned to carry out survey at the gap
of 6 months, each survey lasting for one week, at 30 Airports simultaneously (19 domestic and 11
international) on 4 different time slots during the year 2002-2004. Some of the findings of the most
recent survey of December 2003-Jan 2004 are discussed here.
Sampling & Methodology - Based on Stratified Systematic Sampling an average 5% pax at
International & 10% pax at Domestic Airports were interviewed with the help of pre designed &
tested questionnaire. Different set of questionnaires were used for different groups. In addition to
this, video taped interviews & feedback complaints cards filled by passengers, visitors and agency
personnel & put in the drop boxes provided at various locations at Airports, were also used to
ascertain views of Airport Service users on the services provided. Total number of passengers
covered was 57,745 thus representing 7.78% passengers handled during the survey weeks at 30
Airports. Passengers & other users were to indicate their response to various questions framing part
of the questionnaire on 1 to 5 scale, 1 indicating very low & 5 very good.
IGI Airport customer satisfaction survey - The survey report of 4th round presented by DRS
in March 2004, covered 11,083 respondents including both domestic & international passengers,
visitors, airlines, concessionaires and regulating agencies. It showed overall increase in Customer
Satisfaction Index (CSI) by 1% over the 3 rd round of survey. Report also indicated that though there
was overall increase in CSI (compared to 3 rd round) of concessionaires, embarking & disembarking
passengers and airlines, there was drop in CSI of Regulatory Agencies & visitors. The survey
concluded that facilities that require urgent attention are: snack bars, restaurants, cleanliness of toilets
& quality & clarity of audio announcements (international terminal); and toilets (cleanliness),
aesthetics of the Airports, conveyor belt (more breadth) and attitude of staff. CSI also indicated that
facilities such as: Cyber cafe, smoking zones, business lounges & book libraries at International

terminal and more shops, light music & more signage at domestic terminals are required urgently
(see Box 2 for services on which CSI was assessed).
Multiple Service Providers - Peculiar characteristic of Airport Customer Services is presence
of multiple service providers at the Airport. Some of the services provided by the Airports Authority
are described above. Airlines provide check-in facilities for all its passengers and lounge &
restaurant facilities for business & first class passengers, while later are waiting for a flight.
Passengers, depending upon time, spending capacity and spending habits avail concessionaire
provided services. Passengers unaware of the ownership of the service provider organization, at
times, mixes up and puts blame on Airport Authority for poor service. For instance, pax complaint
for overcharging by a book stall owner or harassment by cab driver or rude behaviour of immigration
officer or missing flight due to lack of proper flight announcements, ultimately lands up on the desk
of Airport Manager / Airport Director. Poor passenger service by one of the several service providers
is enough to mar reputation of the Airport, though in reality Airport Authority will not be even
distantly related with such incidence, or for that matter have any direct control on the service
provider.
Invisible Customer Services - From the above discussion, it could be seen that though
tremendous efforts goes into providing airport services, many of these go virtually un-noticed by
airline passengers. However, these services do influence safety & security of an entire airport. Poor
quality airport services can also adversely influence operations affecting airport, airlines and
passengers alike. Air Traffic Management Services are not visible to the passengers, yet these play
important role in directing & coordinating aircraft movement, its landing & take off. Runway
lighting is yet another such service. However, in the poor visibility conditions, it is only advance
grade runway lighting such as CAT III system which enables aircraft landing when the visibility is
very poor. Baggage collection areas, maintenance of conveyor belts, lifts, walkways, fire services
provided for emergency landing, the list of invisible services is long.
Cultural Milieu - Is one of the peculiar characteristics of passengers of Indian origin.
Whether departing or arriving, Indian air passenger in never alone, save some business and frequent
travellers. Large number of relatives and friends accompany departing passenger to the Airport,
likewise they like to receive them on arrival in similar manner. It is part of Indian culture and ethos,
not prevalent in advanced countries. Departure of Haj pilgrims is manifestation of this cultural
richness. Bus load of relatives and friends flock at the Airport to see-off one of their brethren
proceeding on Haj pilgrim. At IGI Airport, considering this peculiar requirement, a separate Haj
Terminal has been constructed to facilitate departure, arrival of Haj bound passengers & visitors
coming to see them off or to receive as the case may be. However, this large influx of visitors bring
pressure on already stretched customer services at the Airport, may it be movement space in terminal
building or city side of airport, or public conveniences, restaurants & snack bars.
Bunching of Flights - Thanks to embargo on night flying in the European and other
advanced countries, most of the international flights arriving and departing from Indian Airports are
scheduled around midnight to early morning hours between 11:00 pm to 03:00 am. As a result,
airport and other agency personnel at international terminal have to work at their optimal capacity
during night hours, whereas, during the day time there is relatively less action resulting into facilities
& personnel remaining idle. On the other hand, at domestic terminals, situation is in reverse. Past
11:00 PM till 04:00 AM there is no aircraft movement, whereas, early morning hours & evening
hours terminals are bustling with activities. This bunching of flights flight & passenger movement
during few hours of day or night results into huge stress on customer services provided and the
service providers at the Airport. Passengers become more demanding and sensitive when they
arrive / depart at odd hours when normal body clock is somewhat disturbed.
Compare with Comparable - This famous adage might be applicable in many services &
passengers perhaps unmindfully extend this to airport services as well. When we talk about civil

aviation, it could be broadly divided into two worlds. Developed and developing countries. The
former having affluence & abundant resources resulting into massive investment in creating airport
infrastructure which goes well with large scale of local population travelling by air and considering it
as a just alternative means of transport. There is influx of tourist & businessmen thus adding to
bulging number of airport service users. For instance, in top 30 airport worldwide, in passenger
traffic segment, Jan-Aug 04 data, India figures nowhere, whereas even small country airports such
as Bangkok & Singapore find places at 17 th & 27th slots respectively. IGI Airport with total passenger
traffic of 10.04 million passengers ranked 99 th among first 100 Airports in the world during 12
months period ending March 2004. Also compare this. London Heathrow Airport alone handled 45
million passengers during Jan-Aug 04, whereas, 126 Indian airports (11 International & 115
Domestic Airports & Civil Enclaves at Defence Airfields), put together handled 36.71 million
passengers for the corresponding period. This huge passenger traffic coupled with cargo & aircraft
movements brings in more revenue for Airport Authorities & more business for the concessionaires,
thus justifying increasing capital investment. While comparing Indian Airports with world class
airports, not only passengers but even policy makers and general public misses out on the direct
interdependence of volume of traffic generating huge revenue with the services provided at the
Airport.
The Road Ahead - One of the facets of Airport Services being the interdependence of
services provided by Airport Authority, Airlines, Regulatory & Ground Handling Agencies on the
overall passenger satisfaction index. Consider these stray incidents. Breakdown of baggage X-Ray
screening machine maintained and operated by Airports Authority can affect smooth check-in of
passengers for an airline causing delay in flight departure; no show by some immigration officers on
duty can cause delay in immigration clearance of passengers causing delay in flight departure; or
lightening strike by airline flight dispatch staff on some flimsy grounds can cause commotion in the
terminal building as it would halt smooth and orderly movement of passengers. All these incidents
can affect adversely on the functioning of the another agency, and also cause discomfort to passenger
plummeting customer satisfaction index. Well coordinated efforts by these can go long way in
increasing customer confidence, provide high levels of reliability and meet the quality of standards
expected in the Civil Aviation Industry by getting complete control over the entire airport services.
Considering the complexities and interdependence of Airport services on one hand and presence of
numerous Airport service providers on the other, need for Integrated Enterprise Resource Planning
(IERP) or Fully Integrated Customer Management System (ICMS) is strongly felt in order to have
effective control on managing range of customer services and to pull together resources, manpower
in particular, in order to deliver quality services and thereby increasing customer confidence. Some
efforts like facilitation counters (manned by Airport Authority & Airline staff) are already underway
at IGI Airport, however, its scope needs to be widened to bring under one umbrella maximum
possible customer services for effective & comprehensive IERP or ICMS solutions. Some of the
efforts of Airports Authority of India in this direction are presented above. Dynamics of Airport
operations are such that it calls for relentless efforts on the part of Airports Authority (and for that
matter on the part of other service providers too), to satisfy its numerous and demanding customers
by recognizing their true value and then unlocking it by offering an end-to-end service to the delight
of the customers. Indeed, when it comes to airport customer services, sky is the limit.
References:
-

Please the Passenger Face to Face Course Book devised by Scandinavian Service School
for British Airports.
Airport World, A Magazine of the Airport Council International, Geneva, Vol. 9, Dec. 04 Jan
05.
Total Control for Customer Satisfaction, Airport Technology International.
ACI Worldwide Traffic Watch, March 04, Airport Council International, Geneva.

Customer Satisfaction Survey, Vol. II, International Airports, Round 4, Dec 03 Jan 04, Final
Report submitted to Airports Authority of India by Development & Research Services, New
Delhi, March 04.

Box 1
International Airport List of Customers*
-

Passengers
(Arriving & Departing & Transit Passengers)
- Special package tours passengers.
- National carriers
- Scheduled Private Operators
- Nonscheduled Private operators (Company owned/aircraft)
- International Airlines
- Customs
- Immigrations
- Health Authority
- Air Insurance Companies
- Airport Security Agency
- Banks & other Agencies
- Travel Agents
- Tour operators
- Cargo Agents
- Individual Importer & exporter
- Post & Telegraph
- Telephone Agencies
- Concessionaires(book stalls, pharmacists, travel goods shops, handicraft & other presentation articles shops,
- Tourism Development Corporation Duty free shops & private operators duty free shops
- Hotels, Restaurants & snack Bars
- Advertisers
- Taxi/ and Tourist Bus Operators
- Rail Reservation/counters
- Ground handling Agencies
- Oil companies
- Embassies & consulates
- VVIP passengers of Indian origin & Heads of the States & other International/organizations visitors
- Conference organizers (occasional requirement)
- NGOs & other philanthropic organisations.
- News papers & other Media Reporters.
* Exhaustive & not complete list
** At IGI Airport, 50 airlines are operating. These include 40 international airlines; 3 international airlines
operating as exclusive freighters; 6 national carriers and domestic airlines; and 1 exclusive domestic freighter
(Dec 04 figures)

Box 2
Customer Satisfaction Index at IGI Airport - Services Criteria
International Terminal
Embarking passengers
The attitude of airport personnel
- Airport managers office staff (AAI)
- Snacks bar / restaurant staff
- Retiring room staff
- Airport city bus coach service staff
- Duty free shop staff
General
- General cleanliness of the airport
- Adequacy of seating arrangement
- General comfort
- General Aesthetics of the airport.
Drinking water
- Accessibility
- Cooling
- Availability of glasses
Toilets
- Cleanliness of the toilets
- Availability of tissue / liquid soaps etc.
Signage
- Guidance signage
- Location signage
Flight information
- Audio system
- Visual (Flight Information Display System)
Snack Bar / Restaurant
- General cleanliness
- Food quality
Trolley
- Trolley availability
- Trolley quality
- Trolley accessibility
Others
- Air-conditioning
- Telephone / PCO / STD / ISD
- Car parking facility at the airport
- Retiring rooms
- Escalators / lifts
- Air insurance
- Duty free shops
- Post office facility
- Airport Medical Care facility
- Airport city and airport bus / coach facility
Security: CSI
Disembarking passengers
The attitude of airport personnel
- Airport managers office staff (AAI)
- Snacks bar / restaurant staff
- Duty free shop staff
General
- General cleanliness of the airport
- Adequacy of seating arrangement
- General comfort
- General Aesthetics of the airport.
- Functioning of the conveyer belt
- Flight display at the conveyer belt
Drinking water
- Accessibility
- Cooling
- Availability of glasses

Toilets
- Cleanliness of the toilets
- Availability of tissue / liquid soaps etc.
Signage
- Guidance signage
- Location signage
Flight information
- Audio system
- Visual (Flight Information Display System)
Snack Bar / Restaurant
- General cleanliness
- Food quality
Trolley
- Trolley availability
- Trolley quality
- Trolley accessibility
Others
- Air-conditioning
- Telephone / PCO / STD / ISD
- Escalators / lifts
- Airport medical / personal care facility
- Hotel / tourist information system
- Pre-paid taxi service
- Car rental
- Left luggage facility
- Money exchange / bank
- Inter terminal transfer facility
- Child care facility
- Assistance to handicapped
- Duty free shops
- Baggage Delivery services
- Airport city and airport bus / coach facility
Visitors
Attitude of Staff
- Entry ticket counter staff
- Gate staff
- Airport Managers Office (Grievance
Redressal)
General
- Air-conditioning
- Car parking facility at the airport
- Seating arrangements
- Entry ticket services
Flight Information
- Audio announcements
- Video display
- Personal inquiry
General cleanliness
Drinking water
- Accessibility
- Cooling
- Availability of paper glasses
Toilets
- Cleanliness of the toilets
- Availability of tissue paper / liquid soaps
Snack Bar / Restaurant
Telephone / PCO / STD / ISD
Space in the visitors gallery
Airlines
Space
- Space for airline inside the airport
- Space for check-in

Trolley
- Trolley availability at entry to airport
- Trolley quality
- Trolley accessibility
Functioning of luggage and movement
- Weighing platform
- Conveyor belt
- Assistance to handicapped
Storage facility
- Airline counters
- Loading / unloading of luggage at belt
- Adequacy of seating arrangement
General Aesthetics & Cleanliness
- VIP lounge
- Executive lounge
- Electricity
- Air-conditioning
- Water facility
- Toilets
Communication
- Telephone
- Intercom
- Circulation space for passengers
Functioning of following:
- AAI
- Bank
- Money exchange
- Fees / rent
Personnel
- AAI staff
- Bank staff
- Money exchange counter staff
Concessionaires
Availability / quality of service
- Electricity
- Air-conditioning
- Water facility / availability
- Toilets
- Telephone services STD / ISD / Local
- General aesthetics
- Cleanliness
- Circulation space for the customers
- AAIs interaction / response to complaints
- Banks (working hours)
- Security arrangement
- Personnel (Entry / Exit / Movements)
- Turnover
- Fee / Rent to AAI
Attitude of Airport Personnel
- AAI staff
- Bank
- Customs
- Airlines
- Security
- Other agencies
Regulatory Agencies
Working conditions at the airport
- Office space
- Electricity
- Air-conditioning
- Water facility / availability

Toilets
Telephone / Intercom
Canteen facility
Rest room facility

- Medical / first aid facility

Personnel Attitude
- AAI staff
- Bank

Customs
Airlines
Security
Other agencies