Now we can say there’s a thin line within airport KPIs and airline KPIs in terms of ground operations, especially for events such as check-in or baggage. In some cases, the airports provide the service to the airlines as a third party. Therefore, for this specific case, we will assume that all services are provided directly by the airport.
Baggage Handling Is Crucial For Airport And Airport’s KPIs
Baggage Mishandling
I want to begin with one of the most important KPIs, Baggage Mishandling. For travelers, one of their biggest fears is to have issues with their luggage. Loss, damage, or delays have been big pain points for travelers for many years. Therefore, airports must track daily the amount of mishandled baggage in operation.
The KPI works best with a target reflecting a reference point. Thus, airports can understand if the KPI is performing as expected, better, or requires improvement measurements. For this KPI, it is necessary to count with real-time data as well as with historical data. Especially the recorded information is essential to understand the evolution of the issue for a long time.
A tracking monthly is reasonable here. This helps to determine if there are specific days/times where critical situations happen recurrently. On the other hand, it can also be compared month-to-month. Thus, airports can determine if particular months during the year are more critical than others. Or if there is a stable situation.
Baggage Claim Waiting Time
From my personal experience, there’s nothing better for a travel experience than arriving at the baggage belt and seeing the luggage already being delivered.
According to the article You’ve Reached Baggage Claim, but Why Hasn’t Your Luggage? from The New York Times, the average waiting time for luggage depending on airport infrastructure, size, and modernization lies between 15 to 45 minutes; therefore, if the average time surpasses the 45 minutes, the situation could be critical.
On research performed in the UK, airports such as London Heathrow (average 29 minutes, 29 seconds), London Gatwick Airport (33 minutes 21 seconds), and Edinburgh Airport (31 minutes 47 seconds) have the most extended waiting times in the baggage claim of the region.
Therefore, it is necessary to measure and compare baggage claim waiting times at different times, places, and other flights. By evaluating these KPIs, airports will find out the cause of pain points. Thus, they can implement the corrective measures needed.
Long Waiting-Times Can Affect Travellers’ Experience Negatively.
Security Control Waiting Times
At some airports, the queues for security control are highly efficient. Their organization guarantees that passengers arrive on time at their respective gates. At other airports, security controls are bottlenecks. If many travelers are not familiar with the airport’s procedures, they require longer times for the check. For this, it is necessary to provide the essential elements to guarantee a reduction in security control times.
Passport Control Waiting Time
The security control times depend on the size and amount of security stations the airport count. Passport Control can also be a bottleneck in airports with high international traffic. Therefore, it is necessary to identify the waiting times.
For the two KPIs mentioned above, it is possible to derivate an additional KPI on the number of incidents at security checkpoints or passport controls.
Low Incidents Doesn’t Mean Everything Is On The Right Track
Number Of Incidents At Security Or Passport Control
I consider this KPI slightly tricky. Having a permanent low number of incidents in security points or passport control does not necessarily imply that things are correctly working, but this can also mean that there are inefficiencies or low quality in the security processes. On the other hand, a high number of incidents also imply a lack of organization and steering of the process. Therefore, it is necessary always to set reachable targets and work with historical data to evaluate the behavior and attack the identified weak spots.
Summarized — Why Are These Airport KPIs Are That Important?
If these KPIs are not tracked, and passengers tend to have bad experiences with the airports, whenever they require to make transfer trips, there’s a high chance they will avoid slow and complicated airports. Therefore, it is also necessary that aircraft operations and staff operations work properly in pro of the customers. If you have some additional Passenger-oriented KPIs that are highly relevant for airports, don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and opinions with us.
