SubscribeWhile the dust has far from settled in the aftermath of 9/11, it is now time to re-evaluate and plan for business. A business that despite the horrors of 9/11 is set to grow over the coming decade.
Airlines and airports have undoubtedly been hit hard as people stopped flying and airlines shed staff. In an effort to bring calm to troubled waters enhanced security has been put into affect on a global scale ranging from the UK government's recent deployment of tanks and branches of the security services to the x-raying of footwear in the USA.
While obviously this has become very necessary in order to secure airports and promote traveller confidence it has in essence been a bolt on measure rather than a fully integrated operation. What is apparent is that it is now time to consider the full breadth of security requirements and plan them into airports on a long-term basis paying special attention to their impact on commercial revenues.
The almost overnight imposition of new security regimes around the globe has not been one of uniformity. While Tel Aviv airport in Israel has always been run on a war zone footing a recent experience of a New Zealand airport showed that there was no security check before boarding at all. Some form of common approach to airport security issues is not only common sense but the airports and airlines clients - passengers would feel more comforted, secure and know what to expect rather than being anxious as they can be at the moment.
There are of course many issues that need addressing from time and cost implications through to passenger experience and these are highly critical when European airports and particularly those in the UK earn for the terminal operators very significant profits from the retail and leisure facilities within the airport itself. While these revenue earning streams are not as significant or as widespread in the US it was very interesting to note Standard and Poors Credit Watch brief on American airports in the aftermath of 9/11. This action has not yet affected any ratings actions on airport-related debt but the drop in passenger traffic will, and I quote "have a direct and material impact on airport revenue and potentially on certain airports credit ratings."
Standard and Poors said its Credit Watch listing "reflects challenges faced by the industry relative to a potentially severe and prolonged decline in activity that may be, without precedent in US history." They went on, and perhaps this is the most crucial point of their statement, to say "all ratings will be individually reviewed with respect to an airports specific exposure to, and ability to mitigate against declining enplanements or significant changes in capital expenditure". They also note that some issues such as those secured by passenger facility charges only are more vulnerable to passenger decreases.
While this may seem a long-winded way of saying that they will look at each airport on an individual basis, it significantly mentions that they would look at airport revenue gained, other than pure flying charges. What is apparent is that now these security measures and others are now in place a substantive review of the entire terminal process needs to take place.
While security is by it's very nature a very formal affair there is a need to have not only more space but also for that space to be inherently flexible. It is also a regime that takes up a considerable amount of time both for the terminal operator in carrying out the required duties as well as for the passenger who while understanding the need finds it at best a very tedious experience and at worst destabilising. A recent walk through of Minneapolis saw that there were six members of airport security per check position. Add on even more stringent tests such as checks for traces of explosives in anything from shoes to computers and it is easy to see the need for more space not to mention long term funding of such an operation.
In the UK the methodology of security combs has been endemic within the airport terminal system as a whole for decades. Any beefing up of the security systems has been a relatively simple procedure as the airports themselves have been configured around Landside and Airside. This is not so across the world. The US public have always regarded airports as bus stations, both for boarding and for the 'meeters and greeters.' There has now been this fundamental shift concerning security and as a consequence US airports, many of which are planned with multiple security combs, find that they are increasingly inefficient in terms of staff costs as well as taking up a considerable amount of the terminal space. Re-Planning and the provision of space for such an activity is now critical.
Where then is this space that is so desperately needed going to come from? In the UK the majority of back office functions of the airlines operations have been stripped out of the terminal building and located off-site in the drive to maximise commercial revenues. This is not the modus operandi in America where airlines are very powerful and often have a considerable amount of prime terminal space for their own infrastructure.
Moreover it is common for an airline, which dominates a certain terminal to have their full administration function, which in some cases can include internal conference facilities, directly on passenger flow routes. The cry for space will mean that these non-core terminal functions will have to be relocated to less prime space or off-site completely. In the UK BAA has been successful in doing this. All non-passenger functions have been taken off the passenger levels, freeing the space up for retail, food and beverage, and leisure activities that actually make money for the airport operator.
The US will need to go through the same exercise not just for commercial gain, which is important bearing in mind Standard and Poors Credit Watch but also for enhanced security space. There is another answer albeit on a smaller scale. In most airports worldwide the passenger check-in function is extremely rigid. Common User Terminal Equipment (CUTE) allows one airline to have the use of a check-in desk for two hours or so and another utilising the same space after that. The space saving opportunities are obvious as this system allows for continual flexibility to cope with surges in passenger check-in for certain airlines or flights.
The overhaul of security is going on worldwide. A recent planning exercise carried out for Sydney Airport in Australia by the Design Solution introduces 'dedicated security' for retailers and staff will make terminal operations more secure, and easier to carry out the security function. Before this, the checking of goods was via the normal travel bag checks but after the terminal had closed to travellers. This as one can see is not ideal and by the very fact that there was a time limiting factor built into it meant that retailers were meant to received goods only after hours, something that was not always the case and a classic way of upsetting passengers waiting in line. By having a designated security check for retail and leisure operators means that both systems can run independently and makes the very important business of goods checking even more secure.
In all of this one must not forget the passenger for it is this highly important person that the very lifeblood of both the terminal and the airline depend on for their existence and this is the person who has had to put up with all the bolt on security elements that have now been put into place. True it is for the passengers benefit but it has created queues, longer check-in times and a high degree of anxiety. How then can this process be smoothed out and made less of a strain?
As previously mentioned having a fully integrated security operation is the first step but also as part of this there need to be elements that assist the traveller to maintain both confidence in the system and to soothe the tortured brow. While it is accepted that the actual passenger checking is a lot more rigorous, the removal of jackets, the inspection of luggage etc, it is directly after this that attention needs to be made. One simply cannot just throw them out at the end, which is precisely what is happening at the moment.
What needs to be built in is an area of 'passenger orientation', where a person can 'recover' from the security ordeal in his or her own time. A place where 'time to gate' is displayed, trolleys are at hand and where there is clear directional signage to the many airside facilities that the terminal has to offer. This zone assists in ensuring the passenger is calm and looking forward to travelling. Most importantly, it also greatly helps in the commercial aspect of the terminal such as shops, bars and restaurants.
This of course has a cost, the provision of security is not cheap, but there is logic in commercial managers paying for more efficient security as it can convert into passenger spend by getting passengers through quicker, leaving more time to spend. The new security regimes now in place at London's airports are now costing the retail and leisure concessionaires a substantial sum of money. These same concessionaires are also finding it harder to recruit staff that now need five years employment records with the employer taking references from all previous potential staff employers.
One such retailer now has a permanent staff of four chasing up referrals, which in themselves all have to be no older than a 14-day time slot. Failure to adhere to the period will mean that the entire process has to start again! This enforced element not only applies to retailers but there is the potential for increased capital costs for the building work being carried out at these same airports as Contractors struggle with the 'pass' systems enabling both temporary and permanent craftsman to actually do their work.
If for instance an outside contractor who serviced machines within the terminal every three months, the present system of a 'pass' lapsing 60 days before it is 'parked' would lead to that contractor unable to fulfil the service agreement as the 'pass' can only be 'unparked' four times a year. The net result of all this is that this extra expense has to be passed on, ultimately to the passenger but on a practical level it may mean that it is going to be harder to get contractors to work in airports, especially for small work and harder to attract retailers on to the airports and more expensive for all who remain.
The new security methodology has also had an affect on what retailers can sell within the terminal building especially Airside. What male traveller hasn't gazed at and maybe even purchased from the Swiss army knife counter? This has now gone! Ladies couture manicure sets another victim. The list is long. This rigour is by no means universal across the world so it is therefore probable that what can be purchased in a terminal in one country and carried on the plane as hand luggage would actually be a banned product in another country.
As one can see the two most important elements that need to be taken on board is the need to have security as a fully integrated function within the airport operation and a much better global co-ordinated approach so that security is uniform. There is an urgent need therefore for comprehensive dialogue between all parties ensuring all elements of an airport are successful. This will not come about by botching and patching, innovative solutions and blue sky thinking are required to analyse how something that is currently costing more space, more time and more money often in situations that are not ideal can be turned into a mutually beneficial and successful airport operation.
