Airport Profile: Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport

Daver Malik, Assistant Aviation CIO for the Phoenix Aviation Department, is a prominent leader in the aviation industry. Malik recently provided his insights on the pursuit of innovation within the airport industry relative to virtual queuing (VQ). In the following sections, this article outlines how Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) is approaching VQ with its initiative, PHX Reserve:

Objectives and approach
Lessons learned
Benefits
Impact areas

Objectives and Approach

Background

PHX’s VQ initiative, termed PHX Reserve, stemmed from a holistic look at the airport’s operations that captured the passenger flow at each stage of the passenger journey. At each checkpoint, passengers want peace of mind and predictability as part of their airport experience. Through PHX Reserve, passengers can reserve a time slot at the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoint. This provides certainty, shortens wait times, and helps to simplify the overall experience—all of which gives passengers more control over their airport journey.

The project from which PHX Reserve originated is part of a broader digitization strategy at the airport. In 2021, the first phase of this project was focused on passenger flow and operational optimization. In this phase, data were leveraged from over 50 sources to develop a holistic picture of the airport. Through that effort, PHX was able to precisely quantify the pain points and accurately forecast passenger volumes at all touch points by day and by hour, as well as make this information available to all who could benefit from it.

Deployment

In the planning stages for PHX Reserve, one key objective was to introduce a new dedicated checkpoint lane with VQ. However, for passengers to learn of this new service, it was critical that airlines present the option in their existing predeparture communication channels. Achieving this required a very collaborative effort, involving internal stakeholders (all airport departments) and external stakeholders, such as airlines and TSA, to define how the initiative was going to work and the impact on checkpoint operations. Weekly meetings and daily touchpoints were scheduled to set scope, concept of operations, and review of detailed data (such as hours of operation and staffing requirements) for all stakeholders. Social media, marketing plans, and other means of outreach were also considered.

The VQ deployment used data analytics to determine time slots to help with optimizing time and flattening peaks in traffic. This process involved some components of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to identify which time slots are in more demand. (For more information on AI and machine learning, see the Artificial Intelligence article in the Technology Focus series.) Further, although there was no impact to airport infrastructure, the initiative required a new checkpoint lane (an operations process change), with dedicated staff using standard mobile phones to scan barcodes and let passengers into the VQ lane.

There are several metrics for success, such as the overall customer satisfaction rate, what passengers are doing with the time savings (e.g., shopping and dining), why they are using the service, and whether they will use the service again. While passengers have various reasons for using the service, most prominent is the peace of mind that comes from knowing they will make it through security without the anxiety of waiting in physical lines.

The initiative went live on March 1, 2022, in Terminal 3—just in time for spring break—and on March 18 for Terminal 4. The airlines actively sending communications regarding the service are Alaska, United, American, Southwest, and Delta.

Lessons Learned

As with any initiative that introduces new technology and processes into airport operations, it is critical to continuously monitor the pilot to identify what is working and what is not. It is also important to monitor whether the business case objectives are being met. As part of meeting the objectives, PHX is now implementing several measures, beyond predeparture communications from the airline, to increase awareness and boost the passenger adoption rate.

Some positive lessons learned include the following:

Many passengers love the service for the predictability and peace of mind it brings.
Signing up new passengers is simple and brief, around 30 seconds for some.
There is a continuous learning process regarding what time slots passengers prefer.
The program is helping PHX understand when passengers start to think about their travel and providing PHX with an overall understanding of passenger behaviors to positively inform future services.

Along with the positives come the following constructive lessons learned:

The program brought out the need to constantly communicate with all stakeholders.
Some miscommunication with TSA led to some passengers being asked for escort through security.
At first, PHX did not have someone on the ground working with passengers; it would have helped to promote the program and provide information to customers from the beginning.

Initial survey results have indicated the following:

About 95% of respondent passengers indicated they were either very satisfied or satisfied with the service.
About 97% indicated it was easy for them to sign up for the service.
Close to 100% have used the service for peace of mind, efficiencies, and saving time.
More than 50% indicated they explored airport amenities, shopped, or dined with the time they saved.
At least 60% indicated they saved 20 minutes or more at security.

This new process provided the entire airport organization with the challenge of developing and deploying the pilot in record time and opening at the beginning of spring break—a peak season for PHX. The team methodically worked with many unknown factors, while still being open to the fact that some things could only be learned once the pilot was running.

“We brought together the right stakeholders and partners on this project,” Malik stated. “We are really pleased how the entire airport community has embraced this project as an innovation and balanced the need for adequate planning, while still being open to unknowns and passenger feedback once deployed in the field.”

Benefits Received

Malik mentioned that PHX is very interested to see if and how such technology can help the airport impact the security checkpoint operation itself, specifically whether it can help flatten some of the peaks. However, to measure such an impact, the adoption needs to be at scale, which PHX is actively working toward. “We believe streamlining the passenger flow through the security process can ultimately impact other stakeholders including Operations, Security, and Customer Service,” Malik noted. “This project is still underway, but it’s likely we will extend the pilot so we can give enough time to see movement on various metrics and KPIs [key performance indicators].”

The vision for the future of VQ is that there are other areas of airport operations that could benefit from the technology, such as curbside ground transportation operations, wheelchair services for passengers, and even delivery of retail and food and beverage services. The operating and commercial models will dictate how and when such expansions make sense.

Areas Impacted

There were many areas impacted by this project, such as data ownership, legal considerations, process concerns, flight schedule data, and load factors. Fortunately, no surprises were encountered to derail the project. There are already quite a few airport operators across the industry that are currently running a pilot program or have fully implemented a VQ service (such as Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, and Los Angeles International Airport). Airport operators are testing and implementing VQ products at a much higher pace compared to innovations of the past.

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