Tools to Assess Airport Programs for Travelers with Disabilities and Older Adults – ACRP WebResource 14

Assessment Tools

Overview

ACRP WebResource 14 contains summarized content of the information found in ACRP Research Report 239: Assessing Airport Programs for Travelers with Disabilities and Older Adults. This WebResource provides information, resources and tools to help airport operators enhance existing programs/services or develop new programs/services catering to the needs of travelers with disabilities and older adults. Further, this WebResource provides summarized guidelines on a variety of assessment tools and methodologies to guide airport operators in managing, monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of their programs/services so that improvements may be made that benefit travelers with disabilities and older adults. It also includes video interviews of subject matter experts describing notable industry practices and guidelines.

The diagram below summarizes the main sections of ACRP WebResource 14.

Customer satisfaction surveys

Surveys can be effective performance management tools to derive a better understanding of customers’ needs, wants, expectations and perceptions as well as their overall satisfaction with airport services and experiences.

Industry surveys. Industry surveys such as ACI Airport Service Quality (ASQ) Program, Skytrax and J.D. Power Syndicated North American Airport Study query respondents on benchmarking capabilities, audits, inspections and industry certification opportunities. Some of these services can be tailored to deliberately target and collect data for travelers with disabilities and older adults so that the level of service provided to them can be evaluated.
In-house customer surveys. The airport may design and administer its own proprietary customer satisfaction surveys, which are tailored to the airport’s specific goals (such as airport parker satisfaction, ground transportation satisfaction and concessions satisfaction, surveys including reasons for purchase). Chapter 3 in the guide provides guidelines on the phrasing an airport may use to specifically identify its travelers with disabilities and older adults requiring additional assistance. Gathering specific information related to disabilities and functional limitations can help the airport better design interventions targeting these groups.
End-use surveys (for website, assistive services, ground transportation, amenities, etc.). The end-use survey can be a short one- to three-question survey or a long and detailed survey to gather specific data on the service quality.
Accessibility feedback/targeted surveys. Several airports conduct surveys that specifically target travelers with disabilities and older adults with functional limitations. This type of survey allows the airport to better isolate the issues specific to this traveler group.
Ad hoc/intercept surveys. These types of surveys help airports get a “pulse” on customer satisfaction and can be conducted via a Wi-Fi access site, through the use of volunteers administering the surveys or QR codes. Some airports require travelers to fill out a short survey in order to access the airport Wi-Fi. The downside of this method is that the data tend to be skewed, since they are based on self-selection of the responders rather than random responses that mirror the airport’s passenger traffic/profile.

Other tools

There are a variety of other, less commonly used assessment tools, which can be very useful in isolating data for travelers with disabilities and older adults.

Scorecards/dashboards. Scoreboards and dashboards can be used to measure the performance of services provided. They can be included as part of service-level agreements to have more oversight of the service provided on the airport’s behalf.
Tracking the traveler’s end-to-end journey. To gain a full picture of the traveler’s end-to-end journey, follow travelers from as early as departure from their homes to going through the airport to boarding the plane for departure (and the return journey). This can be recorded using video diaries or note taking.
Employee comments/feedback. An employee feedback form/comment card (online or paper) can be available for employees to provide feedback on whether there were any issues in delivering service to a traveler. Also, feedback can be solicited specifically from employees with disabilities and older employees/volunteers on how to improve facilities, programs and services to better cater to the needs of the two groups.
Pilot programs. Pilot programs can be a highly effective method to test concepts before they are released to the general public. The initial pilot test can be conducted by the airport team members and, subsequently, by people with disabilities and older adults. Elements to be assessed include the overall effectiveness of the program, technical aspects, customer service and any positive/negative feedback from airport and community participants.
Journey mapping. Journey mapping can be an effective tool to measure the customer experience and identify specific pain points. Journey mapping allows the airport to isolate the experience for specific segments. ACRP Research Report 231: Evaluating the Traveler’s Perspective to Improve the Airport Customer Experience provides a journey mapping toolkit, including recommendations on how to map the journey and analyze data for specific traveler segments.
Familiarization tours. Airports that offer familiarization tours (often in cooperation with a local rehabilitative center and/or an airline for a holistic experience) use this as a way to educate travelers on as many aspects of the journey as they can. Feedback can be gathered from participants throughout the experience or via an end-use survey.
Community feedback. Reaching out to the communities of people with disabilities and older adults to request input through participation in an airport committee—virtually, in person, via telephone or over email—on the effectiveness of programs/services offered or what they would like to see at the airport can be helpful. Outreach can be conducted via individual participation, national organizations, advocacy groups and other organizations.
Use technology to capture reactions. An innovative methodology being utilized by the Chicago Children’s Museum is the use of cameras and microphones set up in these spaces to research how children and families learn in an informal learning environment. Participants are made aware they are being recorded.