Cincinnati Airport in Kentucky is using connected technology from BlipTrack in a bid to deal with passenger demand and improve wait times.
With almost seven million passengers passing through this international transport hub last year, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG) is using live data to identify delays at the security checkpoint and allocate staff and resources better.
To do this, it’s been using BlipTrack technology from Blip Systems, allowing it to process passengers in more efficient ways. Just last year, the airport achieved its best-ever ranking in its 21-year history in the US Department of Transportation airfare report.
Read more: Billund Airport invests in IoT system to improve passenger experience
Tech pioneer
CVG is always looking to improve, and it’s been using sophisticated technology for years. In 2014, CA implemented BlipTrack queue and flow technology at its checkpoints.
It was the first American airport to implement this technology, which allows staff to measure, understand and improve the traveler experience, and to better plan and allocate crucial resources.
After one year of use, the airport announced that the data gathered had helped it reduced its security line wait times by one third. A 2015 report by Purdue University found that standard wait times had dropped by nearly over four minutes from 13.2 minutes in 2011 to 8.9 minutes.
Read more: New Zealand Air Force recruits Blip Systems for traffic management project
Continuing journey
Since originally enabling this technology, Cincinnati Airport has added new features to the solution to help it continue streamlining operations further and improving the passenger experience.
For instance, it’s now using passenger-facing wait time monitors and CVGairport.com interfaces to provide immediate wait-time status, easing natural travel anxieties associated with queuing for passengers.
In addition, the airport has established what it calls “service level agreement (SLA)-like standards for self-accountability”, helping it to stick to its goal of wait times below 15 minutes.
Read more: Birmingham Airport uses IoT to monitor queues and keep passengers happy
Boosting efficiencies
Stephen Saunders, senior manager of terminal operations at CVG, explained how the technology works: “We have added a new feature that allows us to understand the pattern of how lanes are being utilized throughout the day.
“This helps us better understand TSA’s lane utilization on any given day. Our future goal is to pair this information with passenger show-up profiles and wait-time inputs to complete a story of how the check point is operating as a whole, and help the TSA develop lane open/close plans based on predicted throughputs.”
He added that the airport, which serves the greater Cincinnati area, has been working with partners to get the most out of this technology. “We have used tangible data to work with our partners at TSA to adjust officer start time,” said Saunders.
“We previously noticed a high spike in queue waits during our heaviest early bank of morning flights, levelling off after about 7:30am. We collectively identified TSA schedules were misaligned with the flight schedules.”
Read more: Smart city of Aarhus uses Bluetooth sensors to improve traffic flows
The future is here
Candace McGraw, CEO at CVG, is a big believer in this innovation. “Our use of the technology has proven quite successful,” she said.
“It has enabled CVG to continue our close collaboration with TSA to ensure that the passenger experience is one that enhances the journey experience, not detracts from it. Our significant investments in our facilities and the solution ensures we use them as as effectively and efficiently as possible.”
Today, more than 25 airports from around the world are using technology from Bliptrack. They include JFK, San Diego, Copenhagen, Dublin, Oslo, Manchester and Brussels airports.