Improving the passenger experience in Scotland

This year we took an innovative approach to improving the passenger experience at our Scottish airports. We held three events for 25 frontline employees at Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow airports, who spent the day brainstorming ideas. These security staff interact with passengers every day, so they know what passengers want and what will make their journeys better. A small number of engineering staff also attended the event.

The participants shared their experiences of what works and what doesn’t and came up with a number of improvements. These included new ways of managing data to make the security operation more effective and ways to improve queuing layouts. Employees involved in a technology trial at Glasgow airport also recommended the equipment to their colleagues at the other locations. This included radio headsets for officers to communicate with each other across the search areas.

All three airports have implemented the ideas developed during the events. Following the success of the Scottish events, all seven BAA airports will involve frontline staff in improving the passenger experience during 2008.