Imagine an airport with gleaming restrooms and sparkling terminals. Passengers are feeling a little less stressed and even considering splurging on that first-class upgrade, a trip to a premium lounge, or getting an early start on holiday gift shopping. What’s the secret? Spotless spaces! It turns out a clean and well-maintained airport can be the unsung hero of unlocking the key to the “enhanced passenger experience.” When restrooms and terminals are pristine, travelers are happier, linger longer, and — to be honest — are more likely to treat themselves to a little something extra.
But keeping these vast, 24/7 high-traffic spaces immaculate is no small feat. Airports host millions of visitors each year, so managing such expansive areas during peak operations takes an army of hardworking staff. Still, airport leaders are feeling the squeeze to be as efficient as possible while keeping their spaces “Opening Day Fresh”.
Let’s face it — the traditional paradigm of airport cleaning is outdated. It’s time for a smarter, more intuitive, and more agile approach to keep up with the increasing demands on airport facilities to elevate the guest experience.
A Unique Set of Challenges
Besides the expansive square footage and high volume of traffic, many airports operate 24/7. Clean, well-stocked and functional restrooms obviously play a crucial role. Nonetheless, entrances, security checkpoints, gates, lounges, baggage claim, and retail areas all need to be spotless and free of waste to meet passenger expectations. Behind-the-scenes spaces must not be overlooked along with extended workforce areas such as fire stations, police, and customs.
Airports are also extremely dynamic. No two airports are the same. If you’ve seen one airport, you’ve seen one airport. Some operate as global hubs connecting travelers and enable international commerce, while others function as local and regional gateways for business and leisure travel. Even within the same airport, no two days are the same. Extreme weather events global IT outages, and irregular operations are drive flight delays and cancellations. Combine these factors, along with ever increasing passenger counts, and overcrowding can happen faster than expansion can provide relief.
In addition to these challenges, passenger expectations are also growing. Clean and comfortable spaces, diverse food and beverage outlets, and free Wi-Fi are increasingly becoming must-haves for consumers. As airports continue to evolve their role in the passenger journey, and employee experience, no longer can facility operators afford to think of janitorial solutions as an isolated cost-center.
All these factors come together to create a complex landscape with some unique cleaning challenges. The ultimate goal is to achieve maximum cleanliness with maximum efficiency without redundant cleaning intervals. Are there technology solutions that can help airports meet these objectives? The short answer is yes. However, the entire cleaning process needs to be reevaluated around a completely new philosophy — one that is grounded in real-time intelligence that is easily accessible and offers meaningful and actionable insights.
A Data-Driven Approach
In the late 1960s, analytics began receiving more attention as computers became decision-making support systems. Undoubtedly, the practice of data analytics has gradually evolved and broadened over time, providing many business benefits.
The 2003 publication of Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis — and subsequently the 2011 film — illustrated how Billy Beane employed data and analytics to field a competitive baseball team on a low budget. Moneyball argued that data and analytics could be employed to develop modern metrics, whereby organizations might field a team to compete against well-funded, large market teams. This ultimately ushered in a new data-driven era of professional sports.
Let’s take a look at how the “Moneyball” approach of using key analytics to unlock hidden value and drive improved outcomes can be applied to the cleaning of airports of any size.
Connected Cleaning
There are several technologies that promise to improve visibility and lay the groundwork for unlocking employee contribution and delivering less material waste. While these technologies are not necessarily new, how they can be integrated into the cleaning process is a fresh concept.
Internet of Things (IoT)
Applying Internet of Things (IoT) connected tools can offer a new level of visibility and traceability across the cleaning process. The true value of IoT (and other connected technologies) lies in the insight it can provide through this increased resolution of our facilities. IoT-connected tools and mobile devices create new ways to detect data patterns that translate into actionable insights.
IoT technology currently provides a great value propositions in restrooms for example paper towel and soap dispensers that monitor fill levels. With IoT sensors and software, cleaning staff can be notified when inventory levels are low so that dispensers can be refilled without any interruption of service to the customer, and with less waste of soap and supplies.
IoT sensors can also be equipped in flush and urinal valves to monitor usage. They can be used in faucets to alert for leaks and clogs. They can also be used for user safety, alerting staff to check the toilet stall when an occupant has remained in it for a long period of time. Cleaning and maintenance staff no longer have to hike the “wasted walk” only to discover nothing needs to be done.
Heat Mapping
A real-time positioning system can also be implemented where coordinates of workers can be pinpointed and illustrated through a heat map (a visual representation of data through color). A resource heatmap tool analyzes different levels of resource availability and the team's capacity, and color-codes the data into hot, cool, or cold temperature categories.
Heat maps have been successfully used in lean manufacturing to identify management inefficiencies and issues with workflows for many years. This type of system can also be effectively applied to the cleaning process. By analyzing workforce heat maps, managers can quickly identify areas of the airport or its surroundings that have a high cleaning demands, bottlenecks, or areas that require better resource management. Over time, the data can help identify areas for improvement, track the impact of changes, and better analyze patterns. Real-time proximity data combined with AI can automatically dispatch the nearest team member to support ad-hoc and up-and-coming work orders.
People Counters
The retail industry has long relied on store traffic counting to capture foot traffic data in a specific location and within a specified time frame. Today, more sophisticated IoT people counters connect to the cloud, providing detailed statistics and link passenger numbers to heat maps creating demand-based resource planning.
Understanding passenger throughput at a granular level, by restroom or breakroom for example, can help airport facility managers allocate resources, assess and manage traffic flow, create a safer environment, and improve the overall traveling experience. For instance, people counters can be used to track the number of individuals who go in and out of the bathrooms throughout the day. After a certain number of people have passed through a restroom, an alert can be programmed to deploy a team member to freshen it up, restock supplies, clean fixtures or make any necessary repairs.
Real-time Customer Feedback Systems
The customer is always right. Real-time feedback systems allow passengers and staff to report cleanliness concerns (and complements) through digital platforms. The key is to make it as easy as possible to use — whether through an touch-screen E-Ink display, scannable QR code, tactile buttons. By instantly measuring and analyzing customer feedback across various touchpoints, the data can also be used to identify issues, and get them resolved quickly to contribute to higher passenger satisfaction levels.
Each of these technologies is useful on its own. But when combined with AI, predictive analytics and task management software, an integrated solution offers a powerful way to mobilize teams, trigger preset actions, audit results, and build out proactive trends like passenger forecasts and seasonal peak models.
Keys to Success
Within the airport landscape, there is no one-size-fits-all solution. It needs to offer flexibility to meet the specific facility scope. It needs to be scalable (up or down). It needs to be customizable to meet changing needs and the quest for continuous improvement. It needs to offer interoperability to be able to securely “push and pull” from a variety of systems. And it needs to be “infrastructure agnostic” and minimally invasive to the existing airport systems. The solution should also offer data that is of high value and trusted quality. More specifically, it should provide visibility on three key data points:
· Proof of position (in real time)
· Proof of completion
· Proof of quality for internal and external auditing/feedback
These important data sets can be powerful change drivers that enable airport teams to make better-informed, faster, and proactive decision-making.
A New Level of Visibility
A cloud-based approach offers scalable, secure, and cost-efficient data storage and processing capabilities, serving as the backbone for flexible data analytics across departments and stakeholders.
Most systems tend to fail at the macro level, when it’s too late to make rapid fixes. Without a centralized dashboard, the process of retrieving and analyzing data can become confusing and disorganized. This process can take weeks or longer — causing costly and unacceptable delays when both passenger health and satisfaction is at stake. Data accessibility through all levels of your organization is key to enabling sustainable behaviors.
A centralized control center helps create a single data source collected in one place. A higher resolution of data provides visibility from the micro level so fine-tuned adjustments can be made on the fly, long before problems get out of hand.
It is also essential to build trust in the data and monitor decision-making processes and outcomes. According to Gartner, lack of trust within organizations, concerns about the value and quality of data, and regulations around AI are leading to a deluge of distrust. If data is not trusted, it may not be used correctly to make decisions.
By making data more accessible, ensuring reliability, and fostering a data-driven culture, stakeholders will feel more confident using the data to make better and more objective decisions.
People Power
Even with the emergence of AI and smart technologies, the critical role of the human element must not be overlooked.
The COVID-19 pandemic provided many valuable lessons, one being the importance of a clean and sanitized environment. Let’s not forget that airport cleaning teams became essential workers. While shifting towards advanced technology can help maximize recognition, productivity, cost-efficiency, and higher traveler satisfaction, do not underestimate the value of skilled cleaning staff. Our valued cleaning professionals are a critical part of the backbone of any airport operation.
Each team member must possess integrity, flexibility, and commitment to continuous improvement. More importantly, each one must understand the essential and meaningful role they play in the airport ecosystem.
Airport cleaning shouldn’t be stuck in the past like a forgotten suitcase on the baggage claim carousel. It’s a great time to audit your airport cleaning paradigm and upgrade to first-class cleanliness, where data-driven smarts, futuristic tech, and human ingenuity work together in perfect harmony, proactively.
Spotless terminals and sparkling restrooms aren’t just a dream but can be a reality — delivered with efficiency and informed decisions. The future is here, and it’s all about cleaning smarter, not harder, to keep pace with the whirlwind world of modern air travel.
