Airport managers increasingly face operational challenges from steady passenger growth, terminal congestion, rising costs, and difficulty in funding infrastructure. These factors are a simple recipe for deficient facilities, poor service, and unhappy passengers. However, the emerging field of passenger analytics is beginning to be applied to airports, with highly encouraging results. Passenger analytics offers new tools and processes to help airport managers make more effective decisions that improve airport performance, make better use of terminals, generate nonaeronautical revenue, and enhance the passenger experience from curb to gate. Because of a lack of data sharing with other key stakeholders (airlines, government entities, concessionaires, etc.), airport managers have never had a complete view of what goes on at their own airports. Passenger analytics changes this dynamic through a combination of sensor tracking technology, predictive modeling, and new management practices. The innovative combination of information, planning, and coordination can fundamentally change how today’s airports are managed. This paper discusses the challenges that airports face and how passenger analytics and proactive management can help to meet current and future needs.
