Orlando International Airport (MCO) is reducing stress for travelers and enabling more accurate resource planning with intelligent queue management technology from air transport IT provider SITA.
SITA QueueAnalyzer is providing the airport with a real-time view of the TSA checkpoints, enabling rapid response to unexpected conditions. It also provides historical wait-time data to establish wait-time profiles for different times of the day, days of the week and seasons. Citing improved operations after a successful pilot at its East Checkpoint in April 2015, MCO expanded SITA’s QueueAnalyzer to its West Checkpoint.
John Newsome, IT director for MCO, said, “Customer service is our number one priority here in Orlando International Airport and we really wanted to be able to provide accurate checkpoint wait-time information to our travelers to reduce anxiety. We can do that now and the greater visibility and simplified metrics are also enabling us to plan more proactively and allocate resources effectively. SITA’s technology is also allowing us to respond more nimbly to the ebb and flow of unanticipated traffic flow.”
Matthys Serfontein, vice president, SITA Airport Solutions, said, “Waiting to get through security remains one of the most frustrating experiences for travelers. An increased focus on security across the world makes it more challenging for airports that are trying to streamline and facilitate that step in the passenger journey. Orlando International Airport has taken on the challenge and by using SITA QueueAnalyzer can now monitor and predict queue times at key airport chokepoints. This is allowing the airport operator to improve both the operational efficiency and the passenger experience at security checkpoints.”
The wait-time monitoring and prediction technology is a component of SITA’s cloud-based business intelligence portal, AirportPulse, which provides a view of critical data to monitor, measure and predict daily airport operations. SITA QueueAnalyzer combines historical and real-time data with powerful algorithms to deliver highly accurate wait-time predictions. It leverages Bluetooth, wi-fi and camera data and combines it with proprietary predictive algorithms to deliver the most accurate solution in the market.
SITA QueueAnalyzer provides operational insight with automated metrics for performance, trending and service-level reporting. The results can be displayed in real time to passengers on display screens, websites, and mobile applications.
MCO is now testing the technology to determine and manage wait times for airline check-in lines and plans additional pilots at other locations in the traveler’s journey for both arriving and departing passengers.
