ACI-NA Customer Service & Aviation Education Conference March 2011

Transcription

1 Airports in Crisis: What is your Customer Service Plan? A Table Top Exercise Brad Martin Deputy Director, Aviation Customer Service- Logan International Airport Scott Wintner Public Affairs Manager Wayne County Airport Authority ACI-NA Customer Service & Aviation Education Conference March 2011

2 Severe Weather Scenario 4 p.m.: An unexpected major storm hits your airport on a Thursday afternoon Airfield is shutdown due to severe weather. 4:15 p.m.: The storm has caused downed power lines around the airport, closing several area roadways including completely blocking the primary entrance/exit to the airport. The Airport Director comes to you and says that he/she is relying on you to advise him/her about what needs to be done from a customer service perspective.

3 Severe Weather Scenario There is a shift change around 4-5 p.m., but staff is unable to leave the airport and the next shift is unable to get to the airport in a timely fashion. What are the implications? 6 p.m.: The storm has now passed, but left a trail of destruction that is likely to take hours to clean-up. 7 p.m.: The airfield is clear of debris and fully operational. Flights begin to arrive again, but the roadways are still blocked due to storm damage.

4 Severe Weather Scenario Questions to focus on: Impact on parking? Are there alternative routes in/out of the airport? How to you communicate them to your customers? What is the impact on access to terminals, roadway congestion, etc.? With flight delays/cancellations mounting, what needs to be done inside the terminals? What amenities will your airport provide to affected travelers?

5 Brainstorming the Severe Weather Scenario Acknowledge that there has been an incident Communicate with customers Set up the Emergency Communications Center (ECC) / Command Post Engage Public Affairs Reach out to mutual aid Communicate with area news outlets (Associated Press) SRD Gate Communicate to customer service teams create seamless message Coordinate with tourism bureaus, convention center Partner with stakeholders (IE concessionaires, tenants) Business Continuity Plan Engage designated emergency airport staff Hold as many staff members as possible that are completing their shift

6 Brainstorming the Severe Weather Engage customer service plan Scenario Distribute bottled water, blankets, food vouchers, etc. to stranded passengers / employees Brief FSDs to Mobilize TSA Train housekeeping staff re: crisis plans Communicate the situation to gate agents immediately in-person! Engage public announcement systems

7 Three Day Loss of Portion of Terminal Gate Area 10:00am: water sprinklers are activated in two thirds of the gate hold area in your terminal. Gate areas are evacuated to the gate areas that are not affected. Passengers from gate area involved return to the ticketing hall. Air Carriers that use the gates affected are delayed or cancelled. 1:00pm: Notified that there is no fire suppression sprinklers in the gate area affected. 2:00pm: Learn that the suppression will not be repaired for 2 days. You can NOT operate in affected area and you only have one third of your gates to run your normal operation.

8 3 Day Loss of Portion of Terminal Gate Area Questions to focus on: What are your first steps? Who needs to be involved in the decision making? How do you engage with your stakeholders? What about the concessions? How can the TSA assist? Do you meter the passengers in gate area by flight ops?

9 Brainstorming the Loss of Gate Area Scenario First steps - Cut power; prevent passengers from coming to the airport Partnering with stakeholders and other airports in the region on the front end is critical Employ volunteers for crowd control in public spaces and gate counters Meter access to security check points based on departure times Make use of Air Radio; Segways; bull horns to disseminate key messages Make use of buses / ground transportation fleet Generators? National Incident Management System (NIMS) course