Airport Passenger Process Mapping and Evaluation - Case Study Example

PROCESS MANAGEMENT IN GATWICK AIRPORT By: Introduction Gatwick airport is the second largest airport in the UK. Most of its process activities are automated which greatly saves on passengers time. Flow chart O O T O S I T I S O D O O O O D D D S D O D D O O O O O Key O: Operation O T: Transport I: Inspection S D: Delay O S: Storage Discussion of activities in the chart Booking Booking for a journey can be done online from the appropriate airline’s website or the airports website. It can also be done through a travel agent or at the air port. The traveler has the option of a nested or one way ticket. Travel to the air port There are different ways of accessing the airport. One can travel using the airport’s bus, taxi, rail way, other passengers buses and by private cars. There are many passengers’ buses which operate between the airport and many terminuses within the city. Car park The airport offers car park for short and long term for those with private cars. The car park has to be booked online. There are other companies offering car park services within the airports environs. Check in Check in is open twenty four hours before the time scheduled for the flight. If the travelers have no luggage, they can check in online but those with luggage have to do it at the airport. It happens at the automatic check in points. However, first class passengers can check in at the premium lounge (Gatwick Airport). Seat registration After they check in, passengers should book their seats of choice. Those who check in online can also book their seat through the same. Document verification Visas and other necessary documents are verified. The picture on the passport should have a similarity with the person bearing it. Shopping The passengers are free to shop for gifts and souvenirs in the duty free mall. Passengers can carry goods bought in the shop into the airplane. They have a distinct seal which should not be broken till the end of the journey. Eating and drinking There are restaurants and pubs in the airport which one can feed in. They offer executive services. Travel insurance The airport offer travel insurance to willing passengers. The insurance covers medical expenses and any damages to the luggage or loss while aboard. Currency exchange The airport sells over forty currencies. Passengers can change to a currency of choice before boarding the plane at no commission. Security check There is a routine check on the luggage that the traveler carries. There is a set weight for the luggage that one should carry aboard. The luggage should not contain illegal fire arms, drugs and other restricted items. Travelers also undergo through this routine check. They do these using automatic metal detectors. They frisk people on wheel chair, those fitted with pacemakers and pregnant women by hand. Boarding room After this procedural check, passengers go into the boarding room. Here, they wait for the scheduled time of take off. Children play yard Those who are travelling with kids can play with them at the children play yard which is located in the boarding room. There is also a location in the yard for changing the kids. One can also feed the kid here. A mother can request a flight delay if they are feeding the child. Flight cancellation The flight could be cancelled as a result of various reasons. The airport communicates the new developments to the passengers. This leads to other processes such as compensation. Flight delay This also arises when there are complications. If there is a flight delay, the passengers get necessary compensations. Lost luggage reporting If the is a case of any missing or damaged luggage, passengers should report at the lost luggage desk. The passage receives a reference number. This allows for him to be updated on the course of the search either through the phone or online. Flight gate opening The gate is opened, and passengers are called to board the plane at the scheduled time. Queuing Passengers queue so as to board in an orderly manner. Flight last call There is a last call for those who are late. Take off The plane with passengers aboard takes off. Holiday After arrival at the various destinations, the travelers go for their holiday. Booking of the return ticket For those customers who had a one way ticket, they have to get a return ticket. They acquire it at the airports where they are travelling at. Custom check After arriving at Gatwick, the airport verifies that travelers have all the required documents. This is a measure to avoid illegal immigrants. Declaration of luggage Luggage bears labels depending with the origin of the journey. Luggage from Europe union countries has green labels and those from other parts white. Passages with goods to declare should pass through the gate marked red and those without should pass through the gate labeled green. Goods that are not allowed into the country and animals are checked at this point (Gatwick Airport). Booking a lounge in the airport The airport offers lounges to willing customers and those who wish to relax. They can be booked on different terms such as hourly or per day or night. Travel from the airport Those who had personal cars can get them from the respective parking areas. Those without can choose to travel with the various modes of travel available at the airport. Analysis of the flow chart The chart follows a main sequence of events that could be followed to make a complete two way journey at Gatwick airport. The mainstream is complete with processes and operations enough for a complete journey. This main stream can exist independently of the other operations. The chart gives other additional activities that could happen at different stages. Passengers follow these alternate procedures since they have events that make the journey comfortable. However, the journey would still happen without them. There are some services that are offered at the airport but are missing in the chart. For instance, there is a shuttle that transports passengers between the two terminals. These operations are neglected since they do not in any way affect the sequence of events and only happen in exceptional circumstances. The events in the chart are arranged in the order in which they happen. This makes the chart sequential with one event leading to the other. It is likely to loss continuity if one of the events from the main stream is removed. Improvements More customer service centers Customer service centers are extremely valuable in the running of any organization (Heizer 2008). They offer generalized and specified information to confused customers. This could help the first time customers at ease and comfortable which increases their level of satisfaction. Satisfied customers lead to an easy running of operations and advertise the company. Introduction of guide books The airport should have guided books detailing the operations and the sequence one should follow (Robert Johnston 2008). They should avail a version of the same online for customers who access their services using the net. Prior understanding of the procedure will make it easier for travelers to go through the various steps. Automation of security checks There is manual security check for the documents; the picture on the passport is used as the identifying tool. Human beings are error prone. Therefore, to improve security, it should be automated (Slack 2007). This will make the travelers feel secure using the air line. References Gatwick Airport. Security check-in. Retrieve on 6th December 2011 From, http://www.gatwickairport.com/check-in-security/ Heizer, Jay H.Render, Barry. Operations management. Upper Saddle River, N.J. Pearson Prentice Hall, 2008. Robert Johnston, Graham Clark. Service operations management: improving service delivery. Financial Times/Prentice Hall, 2008. Slack, Nigel. Chambers, Stuart. Johnston, Robert. Operations management. Harlow: Financial Times Prentice Hall, 2007. Read More