Passenger Perceptions of Depersonalisation of the Airport Experience

Abstract

The airport environment has been changing drastically in recent years, brought about by economic and technological reforms considered necessary by airports due to rising fuel prices and the global recession experienced in 2007/08 (Chang and Yang, 2008). A key response from the commercial aviation industry has been to technologise the airport experience, implementing self-service options so passengers can process themselves. These measures are particularly noticeable during check-in and passport control (Australian Customs and Border Protection Service, 2013; Chang and Yang, 2008). There are claims within literature that passengers demand and appreciate self-service (Nijhuis, 2012; Rostworoski, 2012). Yet, no study to date has studied passenger perceptions directly, and whether or not these new technological measures are improving the airport experience from a passenger perspective is unknown. The aim of this study is to fill that knowledge gap, by surveying people about their opinions of the current airport experience. It was found within the results that passengers value time efficiency and reliability over everything else; because self-service kiosks were also perceived to possess those qualities, passengers in general prefer using kiosks instead of being processed by staff members. There are mixed reactions to how far passengers want depersonalisation to extend, however. In regards to feelings of safety due to technologised security and enthusiasm over mobile phone-airport integration, it is impossible to generalise due to the diverse points of view. In order to completely understand the issue at hand, a detailed and thorough analysis of literature and the survey results is required.