Hartsfield-Jackson Airport Essay
Description of the Organization
Airports have traditionally been some of the busiest hubs of people in the world. Thousands of people go through these hubs to get home, to work, or to vacation destinations. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Atlanta, Georgia is the single busiest airport in the United States. With 151 domestic, and 28 international gates, Hartsfield-Jackson has almost 45 million passengers traveling through its complex every year. For comparison, Boston’s Logan International Airport is the19th busiest airport in the country with approximately 14 million passengers passing through every year. Airports have many subunits which work together to move passengers to their final destination. These subunits …show more content…
are, but not limited to, ticket counters where customers purchase tickets and check-in, baggage drops and collection, aircraft ground services, runway operations, passenger waiting areas, airport gate operations, and perhaps most importantly, airport security.
Until approximately the 1960’s, airport security was not a major issue. Travelers could quickly move from the check-in counter to their flight with minimal baggage or body checks. Sharp objects, and even guns at one point, were routinely allowed onboard aircrafts – until increases in terrorism and aircraft hijackings led to new security measures. Decades later, the events of September 11, 2001 led to a completely new set of security restrictions, and as a result, now every traveler must pass through a long and arduous security process in order to board an aircraft. In fact, it has now become a rite of passage for a traveler to have a frustrating experience while traveling.
Today, the task of operating airport security is managed by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), which is under the Department of Homeland Security. The TSA uses various forms of security measures to ensure passenger security. Some low-tech measures include verifying a person’s identity and checking for unnecessarily nervous passengers. They will even pat down a person’s clothes and manually search that person’s luggage. Additionally, the TSA also uses metal detectors, luggage x-ray machines, and full body scanners to a similar effect. All of these measures are to ensure that passengers do not bring contraband items that may compromise the security of the passengers onboard the aircraft, as well as the general population in the event of a hijacking.
Information about Consumers
There are three major types of airline passengers which pass through airport security: business passengers, leisure passengers, and passengers with special needs. Business passengers travel frequently, have minimal carry-on luggage, and typically do not cause congestion. The average leisure traveler is one who travels occasionally, is familiar with the airport security process and passes through the security process in a reasonable amount of time. The special needs passenger is one who needs extra time to pass through security and board an aircraft – typically large families with small children, people with disabilities, or elderly people who move slowly.
Regardless of the type of person passing through security, each has a set of expectations during the process. They expect to move through the security line at a reasonable pace and want to avoid waiting in long lines. They expect to be treated professionally and courteously. They expect their belongings will be safe as they pass through the x-ray machine. Finally, there is an expectation that the security process works and does an adequate job to provide safety.
Objectives of the Security Process
There are two main objectives of the airport security process. The first is to ensure that the passengers are not carrying any dangerous items on board and that they are not an immediate threat to anyone else, including themselves. This is achieved by an ID verification and a thorough scan of the passenger along with his/her belongings.
Second, to minimize the throughput time of passengers going through security, moving them as quickly as possible past the requisite security checks and into the terminal. Obviously, minimizing throughput times and maximizing efficiency should not come at the expense of security. A higher level of efficiency leads to a satisfied customer (the passenger) and satisfied employees as well (the TSA agents). More people can pass through the security check process with minimal hassle, therefore increasing its capacity. Competitive advantages
Although the airport is a government service and does not have many direct competitors, it is important that it runs efficiently to save costs and tax dollars.
One way to cut costs is by lowering the throughput time of the security line, which would require fewer TSA employees and fewer fixed investments (x-rays, scanners, etc). Additionally, it can improve the airport’s reputation among its peers in cities where there are more than one airport. For example, if passengers have a great experience at New York’s JFK International Airport, but a poor experience at neighboring LaGuardia Airport, they might seek flights from the former destination …show more content…
instead.
Analysis of the Process and Identification of Bottlenecks The studied process was the entire security check procedure – from the beginning of the ID check line until the traveler has collected his belongings off the conveyor belt and is ready to begin walking to his or her gate. There are four main parts, with a wait time between each (see exhibit 1).
Observation Times The security process was observed at Boston’s Logan International Airport. A total of twenty-four data points were gathered in two separate airport visits. Morning observation times were between nine o’clock and ten o’clock in the morning. The times chosen for the afternoon observation were between three o’clock and five o’clock. For each of the two trips, data was collected in four sample groups of three observations. The first twelve data points were gathered in the morning, and the last twelve data points were gathered in the afternoon. These times were determined to be peak travel times and opportunities for process improvement would be readily identifiable.
Step 1: ID Check
A traveler approaches the podium where a TSA agent waits to check the date and gate assignment on the traveler's boarding pass, to verify that the traveler's ID is valid, to confirm that the name on the ID matches the name on the boarding pass, and that the picture on the ID matches the appearance of the traveler presenting it.
This process takes an average of 10.2 seconds per traveler. The only variations would occur when a traveler has trouble locating their ID or boarding pass, or if the traveler's ID or boarding pass were to be questioned by the TSA agent. These variant cases were not observed, and therefore there is no measured data on their effects. During the observation all travelers approached the TSA podium with their boarding pass and identification in hand, ready to present it to the TSA agent with no problems observed. This proved to be a highly efficient process with not bottlenecks. Step 2: Prepare for X-ray & Body Scan
This process requires all travelers to remove their shoes, sweaters, jackets, belts, hats, and any items other than a single layer of clothing, and place them in small bins along a conveyor belt. Travelers must also remove all objects from their pockets, as well as any liquids or large electronics (such as laptops) from their carry-on bags and place them in bins.
Once travelers have prepared for the body scanner, they wait for a TSA agent to signal that it is their turn to walk through the body scanner. In our observations there was a constant "inventory" of people who were ready to proceed through the scanner, but were waiting for permission to proceed. Bottlenecks
In addition to the time needed to prepare for the body scanner, this step of the process is further complicated by the fact the bins for holding items are not large enough to hold all of one person's belongings.
There are also restrictions on what can go into each bin. For example, TSA regulations dictate that a laptop must be in a bin by itself with no other items. Because each traveler needs 2-3 bins, and each bin is about two feet wide, the 10-12 foot conveyor belt fills up very quickly. This adds further delay as people cannot undress until they have space to place their bin down. The average wait time before this step was an astounding 235.5 seconds. It is the most significant bottleneck of the entire
process. Step 3: Body Scanner
This is a two step process. First the traveler is scanned. Second, the traveler simultaneously sends his or her bags through the X-ray machine.
After the travelers prepare themselves and their belongings, they send their items through the X-ray machine and wait to enter the body scanner or go through the metal detector (half of the travelers go through each). Once they enter the body scanner, the traveler stands for three seconds while the machine takes a 360 degree scan of their body. Once the scan is completed, they traveler proceeds to a holding area where they wait for a TSA agent to tell them whether they have passed inspection. If the traveler is verified, they proceed to the conveyor belt to wait for their belongings to come through the machine. If the traveler is not verified by the body scanner, the TSA agent instructs the traveler how to fix the issue and sends them through the body scan machine again. (Note: if the traveler has to repeat the body scan, the combined time of both passes is used for the data point.) Step 4: Collect Belongings This is the final step in the process. Once travelers have completed the screening phase of the security process, they simply pull their belongings out of the bins and put their clothing back on and proceed to their gate. Bottlenecks
One challenge in this part of the process that we observed is that travelers often had to wait for their items to come along the conveyor belt because it was too short for everyone’s bins to come through at once. This causes a backup and people must wait until preceding passengers have removed all their items, packed their bags and then the removed their empty bins (which they often neglect to do). Effectiveness of Process
The TSA security check is unique in that it is not a service provided by a business to a client, but a government requirement. As a result, the standards for effectiveness and customer satisfaction are much different than in a traditional service environment.
First, as mentioned in the overview, the goals and expectations are traveler safety, efficiency, professionalism, and maintenance of personal property – however, due to the extremely high cost of a type II error (terrorist event, contraband on plane), traveler safety is the primary concern of the TSA, with process efficiency being a distant second.
Despite the fact that the TSA is being tasked with air safety, it need not come at the expense of traveler satisfaction and excessive wait times. Our research shows that bottlenecks occur at the only two tasks which do not involve direct verification by a security agent. The ‘undressing’ station is the bottleneck for the entire process, and can only process people at the rate of 2.2 travelers per minute. The step is preceded by an average wait time of 236 seconds. And it is also the undressing station that holds up the line before the ID check – a line that can last approximately 15 minutes. Similarly, the final station where people gather their belongings can facilitate only 2.7 travelers per minute and leads people to wait for 94 seconds before being scanned, and 16 seconds afterwards.
The TSA and the hassle of air travel are often criticized, and our findings show exactly why – the average throughput time is 8.5 minutes from the ID check on (and 23.5 minutes total assuming 100 people in ID check line), yet the average time a passenger is being verified or checked is only 17.1 seconds. This means that 97% of the process is spent preparing one’s items or waiting in line! Additionally, despite being the busiest sections, the undress and gather belonging section are the only stations not staffed by an agent.
The X-bar and R charts in the appendix show the consequences of a lack of focus on the process (Exhibit 5). The average times for all of these very straightforward tasks are in control, most of them to within 1 standard deviation. But the R charts for the ID check, body scanner, and collect belongings stations (figures 1, 3 and 5) show instances of being out of control. In some cases, this is to be expected, as security is looking for outliers. But more often than not, the errors are of a type I variety that are correctable (someone forgets to take their keys out of their pocket, a large family gets backed up, an infrequent traveler is unaware of the procedures). In a line based process such as this, every passenger behind the hold-up is affected, and consequently frustrated by the process.
To summarize, given the scope of the TSA’s security duty and the number of air travelers at our country’s major airports, this process will not be flawless. But it is precisely because of the sheer volume of people (who are also paying customers expecting a service) at airports that efficiency must be improved. Recommendations
1. Elongate the first conveyor belt (After the TSA agent checks the identification of the passenger and before the passenger has to pass through the X-ray machine for a body check). The present conveyor belt is only 10-12 feet long which can accommodate the bins for a maximum of 3 passengers at one time. By elongating the belt by a further 12-15 feet, we can accommodate 4-5 more passengers and the process for “undressing” to start earlier. Since this step is the biggest bottleneck in the entire process, doubling the capacity here would greatly reduce the wait time and make the step more efficient. We estimate that we can save almost 40.6% of the wait time (Exhibit 4) from 1132.8 seconds (897.2 + 235.5) to 672.9 seconds. 2. Move the first step (the TSA agent checking the Identification) to the end of the elongated conveyor belt. This means that the passengers will be able to unload and undress while waiting in line, turning idle wait time into productive time. This effectively makes Step 1 and Step 2 into one combined step while giving more time to undress.
3. Elongate the last conveyor belt (after the items in the bins have been scanned). This step is the second biggest bottleneck in the process and can be handled much more efficiently by providing more space for the bins to flow out. Currently, only 3 passengers can “dress” and unload the bins at any given time after they have passed through the X ray machine. This also means that more passengers are waiting before the X ray machine since there is no room beyond it, leading to hold up. This change would save approximately 50% of the wait time before and after the X ray machine (Exhibit 4) from 109.7 seconds (93.6 + 16.1) to 54.9 seconds (46.8 + 8). Results
(Refer to Exhibits 3 & 4 for data, Exhibits 1 & 2 for diagrams.)
By implementing our suggestions, the x-ray machines and lines can be reduced from three to two, saving fixed costs as well as number of agents (decreased from ten to seven). The cycle time for one x-ray machine line decreases from 26.9 to 13.5 seconds, and for the entire process from 9.0 to 6.7 seconds. Which means that in the current state, the system can handle 401 people per hour at 100% capacity, and 535 people per hour with our suggestions.
Other key findings show a decrease in all waiting times calculated by reducing wait times conservatively by one half – due to the 50% reduction in the cycle time. The throughput time from the ID check on decreases from 510 to 220 seconds, and the entire system (assuming 100 people in line) decreases from 1407 to 893 seconds.
Airports have traditionally been some of the busiest hubs of people in the world. Thousands of people go through these hubs to get home, to work, or to vacation destinations. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Atlanta, Georgia is the single busiest airport in the United States. With 151 domestic, and 28 international gates, Hartsfield-Jackson has almost 45 million passengers traveling through its complex every year. For comparison, Boston’s Logan International Airport is the19th busiest airport in the country with approximately 14 million passengers passing through every year. Airports have many subunits which work together to move passengers to their final destination. These subunits …show more content…
are, but not limited to, ticket counters where customers purchase tickets and check-in, baggage drops and collection, aircraft ground services, runway operations, passenger waiting areas, airport gate operations, and perhaps most importantly, airport security.
Until approximately the 1960’s, airport security was not a major issue. Travelers could quickly move from the check-in counter to their flight with minimal baggage or body checks. Sharp objects, and even guns at one point, were routinely allowed onboard aircrafts – until increases in terrorism and aircraft hijackings led to new security measures. Decades later, the events of September 11, 2001 led to a completely new set of security restrictions, and as a result, now every traveler must pass through a long and arduous security process in order to board an aircraft. In fact, it has now become a rite of passage for a traveler to have a frustrating experience while traveling.
Today, the task of operating airport security is managed by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), which is under the Department of Homeland Security. The TSA uses various forms of security measures to ensure passenger security. Some low-tech measures include verifying a person’s identity and checking for unnecessarily nervous passengers. They will even pat down a person’s clothes and manually search that person’s luggage. Additionally, the TSA also uses metal detectors, luggage x-ray machines, and full body scanners to a similar effect. All of these measures are to ensure that passengers do not bring contraband items that may compromise the security of the passengers onboard the aircraft, as well as the general population in the event of a hijacking.
Information about Consumers
There are three major types of airline passengers which pass through airport security: business passengers, leisure passengers, and passengers with special needs. Business passengers travel frequently, have minimal carry-on luggage, and typically do not cause congestion. The average leisure traveler is one who travels occasionally, is familiar with the airport security process and passes through the security process in a reasonable amount of time. The special needs passenger is one who needs extra time to pass through security and board an aircraft – typically large families with small children, people with disabilities, or elderly people who move slowly.
Regardless of the type of person passing through security, each has a set of expectations during the process. They expect to move through the security line at a reasonable pace and want to avoid waiting in long lines. They expect to be treated professionally and courteously. They expect their belongings will be safe as they pass through the x-ray machine. Finally, there is an expectation that the security process works and does an adequate job to provide safety.
Objectives of the Security Process
There are two main objectives of the airport security process. The first is to ensure that the passengers are not carrying any dangerous items on board and that they are not an immediate threat to anyone else, including themselves. This is achieved by an ID verification and a thorough scan of the passenger along with his/her belongings.
Second, to minimize the throughput time of passengers going through security, moving them as quickly as possible past the requisite security checks and into the terminal. Obviously, minimizing throughput times and maximizing efficiency should not come at the expense of security. A higher level of efficiency leads to a satisfied customer (the passenger) and satisfied employees as well (the TSA agents). More people can pass through the security check process with minimal hassle, therefore increasing its capacity. Competitive advantages
Although the airport is a government service and does not have many direct competitors, it is important that it runs efficiently to save costs and tax dollars.
One way to cut costs is by lowering the throughput time of the security line, which would require fewer TSA employees and fewer fixed investments (x-rays, scanners, etc). Additionally, it can improve the airport’s reputation among its peers in cities where there are more than one airport. For example, if passengers have a great experience at New York’s JFK International Airport, but a poor experience at neighboring LaGuardia Airport, they might seek flights from the former destination …show more content…
instead.
Analysis of the Process and Identification of Bottlenecks The studied process was the entire security check procedure – from the beginning of the ID check line until the traveler has collected his belongings off the conveyor belt and is ready to begin walking to his or her gate. There are four main parts, with a wait time between each (see exhibit 1).
Observation Times The security process was observed at Boston’s Logan International Airport. A total of twenty-four data points were gathered in two separate airport visits. Morning observation times were between nine o’clock and ten o’clock in the morning. The times chosen for the afternoon observation were between three o’clock and five o’clock. For each of the two trips, data was collected in four sample groups of three observations. The first twelve data points were gathered in the morning, and the last twelve data points were gathered in the afternoon. These times were determined to be peak travel times and opportunities for process improvement would be readily identifiable.
Step 1: ID Check
A traveler approaches the podium where a TSA agent waits to check the date and gate assignment on the traveler's boarding pass, to verify that the traveler's ID is valid, to confirm that the name on the ID matches the name on the boarding pass, and that the picture on the ID matches the appearance of the traveler presenting it.
This process takes an average of 10.2 seconds per traveler. The only variations would occur when a traveler has trouble locating their ID or boarding pass, or if the traveler's ID or boarding pass were to be questioned by the TSA agent. These variant cases were not observed, and therefore there is no measured data on their effects. During the observation all travelers approached the TSA podium with their boarding pass and identification in hand, ready to present it to the TSA agent with no problems observed. This proved to be a highly efficient process with not bottlenecks. Step 2: Prepare for X-ray & Body Scan
This process requires all travelers to remove their shoes, sweaters, jackets, belts, hats, and any items other than a single layer of clothing, and place them in small bins along a conveyor belt. Travelers must also remove all objects from their pockets, as well as any liquids or large electronics (such as laptops) from their carry-on bags and place them in bins.
Once travelers have prepared for the body scanner, they wait for a TSA agent to signal that it is their turn to walk through the body scanner. In our observations there was a constant "inventory" of people who were ready to proceed through the scanner, but were waiting for permission to proceed. Bottlenecks
In addition to the time needed to prepare for the body scanner, this step of the process is further complicated by the fact the bins for holding items are not large enough to hold all of one person's belongings.
There are also restrictions on what can go into each bin. For example, TSA regulations dictate that a laptop must be in a bin by itself with no other items. Because each traveler needs 2-3 bins, and each bin is about two feet wide, the 10-12 foot conveyor belt fills up very quickly. This adds further delay as people cannot undress until they have space to place their bin down. The average wait time before this step was an astounding 235.5 seconds. It is the most significant bottleneck of the entire
process. Step 3: Body Scanner
This is a two step process. First the traveler is scanned. Second, the traveler simultaneously sends his or her bags through the X-ray machine.
After the travelers prepare themselves and their belongings, they send their items through the X-ray machine and wait to enter the body scanner or go through the metal detector (half of the travelers go through each). Once they enter the body scanner, the traveler stands for three seconds while the machine takes a 360 degree scan of their body. Once the scan is completed, they traveler proceeds to a holding area where they wait for a TSA agent to tell them whether they have passed inspection. If the traveler is verified, they proceed to the conveyor belt to wait for their belongings to come through the machine. If the traveler is not verified by the body scanner, the TSA agent instructs the traveler how to fix the issue and sends them through the body scan machine again. (Note: if the traveler has to repeat the body scan, the combined time of both passes is used for the data point.) Step 4: Collect Belongings This is the final step in the process. Once travelers have completed the screening phase of the security process, they simply pull their belongings out of the bins and put their clothing back on and proceed to their gate. Bottlenecks
One challenge in this part of the process that we observed is that travelers often had to wait for their items to come along the conveyor belt because it was too short for everyone’s bins to come through at once. This causes a backup and people must wait until preceding passengers have removed all their items, packed their bags and then the removed their empty bins (which they often neglect to do). Effectiveness of Process
The TSA security check is unique in that it is not a service provided by a business to a client, but a government requirement. As a result, the standards for effectiveness and customer satisfaction are much different than in a traditional service environment.
First, as mentioned in the overview, the goals and expectations are traveler safety, efficiency, professionalism, and maintenance of personal property – however, due to the extremely high cost of a type II error (terrorist event, contraband on plane), traveler safety is the primary concern of the TSA, with process efficiency being a distant second.
Despite the fact that the TSA is being tasked with air safety, it need not come at the expense of traveler satisfaction and excessive wait times. Our research shows that bottlenecks occur at the only two tasks which do not involve direct verification by a security agent. The ‘undressing’ station is the bottleneck for the entire process, and can only process people at the rate of 2.2 travelers per minute. The step is preceded by an average wait time of 236 seconds. And it is also the undressing station that holds up the line before the ID check – a line that can last approximately 15 minutes. Similarly, the final station where people gather their belongings can facilitate only 2.7 travelers per minute and leads people to wait for 94 seconds before being scanned, and 16 seconds afterwards.
The TSA and the hassle of air travel are often criticized, and our findings show exactly why – the average throughput time is 8.5 minutes from the ID check on (and 23.5 minutes total assuming 100 people in ID check line), yet the average time a passenger is being verified or checked is only 17.1 seconds. This means that 97% of the process is spent preparing one’s items or waiting in line! Additionally, despite being the busiest sections, the undress and gather belonging section are the only stations not staffed by an agent.
The X-bar and R charts in the appendix show the consequences of a lack of focus on the process (Exhibit 5). The average times for all of these very straightforward tasks are in control, most of them to within 1 standard deviation. But the R charts for the ID check, body scanner, and collect belongings stations (figures 1, 3 and 5) show instances of being out of control. In some cases, this is to be expected, as security is looking for outliers. But more often than not, the errors are of a type I variety that are correctable (someone forgets to take their keys out of their pocket, a large family gets backed up, an infrequent traveler is unaware of the procedures). In a line based process such as this, every passenger behind the hold-up is affected, and consequently frustrated by the process.
To summarize, given the scope of the TSA’s security duty and the number of air travelers at our country’s major airports, this process will not be flawless. But it is precisely because of the sheer volume of people (who are also paying customers expecting a service) at airports that efficiency must be improved. Recommendations
1. Elongate the first conveyor belt (After the TSA agent checks the identification of the passenger and before the passenger has to pass through the X-ray machine for a body check). The present conveyor belt is only 10-12 feet long which can accommodate the bins for a maximum of 3 passengers at one time. By elongating the belt by a further 12-15 feet, we can accommodate 4-5 more passengers and the process for “undressing” to start earlier. Since this step is the biggest bottleneck in the entire process, doubling the capacity here would greatly reduce the wait time and make the step more efficient. We estimate that we can save almost 40.6% of the wait time (Exhibit 4) from 1132.8 seconds (897.2 + 235.5) to 672.9 seconds. 2. Move the first step (the TSA agent checking the Identification) to the end of the elongated conveyor belt. This means that the passengers will be able to unload and undress while waiting in line, turning idle wait time into productive time. This effectively makes Step 1 and Step 2 into one combined step while giving more time to undress.
3. Elongate the last conveyor belt (after the items in the bins have been scanned). This step is the second biggest bottleneck in the process and can be handled much more efficiently by providing more space for the bins to flow out. Currently, only 3 passengers can “dress” and unload the bins at any given time after they have passed through the X ray machine. This also means that more passengers are waiting before the X ray machine since there is no room beyond it, leading to hold up. This change would save approximately 50% of the wait time before and after the X ray machine (Exhibit 4) from 109.7 seconds (93.6 + 16.1) to 54.9 seconds (46.8 + 8). Results
(Refer to Exhibits 3 & 4 for data, Exhibits 1 & 2 for diagrams.)
By implementing our suggestions, the x-ray machines and lines can be reduced from three to two, saving fixed costs as well as number of agents (decreased from ten to seven). The cycle time for one x-ray machine line decreases from 26.9 to 13.5 seconds, and for the entire process from 9.0 to 6.7 seconds. Which means that in the current state, the system can handle 401 people per hour at 100% capacity, and 535 people per hour with our suggestions.
Other key findings show a decrease in all waiting times calculated by reducing wait times conservatively by one half – due to the 50% reduction in the cycle time. The throughput time from the ID check on decreases from 510 to 220 seconds, and the entire system (assuming 100 people in line) decreases from 1407 to 893 seconds.