Airport angst: Bad food, long queues and other things that make airports so frustrating

SINGAPORE — When it comes to travellers and airports, there has always been a love-hate relationship. While our affection for Changi Airport knows no bounds, we can safely agree that there are many frustrating aspects about passing through airport terminals — from bad food to equally bad toilets to long waiting lines and security checks — so much so that airports such as John F Kennedy International in New York have installed technology to help with waiting times and felt the need to see to customers' complaints about food.

> SECURITY CHECKMATE

To say that going through security checks is a perennial headache is an understatement. Last week, for instance, travel industry news platform Skift reported that 43 per cent of American travellers experience "negative emotions" while going through security checks, with the global average of those feeling bad vibes at 36 per cent.

We are not surprised — airports in the United States are notoriously troublesome when it comes to security matters and are generally unwelcoming. Data website Priceonomics recently crunched the results of Skytrax ratings this year to reveal that Miami, Washington Dulles and Newark are among the top 10 worst airports in terms of overall quality. Even US President Barack Obama has chipped in with his two cents: Last year, he ordered a relooking into his country's airports to "improve the experience of international arriving passengers, including expediting the arrival and entry process for international visitors to the United States" for a "positive first impression".

> QUEUE ME NOW!

And what about tedious waiting lines? The queues for checking in and for boarding planes are probably the source of most complaints. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) Global Passenger Survey 2014 revealed how only one per cent of travellers are willing to queue for more than 20 minutes (half consider a five-to-10 minute wait to be acceptable).

Keenly aware that long queues could be the boiling point for travellers, some airports are trying to come up with solutions. New York's John F Kennedy International Airport, for instance, installed network beacons in Terminal 4 last month to track the movement of travellers via their smart phones. These give them a sense of movement patterns and travel times, which, in turn, alerts airport staff to address bottlenecks. This technology, called Blip Systems, is also used in airports in Copenhagen, Toronto and Dubai.

Source: Airport angst: Bad food, long queues and other things that make airports so frustrating