Airport Operation Challenges for airports today: Moving large groups of people

Airports today are more heavily-trafficked than ever before. This places an unprecedented burden on airport terminals to move people from point A to point B. Efficiency is essential. Modernized airports have been forced to cope with these challenges in unique ways to improve passengers' experiences safely and to expedite their movement for their own sake and the sake of the airport. However, for every problem solved by these new conveniences, problems may arise regarding their use. There is no universal prescription for every airport as to the 'right' way to transport people. But this is still an essential component of good customer service. Without crowd control, flight delays are inevitable. Furthermore, in the case of emergency situations, people must be able to be moved as quickly as possible to safety. The multifaceted, multi-component nature of most modern airports, with a wide variety of terminals and flight types necessitates careful negotiation of a great deal of 'sprawl.'

Automated People Movers

Automated People Movers take the form of trains that can move people quickly between different terminals, along with their luggage. Washington Dulles, one of the busiest airports in America, has an Automated People Mover (APM) underground train and passenger walkway system that connects the airport to three of its major concourses. "Its purpose: to keep people...

The annual growth rate at Dulles is 25.7%, compared to 2.9% at other airports throughout the country" ("Moving people," 2005). The conveyance is specifically constructed of extruded aluminum and rubber tires to minimize wear and tear. People movers have also been adopted at Miami International Airport, in Japan and many other Asian cities and airports. The downside is that these people movers are expensive and must need to be operated on a regular basis to ensure that people are not waiting around for the next train. The investment to create a people mover is considerable, but the savings in terms of time and cost as well as the increased attractiveness of the airport due to enhanced efficiency should not be minimized.
Travelators

However, there is also a need to move people quickly within terminals, not between them. Travelators or moving conveyor belts, combined with escalators, are another popular technique to accomplish this objective. Yet while travelators are increasingly popular and sophisticated in their design, some time-motion studies indicate that they are not as efficient as one might hope. "Researchers have found that using the travelator at airports, especially at busy times, can actually slow you down because people reduce their walking pace on the human conveyor belts and cause blockages….time gained even without any congestion is minimal…