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What it Takes to Deliver a Five-Star Experience

Houston Airport at Sunset

Houston Airports Continue to Put the Guest Experience First

An unrelenting focus on the guest experience continues to pay off handsomely for Houston Airports—and most importantly, for its millions of passengers each month. In January 2022, William P. Hobby Airport received notice that it had become the first and only 5-Star rated airport throughout North America in the Skytrax World Airport Star Rating for 2022. Hobby Airport excelled in all 29 rating categories to achieve the exceptional honor.

Houston Airport Five Star Rating

The Skytrax World Airport Star Rating is a global benchmark of quality evaluation for the aviation industry. The 5-Star rating is Skytrax’s ultimate quality recognition for an airport, awarded to airports achieving a very high, overall quality performance. This top airport rating recognizes airports providing excellent facilities for guests, combined with high-quality airport staff service.

Skytrax’s complimentary review highlighted the airport’s “wide range of substantial guest experience upgrades to the terminal interiors, passenger facilities, and customer service initiatives.” Recent improvements at Hobby Airport include new children’s play areas, state-of-the-art restroom facilities, modern signage and information systems, a prayer room, and a new stage for live music performances, to highlight just a few. Hobby Airport becomes one of just 16 airports with a 5-Star rating across the world. 

George Bush Intercontinental Airport maintained its 4-Star rating for a fifth consecutive year and consistently improved its score across the rating categories. Construction continues to advance Bush Airport’s international terminal redevelopment program, which will support the efforts to achieve the goal for Houston to serve as home to not just one, but two 5-Star rated airports. Plans for a domestic redevelopment program have been announced as well.

Hobby Airport delivers an excellent customer experience across frontline areas and customers will find upgraded interior décor finishes, new play areas for children and enhanced nursery facilities for families. There is a broad range of seat choices, and charging sockets and free fast WiFi is available throughout the terminal. The airport has very efficient processing for key formalities at security and immigration, and this is reinforced by short walking distances for departure, arrival, and transfer flights. Dining is provided from a range of local and national brands and offers a good choice and quality.” 

Skytraxratings.com

The 5-star honor for Hobby Airport was the result of years of intentional, strategic efforts—all designed with the guest in mind. In October 2021, Houston Airports unveiled its new guest experience brand promise, specifically designed to intimately serve all its guests—every single customer who visits Bush, Hobby, and Ellington Airports. 

The focused efforts had already yielded results before Hobby’s 5-star recognition. A few months earlier, at the Skytrax 2021 World Airport Awards, Bush and Hobby Airports received a bevy of honors in various categories.

There, Bush Airport garnered top honors, with the highest ranking among U.S. airports in the World’s Top 100 Airports category, achieving the distinction for the second consecutive year. Bush Airport climbed six spots in rank to No. 25 among the top 100 world airports. Bush Airport also ranked as the cleanest airport in the U.S and finished fourth in the rankings for Best U.S. Airport Staff. 

Perhaps a portent of positive things to come, Hobby Airport received several noteworthy accolades at the 2021 awards, including the most improved airport in the U.S. It also ranked third in the Best Regional Airports in North America category. In the Top 100 Best World Airports category, Hobby Airport placed 49th, up from 67th in 2020. Additionally, Hobby ranked tenth in the Cleanest Airports—North America category. 

“Houston Airports takes great pride in serving our guests efficiently, effectively, and with care and safety in mind,” said Liliana Rambo, the airport system’s chief terminal management officer. “We have left no stone unturned as we navigated our path to truly becoming a 5-star global service gateway. Great airports get the basics right—making the experience memorable from curb to gate, with an enjoyable guest experience in mind.”

Rambo said that so many factors—parking, concessions, passenger terminal layout and design, amenities, and more—all weigh heavily on creating an exceptional passenger experience.

Walt Gray, commercial development—parking and ground transportation director at Houston Airports, concurred. Gray talked about the importance of efficient parking and transportation in the overall travel process.

“Parking factors heavily in the satisfaction of our guests,” Gray said, “and we have been very intentional in seeking to respond and cater to the needs of our visitors. We focus on best practices and provide affordable, efficient options for our guests.” 

Parking Lot Entrance

“Parking is often the first and the last impression for many of our guests. We recognize that it’s critical to make that first and last impression count.”

He also noted Bush and Hobby Airports recently installed LED lighting and lighting control updates at multiple locations, all part of a recent sustainability initiative.

“Guests” is a word often heard at Houston Airports, according to Dawn Hoffman, terminal manager at Hobby Airport. 

“It is genuinely the heart of Houston Airports to serve each and every guest with excellence,” Hoffman said. “We are gratified by the 5-star recognition and the numerous recent awards we’ve received, but they only validate our interest in serving the public well. They don’t allow us to ‘rest easy’, but they incentivize us to continue moving forward with the guest in mind.”

Even considering the COVID-19 pandemic which literally crippled the aviation industry around the world, Houston Airports continues to advance. Steve Runge, director of operations, was emphatic and enthusiastic as he discussed the airport system’s robust response to so many often-evolving challenges.

“We are in a time of tremendous growth and expansion at Houston Airports,” Runge said. “Communication with our guests—and each other—is more critical than ever as we modernize and create facilities of which we can be proud. Our current programs—the IAH Terminal Redevelopment Program, ITRP, at Bush Airport and the upcoming domestic redevelopment program—plus significant infrastructure improvements at Hobby Airport and the ongoing expansions at Ellington Airport/Houston Spaceport are all making the City of Houston even more attractive and more appealing as a destination for business, for leisure, and for passing through.”

Runge said that at the early onset of the pandemic, Houston Airports implemented FlySafe Houston, an internationally accredited passenger and employee-focused safety and health initiative that helps reduce the spread of COVID-19 throughout the facilities. The FlySafe Houston health initiative was developed to work in unison with Houston Airports’ airline partners’ existing health and safety programs to create a “curb to sky” safety promise. Safety measures that were quickly implemented included mandatory masks/face coverings, touchless kiosks at select airline ticketing counters, facial comparison technology at select departing and immigration entry points, deep cleanings, social distancing markers in queues, safety shields at counters, additional installment of hand sanitizer stations, increased frequency of air-filter replacements and public announcements and signage to promote good hygiene and social distancing.

“Again,” Runge reiterated, “we work every single day with the guest squarely in mind.” 

Houston Airports Director Mario Diaz recently said, “Our customer-first mentality has served us well, and we continue to be vigilant in our efforts to safeguard the health and welfare of every single guest, visitor and staff member at Houston Airports.” 

Rambo expressed her appreciation for Houston Airports’ staff and airport partners that have led to so many award-winning accolades in recent years, including the Skytrax World Airport Awards rankings. 

The rankings were based on an annual airport customer survey for the Passenger’s Choice Awards that was conducted from August 2020 until July 2021. Many travelers voted for their favorite / best airport based on pre-pandemic travel experiences, while other customers voted after their COVID-19 airport experience during the 12 months’ prior.

Ronnie Pickard, managing director, guest experience and strategy said that the entirety of the guest experience has been carefully broken down and analyzed. “We’ve looked at everything,” Pickard said, “from the time a guest arrives at the airport, through wayfinding, activity in the garage, experience at the check-in counters, availability and usefulness of amenities—everything that has an impact on the customer.”

Additional international facilities, an aviation and aerospace technical training center, 5G technology, and reduction of natural resource consumption are among the myriad of factors driving Houston Airports to continue reaching for the stars.

“Our organizational philosophy is built on the foundation of mastering safety, capacity and efficiency to provide exceptional and unmatched service for our millions of passengers each year,” Runge said.

Runge said that yes, record-setting growth in passenger numbers has clearly been slowed by the worldwide effects of COVID-19, but that Houston Airports continues to proactively work and prepare for the robust return of air travel. 

“In 2019, nearly 60 million passengers arrived, connected, or departed from Houston Airports,” Runge said. “In 2020, it was right under 25 million and in 2021, more than 33 million. We are working through the strains, variants, and other challenges of COVID-19, but we are very optimistic about the future of air travel, certainly a modern societal essential.”

Darryl Daniel, Houston Airports’ chief technology officer, talked about the technologically driven advancements that Houston Airports continues to make, all in line with an ongoing five-year strategic plan. The plan’s pillars: experience, service, efficiency, capacity, and safety. 

“These priorities,” Daniel said, “are what propels Houston Airports’ innovative advances regarding passenger comfort and convenience—with one key area being biometrics.”

In 2020, Hobby Airport became the first airport in Texas to have fully biometric boarding and international entry. Houston Airports also fast-tracked the biometric program at Bush Airport and began testing other touchless technology to enhance the efficiency of the passenger’s airport experience: touchless bag drops, kiosks, and future passenger screening checkpoint pilots. 

Daniel also noted, “Houston Airports has long been the aviation industry leader in development, adoption, and deployment in Smart Restroom technology, particularly in monitoring usage, cleanliness, and capturing real-time customer feedback.”

“Houston Airports is very active when it comes to bringing the latest, greatest, and safest technology to our airports. Innovation is a constant driver,” Daniel said.

Houston Airports serves the nation’s fourth-largest city with a dynamic economy and a diverse population base. Collectively, the three airports form one of North America’s largest public airport systems and serves as a premier gateway to Latin America.

Guests on airplane sharing gifts received during Customer Appreciation Week at Houston Airport
Guests sharing gifts received during Customer Appreciation Week at Houston Airport

“The aviation industry is literally changing the paradigm by which customer service has been traditionally measured,” Rambo said. “We are really excited about the future for our passengers.”

“As a city, we are honored to be recognized on the world stage,” Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said, in recent comments. “As our city recovers from the global pandemic, our airports remain a world-class gateway for business and leisure travel. Global connectivity drives our economy, and we are proud to say that Houston is leading in this way.”

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