From introducing plane scents to inflight yoga, airlines worldwide are constantly looking to improve the passenger experience. While William P. Hobby Airport has yet to go down the paths of smells and poses, it is constantly on the lookout to enhance what it does for passengers, who totalled 13 million in 2017.

One such change was accomplished in August when Hobby removed the Ground Transportation (GT) Booth from terminal curbside at the request of Dawn Hoffman, Landside Division Manager at Hobby. “It had simply turned into this big obstacle that created congestion,” Hoffman said. “The GT Booth blocked the middle of the curbside, critical pedestrian path and wasn’t occupied – it no longer served a meaningful purpose.”

The terminal curbside experience is clearly a major key to a positive passenger experience, often providing the first and last impressions for passengers. Hoffman noticed that the booth was actually impeding customers from utilizing the entire curbside for passenger pickup and causing traffic delays leading into the passenger pickup areas.

The removal of the booth has allowed passengers to see that the entire curb is available for pickup. Incoming vehicles also benefit greatly from a wider range of vision.

As Hobby’s passenger totals continue to increase, Hoffman said she had already seen the project yield positive results. “As a matter of fact,” she said, “this past July 12th we saw our second-largest recorded number of people passing through TSA security checkpoints at 19,185 passengers.” That was second only to the day after the 2016 Super Bowl.

Hobby has been progressive and aggressive in enhancing the traveller experience for quite some time. The airport welcomed international air service in 2015 and opened a new Federal Inspections Services facility that same year. Hobby has been recognized for the past three consecutive years as a four-star airport by international ratings service Skytrax.

Project Manager Mike Powers credited Hoffman for pushing the idea through to Hobby General Manager Liliana Rambo who, he said, “is always open and receptive to ideas that will make the airport function better and that will benefit our customers.”

Powers also lauded the efforts of Mia Harris, Senior Procurement Specialist, and the staff at Supply Chain Management. “That team’s due diligence was really crucial in helping to quickly get the project scope finalized and bidders in place, “he said. “The process went really well – paperwork, preconstruction, coordination meetings, and execution.”

He said Rambo directed the team to ensure that they accommodate the contractors and the passengers at the same time. “In other words,” he said, “we didn’t want to impact or disrupt the passenger experience. We went to night work and we were also able to close the taxi lane, but that didn’t affect passenger pickup at all.

“The GT Booth removal is another step,” Powers said. “ We are constantly looking for ways to improve efficiency and to make things better for every passenger at Hobby Airport.”