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Issue link: http://airportbusiness.epubxp.com/i/370519
August/September 2014 airportbusiness 13 INDUSTRY INSIDER made to reduce stressful aspects and make the process less time consuming. There have been improvements with the addition of the CLEAR Program and TSA PreCheck. More people are traveling, and crowding at the airport is also a concern. When you combine that with the uncertainty of travel, it creates an experience that the passenger doesn't look forward to repeating. WHAT ROLE DO CONCESSIONS AND RETAIL PLAY? From an airport perspective, the ability to gen- erate additional non-aeronautical revenue is always beneficial and something that needs to be focused on. But from the passenger perspective, it is also critical. Because of all the uncertainty that is part of the airport experience, passengers come to the airport earlier than they would have previously. Having a robust concessions program that provides a variety of options is critical. You don't want all upscale restaurants or upscale retail, for example, because there are a large percentage of customers who would not be interested in that. You also don't want it to only offer lower- to medium-quality offerings because you may miss out. You've got to have a balance. You also may have a customer who just wants to go somewhere and relax. You need to give them an option for that too because that's going to make their journey much more memorable and positive. Here, implementing a shared-use lounge may offer some value. HOW HAS THE LOUNGE CONCEPT EVOLVED OVER THE YEARS? In the past, the primary lounges were airline-sponsored lounges and passengers could purchase a membership to an airline's lounge. That's really been the profile of lounges in the United States until the last few years. Over the years, the airlines created another product where passengers could purchase a day pass to the lounge. So even if you weren't affiliated with them at a top-tier level, you could go in and experience the lounge for the day. As more peo- ple gained access to these lounges, the spaces became much more crowded. Twenty-five years ago these lounges were quite a respite from the concourse. Now they're a lot more crowded and a lot more challenging to get into. As a result, airlines are trying to make their lounges more exclusive in order to better manage the crowds. What evolved out of this is the shared-use lounge concept. A shared-use lounge is one sponsored by an airport. These lounges are inclusive, rather than exclusive. These lounges give airports a brand-new customer audience; customers who would like to use a lounge but don't want to pay the high prices it takes to get into exclusive airline lounges. Airports also are satisfying the customer audience searching desperately for a lounge because the one they had used is no longer available. ON HER WORST AIRPORT EXPERIENCE... My worst airport experience was in Asia. It wasn't really the airport's fault; they had a sandstorm and the airport had to shut down. The carrier I was traveling on tried to ensure that everyone had a place to stay. I was traveling alone and they wanted two to three passengers to share a room in order to accommodate everyone. At the time I thought that was awful, but now I just laugh. I didn't think I would ever experience a sandstorm that would shut the airport down and that I'd be asked if I could share a room with three other ladies I had never met. 60 YEARS... www.aviationpros.com/10017318