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Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport Leverages Technology to Ensure Customer Service Excellence

Staff, Appian
April 11, 2014

Spring is here, and if you are like me, you can't get enough of the nice weather after what seemed like an eternity of winter. Warmer days mean plenty of sun, and before you know it, summer will be here! Like others, I enjoy traveling with family and friends during the summer months. But perhaps my least favorite part of the travel experience is getting through the airport. With what seems like never ending crowds, lines and delays, a destination just a short flight awayfeels like you have to cross oceans to get there.

Luckily for me and those impatient travelers, one airport is using modern technology innovations to improve process management and ensure the highest level of passenger service - at the world's eight busiest airport. The USA Today recently profiled how airports are embracing technology to create a better customer experience, and Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW)is leading this charge as it strives to becomethe "Airport of the Future."

Witha totalfacility covering roughly 27 square miles, making it larger than New York's Manhattan Island, a modern BPM solution was a natural fit for DFW. At the heart of developing process enhancement roll-outs, was a dedication to customer service at an airport with such high passenger traffic and volume. "The key to every one of our customers is making them more mobile, more flexible,'' says William Flowers, Vice President of IT Services at DFW. "We're talking about the airport of the future.''

Given its size, DFW needed an efficient way to manage bothinternal and externaloperations. For back office operations, DFW mainly used paper-based processes, requiring the physical transportation of forms and files across the facility. By leveraging an Appian Cloud solution, the airport is creating amore modern approach to business, while also supporting the airport's goal of reducing paper consumption by 50 percent. Through process automation, Appian gives DFW greater agility in its operations, while Appian's native mobile apps give employees better access to enterprise data in real-time.

According to Flowers, Appian will connect 2,000 DFW employees across all staff levels with enterprise data, processes, and social collaboration throughout the organization. Staffers will be equipped with iPads that allow for a number of airport roles to be performed, ranging from terminal mangers assisting passengers on terminal floors to thorough inspections of concessionaires reporting compliance or any issues needing to be addressed. Eventually, the airport hopes to enable passengers to order food and gifts right from their seats in the terminal.

"If you keep delivering that type of technology, (customers) keep on expecting it,'' Flowers says. "That's why we're constantly looking."

If you would like to learn more about DFW's BPM program and future innovations planned, be sure to register now for Appian World 2014, asFlowers is scheduled to deliver a main stage presentation.

During his presentation, "Flying the Cloud to a Paperless Airport,"Flowers will detail DFW's goals for operational speed and customer engagement while continuing to utilize the Appian Cloud platform and enterprise mobility to get the right data in the right hands in real-time. This promises to be an insightful discussion you won't want to miss!

Mike Ingrisano

Media Relations Manager

Mike Ingrisano