Air transport IT specialist SITA has introduced its queue monitoring system at Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport in Little Rock, Arkansas, USA. The new Airport iQueue system uses real-time signals from passengers’ wi-fi- and bluetooth-enabled devices to measure the time it takes to pass through the security process from entry to exit. The airport operator can then use this information to manage resources and prevent bottlenecks.
Ronald F Mathieu, executive director of Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport, said, “Airport iQueue provides empirical data of passengers’ total processing time at the checkpoint. It is an excellent quality assurance tool that measures the total experience, not just queue waiting, with the information shared with TSA, airlines and the airport’s governing body for appropriate follow-up.”
The iQueue system is common among many European airports but Clinton National Airport is one of the first in the USA to implement the system. Future plans for Airport iQueue include the ability to display the queue time information on the website to better inform passengers.
Paul Houghton, SITA president, Americas, said, “Waiting at the security checkpoint is the number one source of frustration for passengers when flying. We at SITA have developed Airport iQueue to help reduce that frustration. Now the management team at the airport has actionable information that can be used to better manage resources and reduce congestion at the airport. For example, a threshold on wait times can be set so that once it is breached an alert prompts management to open a new channel.”