Case Study : Gatwick Airport

Complaints about staff at Gatwick Airport have dropped by 15% following the introduction of a customer service programme.

Staff training has been one of the priorities of Gatwick’s new owners, Global Infrastructure Partners, which bought Gatwick from BAA in late 2009 and has since embarked on a £1 billion investment programme to transform the airport.

Half of the airport's 1,500 front-line staff have achieved a City & Guild Level 2 Award in Principles of Customer Service through their customised 'Delivering Excellent Customer Service' programme and the remaining 750 will complete their training by October 2011.

Gatwick chief executive Stewart Wingate said passenger compliments had risen 94% since the training programme, which was run with Tourism South East Training and Skills.

"Our priority under new ownership is to deliver the best end-to-end passenger experience through the airport and make Gatwick London's airport of choice," said Wingate.

‘Passengers will judge their experience of Gatwick not just on the quality of the airport facilities but also on the friendliness and helpfulness of our staff.  That is why we are investing in the training and development of our people at the same time as we invest to improve the physical environment of the airport.’

Gatwick is also working towards a series of passenger commitments.  They include getting passengers through security in less than 10 minutes during peak periods and passing them through passport control more quickly than any other UK airport.

It also aims to get the first passenger bags onto carousels within 20 minutes and to take no longer than 55 minutes from the aircraft landing to produce the last bags.

 The training forms part of Tourism South East’s ‘Welcome Host Gold Programme’, launched to improve the levels of customer services across the South East and funded by the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA).