Experiences from the international frontlines

Experiences from the international frontlines: An exploration of the perceptions of airport employees during the COVID-19 pandemic

Tuchen, Stefan (Singapore University of Technology and Design)
Nazemi, Mohsen (Singapore University of Technology and Design)
Ghelfi-Waechter, Signe Maria (Zurich State Police)
Kim, E.Y. (TU Delft Marketing and Consumer Research)
Hofer, Franziska (Brainability GmbH, Zurich)
Chen, Ching Fu (National Cheng Kung University)
Arora, Mohit (University of Edinburgh; Imperial College London)
Santema, S.C. (TU Delft Marketing and Consumer Research)
Blessing, Lucienne (Singapore University of Technology and Design)

2023

The aviation industry is one of the sectors that has been heavily impacted by the pandemic. While the major body of literature has focused on passenger experience and behaviour, this study focuses on airport employees instead—their experiences, perceptions, and preferences following the emergence of COVID-19. More than 1000 participants from 4 major airports—Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Singapore Changi Airport, Taipei Taoyuan Airport, and Zurich Airport—representing over 10 different occupations, have provided a variety of sentiments about the airport as an employment ecosystem in the wake of COVID-19. Quantitatively and qualitatively surveying four different airports enabled a cross-border analysis of the results to identify interesting geographic contrasts, as well as global themes, among the responses. Regional differences regarding, the feeling of preparedness, confidence in measures, and optimism are presented. A significant difference in confidence in non-pharmaceutical measures between employees from Asian and European airports is shown. Wants and needs such as better physical/IT workplace infrastructure and more flexibility regarding job scope and hours are pointed out. The results of this research provide insights for future airport employee experience research by outlining areas to study in greater detail. Furthermore, practical implications for airport stakeholders and companies arising from the challenges experienced by the workforce are laid out to provide guidance to prepare for similar circumstances in the future and navigate the aftermath of and recovery from the pandemic.

Air transportation systems
Airport planning
Coronavirus
Frontline employees
Pandemic impact
User experience

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:8c0aa00e-60c3-46f3-8d6a-e29504edb668

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jairtraman.2023.102404

0969-6997

Journal of Air Transport Management, 109

Institutional Repository

journal article

© 2023 Stefan Tuchen, Mohsen Nazemi, Signe Maria Ghelfi-Waechter, E.Y. Kim, Franziska Hofer, Ching Fu Chen, Mohit Arora, S.C. Santema, Lucienne Blessing