7A

Airport security checkpoint hold-ups

• Opportunity:
• Every day, thousands of Americans who are frequent travelers miss out on opportunities because of missed flights. The reason for this leads back to having to be held up at security checkpoints in airports around the world

  
  

  • The who: American travelers
  • The what: Victims of missed flights and money lost
  • The why: The unpredictability of security checkpoints

    
    

    
    

    Testing the who: Not only do Americans have this need, but people of different nations traveling from different countries go through the same concern. Majority of the "who" includes business executives and Generation Zers. According to Adobe, youth travel is one of the fastest-growing sectors in tourism. 79% of Generation Zers first traveled overseas before the age of 15. (https://www.cmo.com/features/articles/2019/5/15/generation-z-travel.html#gs.3zdftj)
    

    
    

    Testing the what: Forbes revealed that one out of every seven travelers misses a flight because of long airport security lines.  (https://www.forbes.com/sites/garystoller/2018/06/26/one-of-every-seven-travelers-miss-their-flights-because-of-long-airport-security-lines/#1d1940c52e1d) This, however, is unrelated because there are people who miss flights simply because of having a special need, forgetting about a flight and arriving too late to the airport, or having distractions preventing them from arriving at the right time to the airport.

    
    

    Testing the why: People constantly miss flights because of their unpredictability of how long the security checkpoint process will take exactly. Many airports do not show a time clock of how long travelers will have to wait nor do the airports provide a way of predicting the time. Ways to prevent this include installing time clocks inside airports in from of the checkpoints, or launching an app/alert that helps travelers know the average time security checkpoints will take on the day and leading up to their time for a flight
    

    
    

    
    

    
    

    
    

    
    

    
    

    
    
• Interview #1:
• In this interview, I found that a female who is 19 years old and an active college student travels often with her family. She feels like there is a problem in having to predict how long security checkpoints will take. When asked about why she thinks the problem exists she stated it's about people being on time. She has never been late to a flight and has always arrived three hours prior to boarding in order to have ample time. She only travels about twice per year by plane and has witnessed security throwing away her toothpaste that they thought was a weapon. That instance held other people behind her back.
  
  
• Interview #2:
• This interview was conducted with an event management student who feels like this problem exists only with people who are not Type A and are not as organized. She believes it's important for travelers who fully plan out a trip, to also plan out what they will bring in their bags. To do this, she usually puts together a list and does research security check-point restrictions, and what is and is not allowed in luggage to be transported. She also makes sure to wear comfortable clothes and shoes to get through security easily. She has never faced this issue but has witnessed people who were unprepared face this issue.
  
  
  
  
• Interview #3:
• This interviewee has three years of experience working for a technology company. His job requires him to travel to speaking engagements with the company's executives because he is as an executive communications manager. He feels like the issue with airport security is that they don't hire kind people and at times their body scanners misinterpret objects people have on or possess. He was traveling back from Mexico and security held him back because on the frames on his lenses made the machine detect illegal material. This held back all other travelers for a few minutes.
  
  
  
  
• Interview #4:
• This interviewee is a 24-year-old communications senior in college. While she believes airport security checkpoints are important, she has never been on an airplane nor in an airport before. From what she has seen, she believes as a person who has nothing to hide, certain checkpoint procedures are a bit excessive after patting someone down.
  
  
  

  
  
• Interview #5:
• This interview was with a father who does not travel much by airplane and mainly by car or train. He chooses the Amtrak train over plane rides because he is provided with a meal and he can choose to bring his car on the Amtrak auto train. He would rather be on a train for hours than to go through a two-hour process with airport security and baggage drop off. He believes the whole airport system is simply too long.
  
  
  
  
• Given your interviews, what do you know about the opportunity that you didn't know before? 
• The interviewees helped me see how people have habits and they like adapting to only their habits. My second interviewee said she is all about staying organized and she believes that organization is the solution to this security checkpoint unpredictability need. Her habit is centered on being prepared for all things
  
  
• Most of my interviewees said they either did not travel often or traveled for a professional reason. This showed me there's a trend in an age range. As people become older they travel more often depending on their job, responsibility, and income.
• I also learned that there's a train system that can take passengers and their car for an affordable price depending on the destination. It is called Amtrak auto train for people who completely want to leave the habit of having to take a plane to get to a destination.