CLE earns best customer service scores in a decade

July 26, 2017

Press Releases

Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (CLE) experienced its best performing quarter and its best performing six month/year-to-date Overall Satisfaction scores and rankings according to the newly released Airports Council International (ACI) Airport Service Quality (ASQ) report.

CLE ended Q2 of 2017 ranking 138 out of 306 global airports in Overall Satisfaction earning a 4.22 score (out of 5, which is best). The Q2 2017 Overall Satisfaction score for CLE surpasses the average score globally among airport in the same category (5-15 million passengers annually) and the average score of all participating airports in North America.

In the category of Overall Satisfaction Business, CLE increased its score by 34% since 2006 with a score of 4.17. That score earned the airport team a ranking of 129 out of 306 participating airports in the Business Passenger category. By implementing a more strategic approach to customer satisfaction, this is the best CLE has ever scored among its business travelers.

Out of 37 categories surveyed, CLE improved in 36 categories and remained the same in 1 compared to Q1 2017 according to surveyed passengers. Other notable improvements in Q2 2017:

• Waiting time in check-in queue/line - 4.40 - matching the highest score within the past five years
• Efficiency of Check-in Staff - 4.42 - amongst the highest scores in past five years
• Ease of finding your way through airport - 4.46 - highest score since CLE began participation in 2006
• Courtesy and helpfulness of airport staff - 4.45 - highest score since CLE began participation in 2006

Recently added amenities have contributed to an enhanced guest experience at CLE, including: opening of the CLE Mother’s Room, establishing the CLE Landside Operations Group, opening of CLE’s Ground Transportation Center, addition of Bottle Filling Stations and the introduction of the Checkpoint Wait Times to the flight information display screens and the airport’s website www.clevelandairport.com

"The CLE team (airlines, TSA, Customs, concessions, airport staff and many others) have has worked tirelessly to make sure our guests have a unique and enjoyable experience," said Airport Director Robert Kennedy. "We are not resting upon these improvements, we are working upon additional improvements that take longer to design, develop, and implement."

The high scores come at a time when CLE is seeing continuous growth in passenger numbers. As previously released, CLE passenger traffic is up more than 5% year-t0-date over 2016 year-to-date, with June 2017 passenger activity up more than 11% over 2016 activity. Along with our growth are plans for more amenities to continue to give our passengers the experience they deserve when they choose CLE.

ACI is the trade association for global airports whose mission is to advance the interests of airports and to promote professional excellence in airport management and operations. ACI’s ASQ is a world-renowned and globally established benchmarking program measuring passengers’ impressions during their airport visits. Many of the world’s leading airports in customer service utilize the ASQ survey program to provide key passenger research and insight, as well as essential management information. ASQ is designed for airports seeking a more effective and efficient means to serve passengers.

The questionnaire is completed by randomly selected passengers at boarding gates of pre-selected flights. Flights are selected based on destination and carrier in order to obtain a representative sample of all departures from a participating airport. The ASQ Survey covers all operating hours of the participating airport, and each day of a week is evenly distributed between each month of a quarter.