Airport bathrooms are getting better

A software system, Trax SmartRestroom, allows feedback to be instantly e-mailed to a supervisor who can dispatch an employee to fix the problem as quickly as possible.
A software system, Trax SmartRestroom, allows feedback to be instantly e-mailed to a supervisor who can dispatch an employee to fix the problem as quickly as possible. PHOTO: NYTIMES

NEW YORK •As airlines continue to shrink the size of their in-flight bathrooms to make room for more seats in economy, more flyers may increasingly seek comfort in places they once avoided at all costs: airport restrooms.

An increasing number of airports seem to recognise that clean bathrooms are an important aspect of travel and they have begun taking steps to improve the conditions and the monitoring of their facilities.

"Bathroom cleanliness is a big driver of satisfaction at airports and if you want a pleasant experience, clean bathrooms are a must," said Mr Dimitri Coll, associate director for Airports Council International (ACI), the official association for the world's airports, which recently conducted a survey of travellers that emphasised the importance of airport cleanliness.

According to ACI's report, Airport Service Quality: Airport Cleanliness, published this year, washroom cleanliness, combined with terminal cleanliness, affects overall passenger satisfaction more than any other infrastructure factor.

There are signs travellers may be closer to getting what they want.

IMPROVED TECHNOLOGY

Seven airports around the United States, including Los Angeles International Airport, Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport and George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, have invested in a new software system called Trax SmartRestroom, which aims to keep bathrooms cleaner and helps move the lines to use stalls more efficiently (several more airports will introduce the system before the end of the year).

Ms Tracy Davis, vice-president of sales and business development for Infax, one of the three companies that collaborated to develop the software (Avius and Tooshlights are the others), said it involves multiple components and that airports can pick the features they want.

First, each bathroom with the SmartRestroom has a light above the stall indicating whether it is in use: a green light means it is available while red signals it is occupied.

The software also has a counting sensor at the entrance of the restroom that tracks when passengers walk in and leave.

Each airport can pick how many people enter the restroom before an e-mail alert is sent to its custodial supervisor indicating that it is time to clean the restroom - say, after 300 people.

And, most importantly for passengers, they have the option to leave feedback on their bathroom visit through a tablet at the exit of the bathroom. They can choose one of three faces: "exceptional", "average" or "poor".

If they pick the sad face (poor), the tablet displays a series of six potential issues they encountered. This feedback is instantly e-mailed to the custodial supervisor who can dispatch an employee to fix the problem as quickly as possible.

Ms Davis said that airports spend from US$25,000 (S$34,400) to more than US$250,000 on the SmartRestroom system, depending on the level of the installation they choose.

FEEDBACK FROM PASSENGERS

Two airports in the Washington, DC, area - Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and Washington Dulles International Airport - are offering a new app called Inspection Assist that is meant to minimise the chances that travellers encounter dirty bathrooms.

"We know that there's nothing worse than a dirty bathroom and this app helps us make sure that ours stay clean," said Mr Andrew Trull, a spokesman for the airports.

In addition, the Port Authority, which operates the three major New York City area airports, has installed more than 450 Feedback-Now devices throughout its rest-rooms in the past year through which travellers can indicate whether they had a positive experience or not.

The feedback is provided in real-time to terminal operators and cleaning contractors, who can deploy staff to inspect the restrooms.

According to Ms Cheryl Albiez, a spokesman for the Port Authority, these devices have collected more than 2 million votes and have resulted in several million dollars of investment to make the bathrooms cleaner.

"Bathrooms are the first sign if an airport is run well," said Mr Jason Clampet, the co-founder of travel research company Skift.

"I've never been to a well-operated airport that has dirty bathrooms and anything that an airport can do to prevent bad bathroom encounters is great for flyers."

NYTIMES

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Sunday Times on November 11, 2018, with the headline Airport bathrooms are getting better. Subscribe