Airports can be stressful places, especially with additional security. Security hassles, the stress of being between the crowds at the airport, the frustration of flight delays, the need to be at the airport on time, as well as the fear of flying is some of the stress-invoking phases of travel. Even before takeoff, the environment of the airport can itself be a source of stress for the people at the airport. This is because the environment is characterised by stressful events, such as theft, anxieties, and annoyances. Due to this, airport operators often employ numerous strategies to alleviate stress and trigger calming emotions for people at the airport. This paper will discuss what airport operators have done to make the airport experience more calming.
One issue which sends stress levels of passengers at the airport soaring is seeing an hour-long security line. What makes this worse is the bark of security agent at the airport instructing passengers to divest of all their possessions, like electronic gadgets, and just getting to the gate can be harrowing. In order to avoid the stress caused by security lines, a passenger needs to arrive at the airport earlier. However, there are numerous other ways employed by airport operators to avoid the stress caused by security lines. One way which has proven to be effective involves buying your way out of the long security lines with Transport Security Administration (T.S.A) PreCheck (TSA, N.d). This requires an online application, a face-to-face interview, fingerprinting, and payment of fees which can amount to tens of dollars. However, once an individual is approved by the TSA, PreCheck status can be used to five years. Basically, TSA PreCheck allows an individual to keep some of their possessions, such as electronic gadgets and toiletries in their bags. In addition, they are allowed to keep their light jackets as well as their shoes on. According to the TSA agency, the move has significantly reduced the time it takes for an approved passenger to clear security.
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Even after the security process, overcoming the annoyances at an airport can be very stressful. The potential for annoyance at an airport is seemingly infinite. A person at an airport can find it very hard to relax due to directional confusion, a larger number of passengers, and the blare of televisions. Fortunately, many airports have recognised this and put measures in place to help passengers overcome annoyances at the airport. Some airports have begun more serene spaces. For instance, Dallas Fort Worth International Airport has yoga rooms equipped with yoga mats (Dallas Fort International Airport, N.d).
Another issue that invokes stress at an airport is arrival. Once passengers arrive from an international flight, they are required to by immigration authorities to answer questions. In the United States, this tension has been heightened by President Trump administration’s anti-immigrant rhetoric and travel ban. International passengers, especially those from the Muslim countries, are inspected and asked the length of their stay, purpose of their trip, as well as where they intend to stay. The passenger may be detained, and this can be stressful, especially if you have not requested a privacy waiver in advance.
To make the process more calming and passenger from detention, airport operators, urge their passenger to know their rights. They also advise the American travellers to request a privacy waiver from the congressional representative in their district, execute the waiver in advance and hand it over to their family or colleagues in the district. In case an individual with the form is detained, the airport authorities can use the form to contact the congressional representative, who can the follow up the issue and learn the reason for detention. Also, passengers are advised to contact the specific councils and organisations, such as the Council on American-Islamic Relations before travelling. The councils and organisation will advise the passengers as well as inform them what they may encounter.
Another common stress-inducing factor is the fear of flying. According to an article presented by Murphy (2007) in the New York Times, approximately 6.5% of Americans have a phobia, which makes them fear flying. Many passengers tend to be anxious before and after during flight. When in flight, a passenger may be in physical discomfort. However, airport authorities have developed strategies to help passenger deal with physical discomfort, or fear of flying. In order to deal with the symptoms of anxiety, flight authorities have developed specific strategies. One of the strategies involves holding breadth for some seconds and exhaling through the mouth and repeating the process several times. The strategy helps an individual slow down and relax by starving the body of oxygen and forcing it to shut off. Another strategy involves forcing the muscles of the body to fatigue by placing the arm insider the armrest and pressing out against it while also contracting the legs. Repeating this process a few times helps an individual relax.
Disruptive passengers also tend to induce stress to other passengers. The incidences of unruly passengers on a flight have been in existence and are still prevalent today (Chiver, 2008). This is because there are many cases of men and women behaving badly while onboard in an aircraft. When a problem is caused by one person, it can be handled swiftly. However, when it involves a large number of passengers, things can escalate, and the situation can be difficult to manage. There have been incidents where flights are cancelled due to technical errors and passengers have refused to disembark (Chiver, 2008). The disgruntled passenger may also protest and cause unrest in an airport. There are numerous examples of passengers causing chaos and inducing stress to others in an airport. These behaviours may be due to medical conditions, drunkenness and other issues. As Chiver (2008) argues, “one person’s problem may be another’s a nervous flyer.”
In order to manage and prevent issues caused by disruptive passengers, airport authorities have trained special staff to detect unwanted behaviour and deal with individuals causing chaos at the airport. The staffs are trained to take action once they identify a certain behaviour is not normal (Tanger & Clyton, 2013). The action can involve notifying security or police and keeping the individual under observation until the security personnel arrive. Another security initiative which was discussed earlier in the TSA program, which can be used to identify known offenders. TSA has developed a security checklist which helps airport authorities identify disruptive passengers in advance before they cause chaos and disrupt the peace at the airport.
As discussed above, airports can be stressful places. Between crows, disruptive passengers, security hassles, flight delays, long security lines, and questioning by immigration authorities are some of the factors which cause stress at the airport. In order to handle these issues, airport authorities have developed several strategies. Some of the strategies employed include registering for TSA PreCheck, training staffs to detect and deal with disruptive passengers, asking international passengers know their rights and seek advice before travelling, developing serene spaces at airports, such as yoga room, and many other strategies. It is the responsibility of both passengers and airport authorities to ensure that the airport environment is free from stress-inducing factors.
References
Chivers, M. (2008). How airports deal with problem passengers. [Online]. Available at: http://www.nbcnews.com/id/25147767/ns/travel-news/t/how-airports-deal-problem-passengers/#.XP8xZogzZEY . Accessed 10 th June 2019.
Fort Worth International Airport. [N.d]. Yoga Studio. [Online]. Available at: https://www.dfwairport.com/dfwyogastudio/index.php . Accessed 10 th June 2019.
Murphy, T. (2007). For fear of flying, therapy takes to the skies. [Online]. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/24/health/psychology/24fear.html?module=inline . Accessed 10 th June 2019.
Tanger, R., & Clayton, E. (2013). Managing Airport Disruption: Achieving resilience through collaboration. [Online]. Available at: https://www.strategyand.pwc.com/media/uploads/Strategyand_Managing-Airport-Disruption.pdf . Accessed 10 th June 2019.
Transport Security Administration. 9N.d). TSA PreCheck. [Online]. Available at: https://www.tsa.gov/precheck . Accessed 10 th June 2019.
