Question

Airport case study: How many service counters to keep open?

Problem

Busy Period #1

early morning(approximately 6:30-9:00 am)

many departing domestic flights

average time between consecutive customer arrival : approx. 4 mins

average service time : approx 8 mins.

Busy Period # 2

early evening(approximately 6:00-8:00 pm)

many departing international flights

average time between consecutive customer arrival: approx 4 min

Average service time: approx 15 min.

Ideal State

Middle of the day

average time between consecutive customers: approx. 6 mins

average service time: approx 6 min

During each period:

1) What is the number of counters that need to be open?

2) What is the average number of customers in queue and the average waiting time for a customer in the queue before being serviced for check-in?

3) When you need multiple counters open:

4) Do you have one queue for all counters?

5) Do you have dedicated queue's for each counter?

6) What else is being overlooked in the above scenario?

7) How do you ensure that customers are not waiting in line too long before being checked-in?

8) How do you ensure that you don't have too many counters open with no customers at these counters?