Some visitors to Sky Harbor Airport will be asked to share their travel plans — not with the TSA, but with strangers. It’s part of the Aviation Department’s plan to better understand its customers.
The Aviation Department plans to conduct surveys past security checkpoints at Sky Harbor, at Phoenix Deer Valley Airport, at Phoenix Goodyear Airport, and the Rental Car Center.
Aviation Director Jim Bennett told council members that passengers will be asked a variety of questions to understand, “How many of our customers are taking Uber or Lyft? How many are they taking taxis? And where did they come from? What part of the Valley do they live in? Where are they going?”
Bennett said the information is needed to make better business decisions, but Councilman Sal DiCiccio called it a giant waste of money.
“I’m just surprised that people aren’t even using the Internet,” he said. “I think the Internet is old enough now that people would be accustomed to that rather than people walking around with a sheet of paper taking down information.”
Bennett said in-person interviews will be more accurate because, “It gives you the ability to follow up and get clarifications should the question not be received correctly by the customer.”
The contract with KPI Aviation Marketing Solutions and TripleScoop Market Research is worth up to $1.25 million over five years.
