7 minute read
Section 5: Customer Service
Customer Service
The overwhelming positive response from customers and volunteers is a direct result of Rhode Island T. F. Green International Airport (PVD) highlighting the allimportant “first, best impression”. Adding real-time services and amenities have come to represent the excellence we seek to provide to passengers in our role as ambassadors for Rhode Island. This always plays an important role in our efforts to be recognized as one of the best airports in the world.
Rhode Island T. F. Green International Airport has always taken pride in providing a customerfriendly transportation experience that meets or exceeds expectations. In 2019, RIAC expanded and consolidated these efforts by creating a new Customer Service Department. New accessible offices were built for customer service staff which provided additional support space for the new volunteers. These offices are conveniently located in the main terminal on the first floor.
The PVD Volunteer Program is a new customer service-focused program that allows our community members to serve as ambassadors to passengers and visitors at Rhode Island T. F. Green International Airport (PVD). Volunteers provide airport information inside the terminal facility, locations of various amenities in the airport, and directions around the region. When travelers need information or directions, they will be greeted by a friendly volunteer with a smile. The program was launched mid-year 2019 and has grown steadily since then. A library of training, familiarization, and informational resources was created and placed at the information center, and two satellite information kiosk locations were added to provide quick and easy access to the volunteers to answer customer inquiries. This space is located near the main Information Center which acts as a training area, break room, kitchenette, storage area, and more. Our volunteers are a vital part of making travel through PVD a friendly and enjoyable experience!
Military Lounge—Support for Those in Service
Tens of thousands of active and retired members of the military from across New England travel through Rhode Island T. F. Green International Airport (PVD) each year, and thanks to the Rhode Island Military Organization (RIMO) Lounge, they now have a home away from home at the Airport, providing a place for troops or veterans to relax before or after a flight. The lounge came to fruition by collaborating with RIMO volunteers working with RIAC and numerous other partners, including businesses, nonprofits, unions, the military, government, civic organizations, and volunteers. All seek to ensure that those who have sacrificed so much for their country have a place to regroup and relax at the airport before or after a flight. The lounge is located on the 2nd level of the airport next to the Hope Reflection Room and provides support with transportation and lodging information for military members who may be stranded or in need of assistance with their travel plans.
- Customer Testimonial
PVD Celebrates Six Years of Providing “Pet Therapy” to Travelers
Rhode Island T. F. Green International Airport’s pet therapy program called PVD Pups, and their handlers celebrate six years of enhanced customer service experience to our passengers by providing stress relief and comfort through interaction with pups. Introduced in August 2015, travelers walking through the terminal have come to look forward to being greeted by the PVD Pups with their wagging tails and green vests clearly marked “Pet Me!” Although the COVID-19 pandemic required the program to be temporarily paused, the handlers are ready to return, with their canines having completed their AKC CGC (Canine Good Citizen) as well as a specialized training program specific to the airport environment, including a desensitization to other animals, food, and other stimuli in the airport environment. We know we speak for nearly every traveler when we say how much we look forward to welcoming the PVD Pups back to Rhode Island T. F. Green International Airport.
The PVD Pups with their wagging tails and green vests, provide travelers with comfort. ”
- Customer Testimonial
Throughout the pandemic, Rhode Island T. F. Green International Airport took additional steps to ensure that all were fully prepared to protect themselves and other. The Customer Service Department launched of our very own “PVD Cares Kits”, which provide complimentary hand sanitizer, face coverings, alcohol wipes for surfaces, and an information card. Thanks to the PVD Cares Kits, everyone has the peace of mind that PVD can help ensure everyone has all they need for safe travels and safe returns. Passengers were also being encouraged to check with individual airline policies regarding COVID-19, including face mask requirements. Updated links to airline specific COVID-19 travel alerts and safety requirements have been made available on Rhode Island T. F. Green International Airport’s website at PVDairport.com.
New Airport Amenities
The Customer Service Department has worked to provide new amenities to help build on Rhode Island T. F. Green International Airport’s selection as one of the nation’s best airports. Nursing rooms are now available to provide a pleasant and private space in the airport concourse to accommodate nursing mothers. The nursing room offer comfortable seating, bright natural lighting, paper towels, access to electrical outlets, hand-sanitizer, mirrors, as well as garment hangers and room for travelers’ personal belongings.
”An easy airport to get in and out of. I used to use BOS— PVD is much better. “
- Customer Testimonial
Other new amenities have been introduced over the past several months including:
• Competitive parking options and reservation availability as well as “touchless” parking ticket dispensers for all airport operated parking facilities to promote safe and healthy travel.
• In November 2020, the live music program was introduced with a baby grand piano located on the arrivals level. The program will eventually expand to the concourse area and include volunteer performers as well as high school and collegiate level musicians.
• The Escape Lounge located below Gate 22 in the North Concourse offers a relaxing atmosphere for travelers away from the hustle and bustle of the terminal environment.
The lounge provides all the complimentary amenities a passenger desires: unlimited freshly prepared, chef-curated food, high-quality alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, private high-speed Wi-Fi, endless charging stations and an array of magazines and newspapers, as well as printing services. All travelers are welcomed into the lounge for our service and hospitality.
• Emergency Naloxone Rescue Kits in all
Automated External Defibrillator (AED) stations throughout the airport, helping to provide prompt access to lifesaving nasal administered medication for opioid overdoses until airport police and rescue teams can render additional assistance.
• Additional amenities available to our patrons at Rhode Island T. F. Green International Airport now also include: complimentary overnight sleep mats, pillows, and blankets, as well as toiletry kits for stranded passengers, and additional seating along with the passenger pick-up areas on the front curb of the airport terminal in addition to improvements such as real-time, digital bus schedule monitors, improved wayfinding signage, and interactive tourist/visitor kiosks.
Ready for Safe Travels
Even before the outbreak of COVID-19, Rhode Island T. F. Green International Airport (PVD) was implementing enhanced sanitizing protocols throughout the airport, utilizing EPA and CDC approved hospital-grade disinfectants, electrostatic sprayers, and automated cleaning technology to efficiently and effectively sanitize escalator railings and other high-touch areas throughout the terminal. With customer and employee safety always at top of mind, we at RIAC have expanded those protocols to do our part to keep travelers and employees safe and healthy. RIAC and its airport cleaning partner, ISS North America, have also invested in advanced cleaning technologies including automated escalator rail cleaning systems and electrostatic sprayers, which apply a positive charge to hospital grade sanitizing agents, allowing every sprayed surface to be uniformly coated in less time, and with better outcomes. Aircraft utilize many of the same electrostatic cleaning tools as the airports use themselves, as well as several other mitigations, including High Efficiency Particulate Absorbing (HEPA) filtration, to reduce the risk of exposure to COVID-19 in flight. HEPA filtration on flights allows for air to be filtered and recirculated with fresh air up to once every three minutes during flights. The risk of COVID-19 exposure in individuals who wore face coverings as directed was found to be ‘virtually non-existent’ in studies conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health and the Department of Defense. Throughout the pandemic, RIAC has worked with airline partners to showcase these and other steps taken to help ensure traveler safety, providing live demonstrations for local media outlets and making the latest safety research and white papers available on RIAC’s dedicated COVID-19 information page.
