Guidebook for Conducting Airport User Surveys (2009)

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119 Many of the issues related to planning and designing employee surveys are common to other types of airport user surveys, and the reader will be referred to those sections of the guidebook where applicable. Employees working at the airport are an important user group. Although their numbers may be relatively small, they use the airport facilities and services frequently, and their attitudes to those facilities and services can affect other people’s uses and perceptions. Airport employees for the purpose of this chapter include employees of the airport operator as well as those of air- lines, government agencies, and other organizations providing services or support functions at the airport. 6.1 Purpose of the Survey and the Data to Be Collected The reasons for conducting employee surveys are often similar to the reasons for conducting air passenger surveys, and frequently the two are part of the same study. Employee surveys are also conducted to address employee-related issues. The types of issues addressed through employee sur- veys include the following: • Satisfaction with airport facilities and services—to identify areas where improvements are required, track trends, and assess whether specific actions have improved satisfaction levels. • Concession planning and performance—to collect information on use of concessions, length of breaks, problems with current concessions, and desired improvements. Employees can be significant users of the concessions, especially food and beverage concessions, and should be considered in their design. • Transportation planning—to obtain information on employees’ modes of transport to and from work, routes, travel times, work schedules, parking requirements, and desired improvements. • Employee issues—to obtain feedback on security or emergency procedures, and employee communications. As with all airport user surveys, the first step in conducting an employee survey is to outline its goals and purpose. (See Chapter 2 for a discussion on specifying goals, defining the purpose of a survey, the importance of doing so, and who should be involved.) The choice of employees to be included will depend on the purpose of the survey and could include the following: • All people working on airport property. • All employees based at the airport; this group excludes visiting flight crews, taxi drivers, etc. • Selected employer or employee groups, such as airport authority staff or airline flight crew. C H A P T E R 6 Employee Surveys

120 Guidebook for Conducting Airport User Surveys • Employees working in a specific facility or geographical location, such as the passenger termi- nal, the aircraft apron, or an airline maintenance base. Confidentiality can be an issue. Employees may be reluctant to provide truthful responses if they think their responses could be used against them by their employer or the airport. Questions related to airport performance or communication could raise this concern. If such reluctance is an issue, the survey should be conducted by a third party with assurances that the individual responses will not be provided to the airport and results will be presented in aggregate form only. Alternatively, the survey could be set up so the responses are anonymous. 6.2 Survey Methodology The choice of survey method is governed by the target employee group and the available infor- mation on those employees that allows them to be identified, sampled, and contacted. The meth- ods appropriate for use in employee surveys are either on-site intercept surveys or self-completed surveys distributed on the basis of lists of employees provided by employers. For surveys of employees based at the airport, ideally lists of employees should be obtained from each employer and used to identify the employees to be surveyed. Some employers may not be will- ing to provide a list of employees but may be willing to distribute the questionnaires themselves. If neither of these methods is possible, on-site surveys could be used, provided access can be obtained to work locations or areas where the employees have their breaks. Surveys of all employees working on airport property—including flight crews, for example— will need to be conducted as on-site intercept surveys, or include an on-site intercept component. 6.2.1 On-Site Surveys For on-site intercept surveys, each of the employee groups to be surveyed should be identified and optimal locations to conduct the surveys should be determined. Employees should not be surveyed when they are busy with work, and it may be difficult to contact them during breaks or immediately before or after work. In these situations, self-completed questionnaires that employ- ees can fill out when not working are the best option. The questionnaires could be distributed to staff in the break rooms, at the check-in counters or work locations, or while they are seated in the food courts. Nobody should be approached in a restaurant or cafeteria unless permission has been obtained from the proprietor beforehand. In some situations, it may be possible to conduct intercept interviews. There are various options for collecting self-completed questionnaires. The survey staff could return later to pick up the questionnaire and could clarify any questions or responses with the employee at that time. Otherwise, drop boxes could be provided in the employee break rooms or employer offices, or the forms could be mailed or faxed back. In terms of logistics, employers at the airport should be notified of the survey and, where appropriate, access to employee break rooms and provision of drop boxes should be arranged. The advantage of using on-site intercept surveys is that it is not necessary to obtain employee lists, which can be difficult to compile, especially if transient staff—such as airline crews, and shut- tle bus and other ground transportation drivers—are to be included. The main difficulty with on- site employee surveys is obtaining a representative sample. However, if the number of employees in each employee group is known, at least approximately, weightings can be applied in the analy- sis phase so that the results better match the employee population.

Employee Surveys 121 6.2.2 Employer or List-Based Approach The first step in using a list-based approach is to develop a list of all employees working at the airport by asking employers for contact information for their employees for use in conducting a survey. Some employers may prefer to distribute the questionnaire directly to their employees and not provide contact information. The information available on the employees will determine which of the following methods can be used to contact them: • Email—generally the quickest and easiest method, but email addresses may not be available for all employees. The message would ask them to participate in the survey and could provide a link to a Web-based questionnaire (see Section 1.4) that would be completed online. Alterna- tive methods, such as including the questionnaire as an attachment or in the body of the email, are not recommended because inexperienced users often have trouble dealing with these files, and returning the completed questionnaires can be problematic. If email addresses are known for most, but not all, employees, those without email addresses could be surveyed by mail or telephone. • Mail—usually the most reliable method for contacting employees whose home or work addresses are available, but responses are usually slow and response rates are typically low. • Telephone—allows the use of interviews, rather than self-completed questionnaires, but is generally more costly to administer. It may take a number of calls just to reach the employee on the telephone, and many employees may not have a telephone at their work location. (Section 8.3 includes an extensive discussion on conducting telephone surveys.) • Employer-distributed—recommended to be placed in an envelope with the employee’s name on the envelope, so that it can be verified that each employee to be surveyed receives a questionnaire. Completed questionnaires could be collected using a drop box at the employee’s work location, or by mail or fax. Another option with printed questionnaires distributed by mail or via employ- ers is to include a Web address on the questionnaire and invite recipients to fill in the question- naire online, if they prefer this method and have Internet access. If returning questionnaires by mail is an option, pre-paid envelopes should be provided. The advantage of a list-based method is that it is possible to use a structured approach to the sampling of employees to ensure an unbiased representative sample is chosen. The main dis- advantage is that it may not be possible to identify all employees working at the airport and include them on the list, and a biased sample may result. Compiling the lists can also be time consuming, and some employers may not cooperate, resulting in an incomplete list. The initial step should be to ask employers if they will provide a list of employees and, if some will not, then decide how to proceed. It may be necessary to switch to an on-site survey or a hybrid approach in which some employees are surveyed with a list-based method and others are surveyed using an on-site method. Switching approaches part way through the survey planning process can increase the time and cost involved. 6.3 Sampling Methodology The sample size and the method used to select the sample of employees to survey will depend on the total number of employees (population) and any specific subgroups to be analyzed, and the desired accuracy. If using mail, email, or employer distribution of questionnaires, the low response rates associated with these methods, sometimes well below 50%, should be considered. When using one of these methods at a small airport, it may be best to survey all people on the list (i.e., to con- duct a census survey).

122 Guidebook for Conducting Airport User Surveys For on-site surveys, the number of responses to be collected should be determined in advance. (See Chapter 3 for a discussion on the different sampling methods and required sample sizes.) An estimate of the number of employees at the airport will be required, even if this is only approximate. For random sampling, required sample sizes to achieve an accuracy of better than ±5 percentage points27 for a categorical variable are given in Table 6-1 for a range of total num- bers of employees at the airport. As discussed in Section 3.4, the required sample sizes vary depending on the proportion of the population in the category of interest. This proportion will not be known at the time of planning the survey and must be estimated, at least approximately, based on past surveys, experience of other airports, and knowledge of the airport. Required sam- ple sizes are given for three values of this proportion: 0.5, 0.25, and 0.1.28 The largest samples are required when the proportion of the population in the category of interest is 0.5. Because most surveys ask multiple questions with various unknown proportions in each category, the sample size corresponding to a proportion of 0.5 should be used unless the survey sponsor is primarily interested in questions where the proportion is lower. Further examples for determining the required sample size are provided in Appendix B. Note that for categorical questions with a fairly low proportion of respondents in a category of interest, a margin of error of ±5 percentage points may not be considered accurate enough. On-site surveys should cover weekday and weekend periods and morning, afternoon, and evening shifts as well as a wide range of locations. The locations should include areas where the employee groups go during their breaks, such as break rooms and public food courts. Given the ad hoc nature of selecting employees to interview, the resulting sample may not be truly representative of the employee population. It is therefore recommended that responses be weighted to match subgroup sizes, for example by employer category, shift schedules, or work location. 6.4 Questionnaire Wording and Length Questionnaire length, format, and clarity, and the use of pre-tests and pilot tests, are discussed in Chapter 4. The questionnaire for employee surveys should be relatively short, as employees are usually busy during work time and value their breaks. The time needed to complete the survey should be no more than 5 to 10 minutes. Table 6-1. Sample sizes required for accuracy of better than 5 percentage points in a categorical variable. Sample Size Required for Category Proportion: Total Number of Employees at Airport p = 0.5 p = 0.25 p = 0.1 50 44 43 37 100 80 74 58 200 132 118 82 500 218 183 108 1,000 280 225 122 5,000 360 272 135 Note: Assumes random sampling. 27 As discussed in Section 3.2, accuracy to within 5 percentage points is very different and usually much less stringent than accuracy to within 5% of the proportion in the category. 28 For proportions (p) greater than 0.5, the required sample size is the same as for the proportion 1-p. For example, for a proportion p = 0.75, the required sample size is the same as for p = 0.25.

Chapter 4 provides examples of types of wording that can be confusing, many of which are applicable to employee surveys. Other examples of confusing wording include the following: • Amounts spent at concessions—confusion may occur as to whether the amount is per visit (in which case the number of visits per day is also required) or the amount spent per day. It is diffi- cult for employees to estimate the average amount spent per day for concessions that they only use once a week or once a month. A better approach is to ask when they last visited a particular concession and how much they recall spending. The responses then provide a distribution of the frequency of visits and the amount spent. The question should make it clear whether taxes and tips should be included. • Work location—some employees work in multiple locations. • Category of employer—employees often do not recognize categories of employers such as “concessions.” It is better to provide a wide range of options so few people will respond with “other.” Include volunteer positions in the response options if the airport uses them (e.g., in information booths). Two sample questionnaires for employees are provided in Appendix H. 6.5 Measures to Obtain Adequate Response The two main considerations in obtaining an adequate response rate are to clearly explain the purpose of the survey in a way that will make the survey of interest to employees and to ensure that it is easy for them to respond. The introduction should identify who is conducting the sur- vey and who it is for. It should state how the results will be used, highlighting aspects that could benefit them as airport employees. Aspects such as the quality and friendliness of interviewers and the length, format, and ease of understanding and completing the questionnaire (discussed in Section 5.6) apply equally to employee surveys. If questionnaires are being handed to employees while they are at work, they should be approached when not busy, asked to fill out the form at their convenience, and informed what to do with the completed questionnaire. Options, discussed earlier, include returning later to collect the completed questionnaire, having a drop box, or using pre-paid reply mail. It will be necessary to go to the same work locations over a range of times and days of the week to cover employees working different shifts. Interviews in employee break rooms or food courts are often very successful. The topics can become points of conversation among employees and they develop more interest in the issues being covered. 6.6 Survey Budget The budget for employee surveys will include the following components: survey design and planning, including development of employee lists if a list-based approach is used; question- naire design, testing and printing, or loading onto a survey website; survey field staff and supervisor wages and other on-site expenses; data entry, checking, and analysis; and report- ing and presentation of findings. (See Section 2.5 for a more detailed discussion of the steps in developing a survey budget.) Concession and satisfaction surveys of employees are often conducted in conjunction with passenger surveys, which can significantly reduce the costs of the employee survey, especially an on-site survey. Contact with employees is best done during quiet periods at the airport, so employee Employee Surveys 123

124 Guidebook for Conducting Airport User Surveys interviews can often be conducted by the same set of interviewers in periods when they are not busy with passengers. Costs for developing the questionnaire may also be lower as there will often be overlap between the employee and passenger versions. Costs will vary depending on the collection method, size of the sample (less so for Internet-based surveys), difficulty in developing employee lists (for a list-based approach), and local factors. How- ever, for a typical on-site airport satisfaction survey of around 150 employees at a small- to medium-sized airport using a two-page questionnaire and conducted by a contractor, costs will range from approximately: • $10,000 to $15,000 for a stand-alone survey. • $6,000 to $10,000 if conducted in conjunction with a passenger survey. Costs for large airport access surveys can be much greater. One airport sampling 3,000 employ- ees reported a cost of $80,000 for such a survey where questionnaires were handed out to employ- ees and collected by either drop box or return mail. Where the employee survey is being conducted in conjunction with a passenger survey, costs could be reduced by keeping differences in the questionnaire and data analysis to a minimum, and reporting results as a section in the report for the passenger survey. Reductions in the sample size and time spent setting up the survey will decrease the costs but will lead to reductions in the accu- racy of the results. When determining the scope and budget for an employee survey, note the pro- portion of users represented by employees and scale the budget accordingly. This proportion is usually relatively small, but at large hub airports, with airline crew bases, maintenance bases, and extensive cargo facilities, the ratio of average daily employees to average daily enplaning passengers can range from 25% to over 50%. At airline connecting hubs, the ratio of daily employee ground access trips to originating passenger access trips frequently approaches and in some cases exceeds 100% (Gosling, 2008). 6.7 Summary Employees make up a significant group of airport users and need to be considered when plan- ning airport facilities and services. Employee surveys are conducted for a variety of reasons, includ- ing assessing satisfaction with facilities and services, obtaining information for transportation or concession planning, or addressing employee-related issues such as communication and knowl- edge of airport procedures. Two approaches can be used: develop a comprehensive list of all employees on which to base the survey or conduct on-site intercept surveys. Questionnaires are usually self-completed, but an on-site intercept survey could collect responses through interviews. At smaller airports, using a list-based approach with mail, email, or employer distribution of questionnaires usually requires sampling all employees because of the high non- response rates. At larger airports and for on-site surveys, a sample of employees is selected, but the sample size is typically smaller than for passenger surveys because the surveyed population is smaller. Concession and satisfaction surveys of employees are often conducted in conjunction with passen- ger surveys, decreasing the costs and time involved.