An evaluation methodology for the level of service at the airport landside system

A methodology is proposed for evaluating the level of service within an airportlandside system from the passenger's point of view using linguistic servicecriteria. The new concept of level of service for a transport system, particularlywithin the airports indicates that there must be strong stimulation in order toproceed with the current stereotyped service standards which are beingcriticised due to their being based on, either physical capacity/volume ortemporal/spatial standards that directly incorporates the perception ofpassengers, the dominant users. Most service evaluation methodologies havebeen concentrated on the factors of the time spent and the space provided.These quantitative factors are reasonably simple to measure but represent anarrow approach. Qualitative service level attributes are definitely importantfactors when evaluating the level of service from a user's point of view. Thisstudy has adopted three main evaluation factors: temporal or spatial factors asquantitative measurements and comfort factors and reasonable service factorsas qualitative measurements. The service level evaluation involves thepassenger's subjective judgement as a perception for service provision. Toevaluate the level of service in the airport landside system from the user'sperception, this research proposes to apply a multi-decision model using fuzzyset theory, in particular fuzzy approximate reasoning. Fuzzy set theory provides astrict mathematical framework for vague conceptual phenomena and amodelling language for real situations. The multi-decision model was applied toa case study at Kimpo International Airport in Seoul, Korea. Results arepresented in terms of passenger satisfaction and dissatisfaction with a variety ofdifferent values.