

It may be unimaginable to go from 6,000 internal messages a day to 1 million a day in the span of only three years, but Gatwick Airport Ltd. has managed to ride this boom in business to success. Gatwick Airport does this by not only keeping pace with the changes, but also by extending efficiency to the max. With 55 takeoffs and landings per hour, seven to eight hours a day, in the busiest single-runway airport in the world, that is no mean feat, according to Chris Howell, head of Business Systems at Gatwick Airport.
Howell was interviewed by John Walls (@JohnWalls21) and John Furrier (@furrier), hosts of theCUBE, from the SiliconANGLE Media team, during Splunk.conf 2016, taking place at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resorts in Orlando, FL.
One of the secrets to the airport’s success is focusing on a seamless experience, from curb to gate.
“We want to remove obstacles out of your way to surprise and delight you. Make it more of an event. Why can’t coming to an airport be like going to Walt Disney World?” said Howell.
To that end, the airport collects data, such as the time it’s taking to get through security or how long it’s going to take to clean a plane before it’s ready. And using Splunk, it can ingest and analyze the data. Then it shares the information with the airlines themselves. This includes allowing the airlines to use the data for their own apps, as Howell emphasized the need to put customers first and meet them where they’re at.
Splunk also allows sharing of data within different departments of the airport, allowing Howell’s colleagues access to the data without having to ask him for it.
“[That’s the] big value for me. … [I’m able to] empower my colleagues to do their job,” said Howell. And more eyes on the data means more innovative ideas. More ideas that come out of that.
“Collaboration is where that all comes from,” he added. And with 95 percent of customers able to get through security in less than five minutes at the airport, it’s hard to argue against his process.
Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE and theCUBE’s coverage of Splunk.conf 2016.
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