Birmingham Airport Accessibility Forum meeting minutes

Attendees

Apologies

Welcome and introductions

Andy welcomed attendees to the meeting, which was hosted at Diamond House at the airport. Introductions were made and new attendees were introduced, with apologies for those unable to attend shared with the group. Andy then provided an overview of the Accessibility Forum, its aims and ambitions, for the benefit of the new attendees. Before running through the main action points from the previous meeting and sharing the format and agenda for the forthcoming meeting.

Andy then introduced Chris Wilson who then continued with his opening address and accompanying presentation.

Airport Performance update

Chris started by discussing the airport’s considerable growth in recent years. Rising from just over 10 million passengers in 2022/3 to nearly 13 million during 2024/5, with anticipated number expected to exceed 16 million by 2027.

Explaining that the level of growth had presented the airport with a number of challenges during the year, especially through the summer months. Made worse by the introduction of new legislation to airport Security. In June 2024 the government laid out new requirements for airport Security, which included the introduction of new upgraded next generation scanner technology. Once introduced and fully operational, the passenger experience through Security should be faster and less stressful. But as many of the new machines were larger than their predecessors and required more space, considerable extension work had to be undertaken at the airport in order to accommodate them. Not to mention the Security staff needing to be trained on how to use the new equipment. Thereby causing some well-publicised delays during the summer months with additional queues, whilst installation and roll out were completed.

Chris explained that fortunately most of these teething problems were now sorted out and therefore the airport was expecting to be fully operational by summer 2025.

Chris then continued by summarising the airport’s customer experience metrics obtained from the NPS & CSAT survey results. These were mainly good, although did highlight a drop in performance during June. Which had been attributed to lower customer satisfaction levels due to the Security -related problems, as highlighted above.

Assisted Travel performance

Arron continued by highlighting the significant rise in passengers who had been assisted through Birmingham airport during 2024. Which had seen a 46% increase compared to the previous year and inevitably had presented further challenges to the operation during this time.

Andy said he had heard similar stories at other airports but wondered whether Birmingham airport could explain this dramatic increase in demand for the AssistedTravel service.

Arron felt there were a number of contributing factors which included a renewed interest in travelling post Covid with a greater understanding and awareness of the levels of support now available at UK airports. However, it was also possibly increased by many from the well-publicised NHS outstanding operations waiting list, being those still awaiting a hip operation or knee replacement for example. Meaning those people would now require mobility support in order to get to the aircraft door. Not to mention the increase in autism and other non-visible disabilities more recently diagnosed. With the inevitable reports of those wishing to obtain a ‘free pass’ (especially with sunflower lanyards pre-purchased from Amazon for example) in order to fast track passage through the airport.

So, with that in mind Arron explained to the forum how he had implemented a new system encouraging all persons who wished to be assisted through the airport, to check-in directly at the Assisted Travel desk before continuing their onward airport journey. This way his team could better manage the assistance for those passengers who did require it, whilst possibly deterring some of those who were potentially ‘abusing’ the system.

Despite the inevitable challenges caused by the unprecedented levels of growth during the summer, standards were mostly maintained with only modest dips in performance experienced during particularly busy periods. The Civil Aviation Authorities (CAA) expectations are that 97% of the airport’s arriving passengers who require assistance should be supported within 20 minutes. Despite the above-mentioned challenges, Birmingham airport still managed to achieve an average of 96% throughout the year.

However, during these testing times it had been difficult to maintain high levels of performance and standards, especially within the subcontracted Assisted Travel team provided by the third-party company MITIE. These in turn were added to previous issues which had highlighted areas of concern around customer service, uniform standards, and staff attitude. Not to mention necessary levels of customer service and disability awareness/etiquette training, which again fell below par. So with a projected 30% growth (400,000 assisted passengers) expected for 2025, Birmingham airport concluded it was now time to conduct a comprehensive review of the contractor and look at possible replacements/alternatives in preparation for next year.

Arron therefore advised forum members that the airport had invited proposals from the top 5 Assisted Travel providers in the UK, being ABM, Wilson James, OCS, UNIFI and of course MITIE, the current provider. He continued by saying that bids had already been received and were being scored at that time. Whereupon the top candidates would then be given an opportunity to present their offerings to the airport directly. After each being encouraged to conduct an escorted tour of the airport in order to better understand the layout and style of operation at Birmingham.

Arron advised that Andy had already been asked to attend these presentations on behalf of the forum. In order to offer a disabled travellers’ perspective on behalf of himself and the airport’s assisted travel passengers. As soon as the decision has been made, which was expected by the end of January, Andy advised that would inform the forum members of the outcome.

Finally, Arron advised that the airport had made a concerted effort to encourage an increase to the levels of passenger feedback. To that end, he had asked the AssistedTravel team to actively promote the passenger feedback surveys, which had been very successful. With over 8,000 surveys sent out to passengers with over 2,000 passengers agreeing to complete the survey upon arrival home after their holiday. These numbers also exceeded the CAA’s requirements and expectations.

Future Innovations and Projects

Stuart continued by updating the forum on the progress with the airport’s current projects, as well as plans for future innovations. Starting with a number of slides which highlighted designs for the ‘recharge area’, where passengers can relax whilst charging their mobile devices and other electrical items. Moving on to the design concept for a new ‘family zone’ which would consist of a play area, nursing room, with a separate sensory room. As well as plans to refurbish and refresh the entrance lobby of the terminal and reception areas.

Stuart then shared several design concepts for the proposed sensory room, before moving on to some fresh designs for airline gates 57-60. These would include improved gate lounges in order to create uniform entrances. He concluded by demonstrating a new design concept for an airport map, which would include the walking distances between key points within the airport and terminal building. Advising that he should be able to provide more advanced concept drawings at the next meeting.

Staff Training update

Arron continued by advising the members that not only had the airport decided to retender the Assisted Travel contract this year but also review the assistance support vehicles and equipment - such as Ambulifts and Aviramps (see accompanying PowerPoint presentation for further information).

This had already resulted in a brand-new Ambulift being purchased, with a further 12 vehicles being considered for delivery by the end of 2025/early 2026. This in addition to an increased use of Aviramp’s into the operation during 2025, in order to better manage passenger expectation and future demand.

Arron went on to apologise for the delay with the training review that was scheduled to take place during the summer but had inevitably been delayed by this years unexpected events. Adding that once the contract for the Assisted Travel company had been awarded, with one of the major considerations for their appointment being that they will be able to deliver superior levels of Customer Service and Disability Awareness/Equality training to their staff. He would then continue with his review of staff training for all of the other airport departments, including Security, as per his previous plan shared with the forum members earlier in the year.

• DA Training for all Birmingham Airport employees including Security.

• Customer Experience & enhanced DA training for the Assisted Travel team.

• DA training for all third-party partners.

The forum members understood the reasons for the delays and were happy that a new provider was being sought Assisted Travel contract.

Nick commented that he and his colleagues at Resources for Autism were more than happy to support the airport with its staff training initiatives, especially as far as autism awareness training was concerned. Teresa also mentioned that the Alzheimer’s Society had some training material which she would be happy to share with the airport. Further supported by Louise at TPT, Richard and Sarah behalf of cerebral palsy and Shauna saidshe would also be able to support more information and guidance for travellers with a stoma.

AOB

There were no further questions from Forum members, so the meeting was concluded, with Andy and Arron thanking everybody for their attendance and support.

Actions

Arron to provide an update on staff training at the next meeting

Stuart to provide an update on Security and ongoing infrastructure projects