BACKGROUND

Many commercial flights at U.S. airports enplane and deplane passengers without the use of terminal-connected passenger boarding bridges. Some alternate methods of aircraft boarding may be challenging, particularly for those with reduced mobility, potentially leading to a compromise of passenger dignity and increased risk of injuries for all parties involved (e.g., passengers may need to be manually carried up or down boarding stairs). Research is needed to explore practical solutions, including new concepts, for providing a safe and dignified enplaning and deplaning experience for passengers with reduced mobility.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this research is to develop a guide to help airport industry practitioners select and implement solutions for enplaning and deplaning commercial aircraft passengers with reduced mobility when a terminal-connected passenger boarding bridge is not available. At a minimum, the guide should include the following:

• A primer describing trends in policies and regulations, solutions, and passenger demographics relevant to the topic.
• Discussion of emerging technologies and solutions, including the timing and likelihood of market availability.
• Fact sheets of commercially available equipment, including, at a minimum:
  • Product description and illustration,
  • Typical uses and applications,
  • Operational and maintenance requirements,
  • Capital and lifecycle costs,
  • Training and certification, and
  • Facility accommodation and storage requirements.
• Analysis tools (e.g., decision trees, flow charts) to help airport industry practitioners select solutions that provide safety for and maintain the dignity of passengers and employees based on:
  • Compatibility with and protection of the aircraft, equipment, and adjacent facilities;
  • Federal, state, and local policies and regulations;
  • Stakeholder responsibilities;
  • Available staff, financial, and equipment resources;
  • Site-specific implementation factors (e.g., training and equipment storage/maintenance);
  • Passenger volume and needs; and
  • Operating environment and local conditions—including irregular operations.
• Representative use case examples of solutions.

RESEARCH PLAN

The research plan shall include, at a minimum, the following interim deliverables:

• A data collection plan describing information to be gathered, collection methods (e.g., surveys, focus groups, workshops, interviews) to be used, and stakeholders (e.g., passengers, airlines, service providers, airport staff) to be engaged;
• A preliminary draft of the primer; and
• An interim report to include research results and analysis to date, including a description of emerging technologies and solutions; sample fact sheet; recommended candidate use case examples, rationale, and use case template; next steps; and potential follow-on research ideas to be developed into problem statements.

The research plan should also include, at a minimum, the following checkpoints with the ACRP panel:

• A kick-off web meeting to be held within 1 month of the Notice to Proceed,
• A web meeting to review and approve the data collection plan and draft primer, and
• An in-person interim report review meeting.

The final deliverables will include: 

• The guide;
• A Contractor’s Final Report documenting all research steps, results, and analysis;
• A Summary of Key Findings;
• A Further Recommended Research Memo; and
• A technical memo titled “Implementation of Research Findings and Products”.

STATUS: Proposals have been received in response to the RFP. The project panel will meet to select a contractor to perform the work.