Internal Audit Report 

Comprehensive Operational Audit 
Airport Customer Service Operations Department 

January 1, 2011  June 30, 2012 




Issue Date: September 11, 2012 
Report No. 2012-18

Internal Audit Report 
Airport Customer Service Operations Department 
January 1, 2011  June 30, 2012 

Table of Contents 
Transmittal Letter ................................................................................................................................................................... 3 
Executive Summary ............................................................................................................................................................... 4 
Background.............................................................................................................................................................................. 5 
Department Highlights & Accomplishments ................................................................................................................... 6 
Audit Scope and Methodology ............................................................................................................................................ 6 
Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................................................... 7 















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Internal Audit Report 
Airport Customer Service Operations Department 
January 1, 2011  June 30, 2012 

Transmittal Letter 

Audit Committee 
Port of Seattle 
Seattle, Washington 

We have completed an audit of the Airport Customer Service Operations Department (formerly Air
Terminal Operations Department). We reviewed information relating to department operations from
January 1, 2011  June 30, 2012. 
We conducted the audit in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards.
Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence
to provide a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We
believe that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions
based on our audit objectives. 
We extend our appreciation to the Airport Customer Service staff for their assistance and cooperation
during the audit. 


Joyce Kirangi, CPA 
Internal Audit, Director 







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Internal Audit Report 
Airport Customer Service Operations Department 
January 1, 2011  June 30, 2012 
Executive Summary 

Audit Scope and Objective
We reviewed information for the period of January 1, 2011  June 30, 2012. The purpose of the audit 
was to determine whether management has employed adequate controls to ensure: 
1.  Revenues derived from common-use systems in the terminal are complete; 
2.  Analytical processes and metrics for evaluating passenger customer service are effective. 
Background
The Airport Customer Service Department within the Aviation Operations group has 20 FTEs with
an annual operating budget of $11 million. The department is focused on responding to the needs
of two distinct airport customers: the airlines and the traveling public. 
For the airlines, the department oversees and coordinates the airlines' use of flight information
displays, ticket counter and gate assignments, terminal systems technologies, and the airport's 
baggage handling system. For the traveling public, the department works to ensure a positive
experience by monitoring and responding to customer inquiries, identifying and deploying
customer-focused projects, and overseeing contracts that enhance their experience including
janitorial services and the airport lost & found. 
Air terminal revenues, including ticket counter, gate, and space rental fees generated approximately
$132 million in 2011, and the revenues are processed on its behalf by Aviation & Business
Development. 
Audit Result Summary
The department has adequate controls to ensure that revenues collected from common-use systems
are complete. T he department's controls over analytical processes and metrics for evaluating
passenger customer service are effective. 






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Internal Audit Report 
Airport Customer Service Operations Department 
January 1, 2011  June 30, 2012 
Background 
The Airport Customer Service Operations Department  (formerly the Air Terminal Operations
Department) within the Aviation Operations group has 20 FTEs with an annual operating budget of
$12 million. The department changed its name in 2012 to better reflect its dual focus of providing 
service to the two primary customers of Seattle-Tacoma International's                     Airport the airlines and their
passengers. 
The Department's Airline Systems and Services Group (ASSG) is focused on airline customer
services. ASSG oversees the airport's baggage handling system, the airline scheduling system, as
well as the other systems and technologies airlines depend upon. In the last decade, they have 
implemented common-use operations, which allow multiple airlines to share the same ticket counters
and gates at different times, reducing the need for more costly expansions to accommodate growth. 
The Passenger Experience Group (PEG) focuses on passengers within the Department. PEG
manages both the airport's Pathfinders and Volunteer teams to better address customer service
throughout the airport, by providing travelers assistance with way finding, U.S. customs processes,
and language translation. They oversee third-party operational agreements including the $8 million
annual airport janitorial contract and the airport's Lost & Found program. Finally, PEG collects,
monitors, and responds to thousands of customer inquiries through its comment tracking system,
aggregating customer feedback into analytics to improve these customers' future travel experience. 
The airlines have two options to use and pay for terminal services such as gates and ticket counters:
they may lease dedicated space each year for a set rate, or pay only for actual use by utilizing the
common-use systems in the terminal. The $132 million in annual terminal revenues are collected on
behalf of Customer Service Operations. The majority of space rental revenues (88%) are from
airline's who lease systems such as ticket counters and aircraft gates. The remaining 12% of those
revenues are generated from the terminal's common-use systems. 
Departmental Revenues                              FY 2010      FY 2011 
Space Rental Fees                               $113,477,733    $117,029,522 
(includes preferential and common-use gates and ticket
counters) 
Aviation Fees                                    $11,986,641    $14,538,244 
Equipment Rental                                 $994,720     $1,008,720 
Grand Total                                    $126,459,094   $132,576,486 
Data Source: PeopleSoft Financials 
In 2011, 72 % of the Department's expenses went towards the airport's $8 million janitorial services
contract. The table below is a break-out of departmental expenses for fiscal years 2010 and 2011: 
Departmental Expenses                              FY 2010      FY 2011 
Salaries and Benefits                                 $1,678,788     $1,887,647 
Outside Services                                   $9,389,005     $9,756,601 
General Expenses                                 $913,213      $849,584 
Supplies and Stock                                  $29,713      $213,879 
Equipment Expenses                               $44,423      $67,628 
Telecommunications                               $56,443      $62,088 
Other                                           $109,560      $104,444 
Grand Total                                      $10,542,357    $11,054,224 
Data Source: PeopleSoft Financials 

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Internal Audit Report 
Airport Customer Service Operations Department 
January 1, 2011  June 30, 2012 

Department Highlights & Accomplishments 
During the course of the audit, we observed the following    effective and efficient management
practices within the Airport Customer Service Operations Department: 
Adopting the practices of airport  'inspansion', which includes the airport's common-use
program. Inspansion allows the airport to grow its business operations within the existing 
terminal spaces and reducing the need for major and costly physical expansions; 
Completing passenger-focused improvements, such as the airport-wide free wireless internet 
and deploying a popular quiet zone for passenger to rest during busier times; 
Launching a customer tracking system backed by salesforce.com to efficiently collect and
process customer inquiries related to airport services and operations. 
Audit Scope and Methodology 
We reviewed information for the period of January 1, 2011  June 30, 2012. We utilized a risk-based
audit approach from planning through  testing. We  gathered information through  interviews,
observations and analytical reviews, in order to obtain a complete understanding of the Customer
Service Operations and its management. We conducted an assessment of significant risks and
identified controls to mitigate those risks. We evaluated whether the controls were functioning as
intended. 
We applied additional detailed audit procedures to areas with the highest likelihood of significant
negative impact as follows: 
1.  To determine whether management has employed adequate controls to ensure revenues derived
from common-use systems in the terminal are complete: 
We examined the process for verifying the airlines' self-reported figures for common-use
aircraft gates. 
We tested a risk-based sample of 3 of the 13 airlines that use the common-use ticket
counters to determine if the billings were complete. 
2.  To determine whether the department's processes for collecting, analyzing, and using customer
service data are effective and efficient: 
We reviewed the source data from the Department's Comment Tracking System (CTS) to
determine whether: 
o  There were distinct data categories; 
o  The data could be quantified efficiently; 
o  The data collected was effective for use in metrics, benchmarks, or other analytics; 
We verified whether CTS had sufficient controls for preventing the alteration of data; 
We tested a random sample of 25 customer inquiries to verify that they were tracked from
beginning to end, including all communications between the department and the customer; 
We developed an analytic that measured the number of customer cases tracked by CTS
monthly against the average monthly response time, and compared that ratio over the 18-
month audit period. 
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Internal Audit Report 
Airport Customer Service Operations Department 
January 1, 2011  June 30, 2012 
We reviewed eight of the Department'scustomer service planning          activities to determine
whether the customer service data collected was utilized effectively by verifying: 
o  Data collection and analysis are transparent and available to other departments; 
o  Data is developed into meaningful analytics or metrics; 
o  Data and analysis are clearly communicated in and outside of the department; 
o  Data is a component of customer service planning and development. 

Conclusion 
The department has adequate controls to ensure that revenues collected from common-use systems
are complete. The department's controls over analytical processes and metrics for evaluating
passenger customer service are effective. 













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