Want People to Love Flying Out of Your Terminal? How MilliCare Can Help
While people fly regularly for recreation and business, that doesn’t mean we look forward to the experience. In fact, as a recent New York Post article reported, nearly half of all airline passengers said they were stressed by security and preboarding processes.
Although airports can only do so much to lighten lines and speed up safety protocols, they can try to mitigate flyers’ anxieties and sour moods. How? An essential way is to be proactive when it comes to anticipating individual travelers’ needs, right down to the floors they tread upon.
Treating Terminal Floors Like Valuable Resources
Throughout airports, floor surfaces play a huge role in the comfort, ease, and hygiene of flyers, as well as airline employees, vendor staff, and visitors. For instance, a carpeted surface helps dampen noisiness and provide a cushioned surface for weary feet. Similarly, a hard floor makes rolling items, such as suitcases, wheelchairs, and dollies, from terminal to terminal a breeze. In other words, floors become more than a conduit from point to point; they become a huge part of the airport’s ambiance and reputation.
Given their importance, floors must be properly maintained to protect everyone’s interest. It’s not good enough to put up a “wet floor” sign once in a while and hope to avoid slips and falls. And airports cannot depend upon traveling individuals and families to negotiate around ripped, frayed fabric that can turn into the basis for a lawsuit.
Of course, floors also have a part in the wellness of every human (or animal) in the airport. Because passengers expect to take off their shoes for Transportation Security Administration procedures, they often stand barefoot on the same floor as thousands of other travelers. Research shows that fungal infections like athlete’s foot can spread in these types of environments, leading to unexpected, potentially long-term problems for flyers.
Airport floors are never going to be clean enough to eat off of; that’s reserved for your grandmother’s squeaky-clean kitchen linoleum. The nature of airports is one of everyday exposure to pathogens and spilled liquids. Additionally, air pollution can seriously reduce indoor air quality as planes land and take off, and travelers bring dirt and debris from other airports and plane cabins into the space.
That said, airports can still create safer, cleaner areas by opting to deep clean and, when appropriate, coat and seal their floors.
Zoning Each Airport Section for Optimal Cleaning Maintenance
At MilliCare , each customized airport client receives a Care Plan that considers specifically zoned areas. Often, the top locations that require consistent care from our highly trained and background-checked technicians include entryways, carpeted waiting areas and terminals, and public restrooms.
At entrances and exits, MilliCare can stop a high percentage of outdoor particles from coming indoors. Simultaneously, entryways must have a serious degree of moisture control, which can be attained by the right type of performance coating to hermetically sealed joints and thereby reduce the likelihood of bacterial growth. The good news is that airports rarely choose vinyl flooring (rather, they stick to stone or porcelain tiles), so the need for coating is typically limited.
However, carpeting is another matter, as it’s used heavily throughout most airports: On carpeted areas, MilliCare uses a proprietary dry polymer-based system to lock in dirt without requiring excessive water. Consequently, the airport saves money on energy and water bills, and the carpet can be used almost immediately. Plus, the MilliCare system lifts ground-in particles, leaving carpeting looking and functioning better than before. Over time, many airport customers save significant money by not having to replace carpeting as often as expected.
As for restrooms, let’s be honest: Bathrooms in terminals aren’t known for their cleanliness. Passengers often gripe about restrooms in airport surveys. Typically, the issue is ugly grout and tile. Cleanliness and future protection are achieved through MilliCare ’s cleaning process and the grout color/seal system.
Grout’s porous structure soaks in spills and dirt, eventually causing an unpleasant odor. It’s not necessary to re-grout foul-smelling public bathrooms, though. The MilliCare system offers revitalized cleaning methods to densify and seal grout. Organic materials are removed, and environmentally responsible colored grout color sealer can be used to restore a dated bathroom to like-new quality, providing protection from future contamination.
Certainly, airports have other floor spaces as well. For each one, a MilliCare technician can make a professional recommendation to streamline the process of keeping flooring from giving flyers headaches.
Investing in Flooring Leaves Lasting — and Budget-Saving — Results
Like all businesses, airports have limited money to invest in capital expenditures. By focusing on the cleanliness and longevity of their floors, they can strategically build a stronger brand image while reducing unnecessary replacement costs. All they need is a little help from MilliCare to give their flooring a “lift!”