Building the Best Airport Passenger Experience: Insight from 2025’s Airport Planning, Design & Construction Symposium

Passenger volumes continue to rise, as do their expectations. Today's travelers expect seamless, stress-free journeys and leading airports are turning to innovative, flexible solutions to meet these demands.

At the 2025 Airport Planning, Design & Construction Symposium, our team joined Daktronics' booth to share and explore how strategic planning, design, and technology can engage passengers, influence their behavior, streamline operations, and help airports prepare for the future. As our Director of Business Development, Gina Marie Paquette, said:

"Teaming up with Daktronics for the Airport Symposium gave us the opportunity to showcase some beautiful content on brilliant display technology. At Synect, we believe that transforming the passenger experience starts with strategic vision and content-first strategy. Smart, future-ready solutions help airports build the best passenger experiences, and we're excited to help them do it."

Gina Marie Paquette, Synect's Director of Business Development, center, had a great time with the Daktronics team! She joined Derek Dorow, Applications Engineer; Stephen Vannelli, Business Development; Carson Shive, Sales Intern; Kevin Palmeter, Aviation Market Manager; Megan Richardson, Inside Sales; and Jay Bouton, Aviation Business Development in their booth for the Airport Symposium. Team members named from left to right.

We demonstrated solutions for FIDS, security, multilingual wayfinding, and more, and as we spoke with fellow attendees, one theme stood out: airports are rethinking the passenger experience.

From reducing stress in security checkpoints to streamlining wayfinding and enhancing engagement, airports are identifying friction points and working to eliminate them.

During the Airport Symposium, we shared real-world solutions that help airports create the best passenger experiences and enhance customer experiences overall. Here's what we learned, shared, and discussed—and how those insights are being implemented.

Insights and Action: Meeting Passengers’ Evolving Needs

Different passengers have different needs, which evolve as they move from curbside to gate. Airports that align content, technology, and design create seamless passenger experiences without overhauling their infrastructure.

In Daktronics' booth, we demonstrated how content and displays work together to shape the passenger experience and improve operations. Keep reading to learn more and see videos on how:

• Branded Gate Information Display Systems (GIDS) deliver clear, engaging information.

• Smart FIDS makes it easier for passengers to find their flights.

• Clear, calming security content eases anxiety and increases checkpoint efficiency.

• Inclusive, multilingual wayfinding streamlines navigation for all passengers.

During the Symposium, we demonstrated how our GIDS solution keeps passengers informed while reinforcing their perceptions of the airport brand.

From Planning to Practice: Key Insights from the Airport Symposium on Building the Best Passenger Experience

In the Symposium's five core tracks—Planning/Environmental, Engineering/Airside, Terminal/Landside, Property Management/Construction Management, and Innovation—airport leaders focused on new approaches to create efficient, inclusive, future-ready spaces.

Small Efficiency Upgrades Can Make Big Differences

Throughout the Symposium, we spoke with airport leaders about the impacts of short-term upgrades on long-term plans. Many airports are balancing short-term improvements with long-term digital transformation, as experts from Burns Engineering, Syracuse Regional Airport Authority, and the San Antonio Airport System shared during the panel Small Changes, Big Impact: Enhancing Airport Efficiency and Passenger Experience.

Airport leaders and innovators are focused on strategic upgrades that will transform passengers' experiences without breaking the bank. Flight Information Display Systems (FIDS) are often prime candidates for strategic upgrades. Modern FIDS have come a long way from split-flap displays, but they have the potential for ever-greater transformations.

While traditional digital FIDS often become cluttered with data and easily overwhelm passengers, Synect's Smart FIDS and FIDS of the Future solutions take a different approach. With an intuitive dashboard-like interface, intelligent automation, and custom rules, our FIDS can dynamically adjust based on real-time airport activity.

In the example below, we give more digital real estate to the flights with the nearest departure times. The interface can also adjust based on passenger volumes, with each flight taking up more space during low-traffic times and less space during high-traffic times. Doing so ensures that passengers rushing to catch a flight get information the fastest—reducing stress as they quickly find their gate.

Our FIDS showed Airport Symposium attendees how inclusive design and smart automation deliver timely, relevant content to help passengers quickly find their flights.

Technology Investments Must Be Scalable

Airports aren't just selecting technology investments for today but investing in scalable, future-ready solutions. Just as modular construction is becoming more popular for cost-effective physical transformations, modular technology solutions are reshaping airports’ investment strategies.

When airports invest in technology that can only grow with them and help more passengers move through the same spaces more easily and efficiently, they are taking decisive steps toward the challenges and opportunities of the future.

That's why airports are looking toward Synect's security content as one of the first steps in building better passenger experiences. With security content designed to decrease congestion and confusion, airports ease stress at what has traditionally been one of the most frustrating parts of the airport experience. As Austin Gould said during our FTE panel:

“Effective communications in the airport makes for a much more effective security system...confusion in the checkpoint, it's not good ... Having passengers that understand what the expectation is, understand what the rules are, understand where to go, what line to get in, it is critically important, and it's only going to get more important.”

Our security content uses motion to catch travelers’ (and Airport Symposium attendees’) attention and gives clear directions to help them prepare for security.

Proactive communication with passengers reduces stress and increases throughput, making security more efficient and effective. Our content strategically uses motion to capture passengers' attention at the right times and help them prepare for divestment. By the time they reach the bins, they know what to remove and what to expect from the screening process. But it’s not just at security. Synect’s Passenger360® CMS and visual communication platform helps with more efficient people-processing from curbside to gates.

Equitable Design Must Be Practical

During the panel Equitable Design - A Practical, Pragmatic Approach, industry experts from Eugene Airport, the Kansas City Aviation Department, the Port of Portland, and Open Doors Organization asked a key question: What should equitable airport design look like?

It’s no secret that the airport experience hasn’t always accounted for travelers’ diverse needs. As Graham Corfield, CEO of Aviramp, recently told Airports International:

“The way we [the industry] continue to treat passengers with disabilities—whether seen or unseen— and those with restricted mobility is still just not good enough.”

Airports are quickly moving beyond one-size-fits-most experiences. They're seeking new ways to create unique, inclusive, efficient, enjoyable experiences for everyone, and making content accessible is a key component. Accessibility isn't just about physical infrastructure—it's about clear, intuitive communication.

Smart content plays a vital role. Synect's content solutions treat accessibility as the standard, helping every passenger navigate the airport confidently. We use universal design principles, such as iconography, color, contrast, motion, and font hierarchy, to create custom airport content that will capture passengers’ attention and provide clear information without requiring interaction. With smart rules, custom automation, and our multilingual wayfinding solution, airports can create an inclusive, dynamic content ecosystem that’s accessible to all travelers.

High-contrast, multilingual wayfinding solution enhances clarity for all passengers, as shown in this sample from the Airport Symposium.

Let’s Build the Future of Airport Communication

The 2025 Airport Symposium highlighted some of the industry's biggest challenges and showcased bold, practical solutions.

At Synect, visual communication is more than beautiful. It should be functional, flexible, inclusive, and impactful.

If you're preparing to build the best airport passenger experience, speak with Synect's team today. We're here to help you build scalable, smart systems and content-first strategies that put passengers first.