Challenge
With more than 73 million customers passing through each year, Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) is one of the world’s most frequently visited superhubs. DFW is transforming travel by treating the airport as a destination and putting passengers at the heart of innovation.
When DFW started reimagining the gate and passenger boarding experience, it turned to Synect for custom digital content and a content management system (CMS) to drive its vision at the gates and beyond. The initial challenge was to deliver a pleasant lounge-like atmosphere at the gates. The visual solution needed to enable passengers to monitor their gate status from anywhere in the four-gate area and encourage them to enjoy the new amenities while relaxing in an atmosphere that reflects both Dallas and Fort Worth.
Approach
In collaboration with DFW’s customer experience team, YCD Multimedia, and local content creator DHD Films, Synect defined a suite of custom digital experiences and content to offer:
A customer-centric approach
Intuitive, ADA-compliant boarding experiences
Easily consumable visual boarding instructions
A visual celebration of the surrounding area
An immersive lounge-like experience
Visual styles that reflect the time of day and boarding status
From visuals to copy to the digital displays, all elements were crafted to streamline and simplify the boarding process. Synect used its unique content creation governance process to align airport groups, stakeholders, and vendors. Synect’s governance process is a unified strategy for delivering visual communication and resolving the collaborative challenges of traditional digital signage implementations.
Synect’s next-generation digital signage platform and CMS Passenger360® would drive the digital experience at the gates and enable future scale.
Power in Numbers
Solution
Synect created custom content and deployed Passenger360® to operate the four new gates. The gate is the hero, and all motion gravitates towards it. Localized content reflects the time of day, and dynamic color-coded boarding statuses keep passengers informed from wherever they are.
The content guides passengers through the boarding process with colors and lights, and it is fully ADA compliant. Localized media and video evoking the textures of air create a memorable sense of place.
All content is orchestrated automatically through Synect’s Passenger360® and integration with airport systems.
Passenger360® powers:
Overhead walkways with color-coded boarding messages
Media walls displaying GIDS information and custom content
Transparent OLEDS with custom localized content
Dedicated gate displays to ease passengers through boarding
Results
The new Terminal D South extension is an intuitive, helpful passenger experience filled with amenities, useful prompts, and engaging content. All the information passengers need is right in front of them and large enough to be seen from any distance. This unique approach to content and messaging redefines the gate and boarding experience at DFW and sets a benchmark for airports worldwide.
DFW started operations at the gate in early 2021. David Slotnick of The Points Guy described the gates’ lounge-like atmosphere, writing, “for passengers, the main novelty won’t be the space or the seats, but rather the impact of new tech.”
Aviation Pros wrote: “… it might help to think about the new Terminal D extension as a glimpse at what future projects could look like, including the upcoming Terminal F.”
Ken Buchanan, DFW’s vice president of revenue management, told the publication: “We’ve got a lot of new technologies, new experiences there. This area is the testing ground for that.” DFW and Synect are currently extending the Passenger360® system to other areas of the airport.
Synect’s studio is creating custom content for the new locations.
Download the Case Study: The Gate of Tomorrow at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport
Download the Brochure: Passenger360® for the Gate of Tomorrow
Accessible Engagement
Deliver an Enhanced, Loungelike Experience at the Gates
Project Goals
Build for the Future
Implement Content Strategies and Systems that Scale
Ease of Boarding
Provide High-Visibility Cues for Boarding Status
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