Nobody enjoys delays. If anyone tells you they do, they are probably lying to you... Unless a delay helps them avoid something/someone. One of the worst things passengers can hear in an airport is an announcement that a flight has been delayed.
But delay announcements are one of many things that can add to a passenger's stress in an airport, mostly involving lines: long lines of vehicles at drop-off, bag drop, security, restaurants, bathrooms, and even Starbucks.
Newly appointed Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol hopes to reduce wait times at Starbucks locations, including those in airports. In a recent investor call, Niccol said his goal as CEO is to bring back customers and get the company's sales back up.
Starbucks chose a new leader with a fantastic track record. In Niccol's six years as CEO of Chipotle, the company’s business more than doubled. In his bio on the Starbucks website, the coffee company said he accomplished these things by establishing Chipotle as a culinary leader, pioneering digital innovation, introducing exciting new menu offerings and expanding internationally.
For more than 25 years, Niccol has worked in leadership, marketing, and operations roles. Before his time as Chipotle CEO, Niccol was CEO of Taco Bell, climbing his way to the organization's top.
Niccol held the roles of Chief Marketing and Innovation Officer and President before taking over as CEO.
As mentioned above, Niccol was formerly CEO of the famous restaurant chain Chipotle. He left his role at the end of August and joined Starbucks in early September. At the time, Starbucks was facing three consecutive quarters of declining sales.
In a call in late October, Niccol revealed several ways Starbucks could improve its business. One goal is to reduce wait times in stores, increasing customer satisfaction and, ultimately, sales.
Niccol hopes that Starbucks can cut its service times to four minutes, which will present a challenge for airport locations.
The corporation does not own Starbucks airport locations; those are licensed and operated by other companies. According to CNBC, the first-ever airport location opened in 1991 at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA).
At the time, HMSHost ran the location, and eventually, it signed a contract with Starbucks, giving it an exclusive deal to operate airport locations.
HSMHost had its contract for nearly 30 years, but it broke it off in 2020. By then, the company operated nearly 400 stores. Since then, other companies like Paradies Largardere have opened airport locations.
Kevin Schimpf, director of industry research at Technomic, highlighted the bigger challenge that airport locations face,
“A plane lands, and all of a sudden there’s a hundred people when there were zero people there before.”
Because licensed locations carry the Starbucks name and branding, and consumers can even use the app in most airport locations nationwide, there is no way to tell whether a location is corporate-owned or licensed.
All consumers care about is that they get their Starbucks. Speaking on licensed locations, Niccol said,
“When I think about the airports and such, there’s such a huge opportunity for us to simplify some of the execution there so that we get the people the great throughput they want so they can get on their way.”
In the late October call, Niccol revealed seven things the corporation plans to change in order to improve sales and customer satisfaction:
- Organize the pickup area by differentiating mobile orders from regular orders
- Simplify the menu
- Personalize cafes
- Re-add condiment bars
- Improve staffing
- Change marketing approach
- Eliminate extra charges for dairy alternatives
A few years ago, the first airport Starbucks location that only accepts mobile orders through the app opened at George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) in Houston. At the time, OTG CEO Rick Blatstein, said,
“This innovative, mobile-only ordering experience is already an incredible fitting format for an airport environment, where customers value efficiency, seamlessness, and dependability above all else.”
After the first location was opened in Houston, OTG planned to open more in Houston and expand to Newark and LaGuardia.
Niccol hopes to eliminate crowded counters at locations that accept both mobile orders and walk-up orders at the counter. Starbucks is working on its app to improve the accuracy of timing, and it hopes to separate mobile orders from in-store orders to reduce confusion. Niccols said the company also aims to reduce how much drinks can be customized.
The Starbucks menu has grown in recent years, and Niccols said it has complicated operations. An expanded menu means more work for baristas and less consistency on less-familiar drinks.
Niccols shared that leadership will seriously analyze the items that would not have been added to the menu with the four-minute standard in mind.
Niccol acknowledged that a menu reduction may make some customers unhappy initially, but he believes it will be appreciated in the long run.
Starbucks has no control over staffing in airports, as those licensed locations take care of all operations while the corporation takes a fee. However, those licensed locations allow Starbucks to avoid all airport bureaucracy and high costs.
A report from Inc. highlighted another reason that reducing wait times at airport locations could prove difficult.
These locations do not have regular customers, which means that baristas cannot start working on an order when a customer gets in line like they might be able to do outside an airport.
