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Houston Airport System

How HAS streamlined passenger feedback, unified traveler data, and launched behavior-driven marketing across three major airports serving 63 million passengers annually.

KEY STATS / BY THE NUMBERS

  • 3

    Major Airports

    IAH · HOU · EFD — one of North America's largest public aviation systems

  • 5

    Outreach Options

    Feedback, media, safety, spaceport tours and more - all taken in through a single form

  • 15+

    Dynamic Routing Rules

    Automated routing sends every submission to the right team, first time, every time

Client Overview

Houston Airport System

The Houston Airport System (HAS) oversees three major airports: George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH), William P. Hobby Airport (HOU), and Ellington Airport (EFD) — home to the Houston Spaceport. Together, they form one of North America’s largest public aviation systems, managing over 63 million passengers annually.

As a public entity, HAS must balance responsive citizen service with scalable operations, making connected data and intelligent automation essential to its mission.

The Challenge

Manual Processes. Fragmented Data.

HAS receives hundreds of daily interactions from passengers, compliments, complaints, media requests, safety reports, and more. But prior to this engagement, all of those interactions funneled through a single, undifferentiated web form.

The result was a time-consuming, error-prone manual process: staff reviewed every submission individually, then forwarded it by hand to the appropriate department. This created administrative overhead, delayed response times, and left leadership without clear visibility into service volume or trends.

At the same time, HAS’s marketing efforts operated in isolation, with no personalization, no behavioral segmentation, and no connection to the service data being generated every day.

Key Pain Points:

  • One staric form for all inquiry types, no structure, no automatic routing
  • Manual triage required staff to read, interpret, and forward every submission
  • Fragmented data: parking reservations, loyalty program records, and CRM lived in separate systems
  • No centralized traveler profile to support either service or marketing
  • Marketing outreach was broad, static, and not informed by traveler behavior

KEY STATS / BY THE NUMBERS

  • 3

    Major Airports

    IAH · HOU · EFD — one of North America's largest public aviation systems

  • 5

    Outreach Options

    Feedback, media, safety, spaceport tours and more - all taken in through a single form

  • 15+

    Dynamic Routing Rules

    Automated routing sends every submission to the right team, first time, every time

The Solution

Connected Systems. Intelligent Automation. Unified Traveler Profiles.

Catalyst partnered with HAS to modernize both its service operations and marketing ecosystem,enhancing Salesforce Service Cloud and implementing Salesforce Marketing Cloud.

  • Intelligent Intake & Automated Routing

    The single catch-all form was replaced with a structured, dynamic intake system. Five distinct form types now handle feedback, media inquiries, safety and hazard reports, spaceport tour requests, and general outreach, each designed to reveal relevant fields based on user selections.

    Behind the scenes, 15+ dynamic routing rules automatically direct each submission to the correct department queue, eliminating manual review. What once took individual human judgment now happens instantly and systematically.

  • Unified Traveler Profiles

    HAS’s parking reservation database was integrated directly into Salesforce Service Cloud, followed by GlidePath loyalty program data. Each traveler’s record now reflects service interactions, parking history, airline preferences, concession interests, and newsletter preferences, all in a single, unified view.

    This centralized ‘traveler profile’ replaced fragmented data across disconnected systems with a single source of truth — one that supports both responsive service and intelligent marketing.

  • Behavior-Driven Marketing Automation

    With unified profiles in place, HAS expanded into Salesforce Marketing Cloud, moving from generalized outreach to behavior-driven communication. Automated journeys deliver relevant content based on past interactions and preferences.

    For example: a traveler who parked at the airport during a previous holiday period can now receive a targeted promotion the following year. This kind of personalization wasn’t possible before because the underlying data was never connected.

    Marketing Cloud also now supports press release and media advisory distribution, and introduced mass text messaging as a new outreach channel, enabling fast, targeted communication during both routine operations and high-visibility events.

Results & Impact

  • Quantitative Wins

    • Eliminated manual triage. All submissions now routed automatically
    • 15+ routing rules ensure first-touch accuracy across departments
    • Parking & loyalty data reconciled into a single CRM record — no more cross-system lookups
    • New visibility into form submission volume, routing efficiency, and engagement rates
    • Campaign performance and response timelines now measurable for the first time
  • Qualitative Wins

    • Staff freed from administrative sorting, more time for high-value service tasks
    • Departments receive complete, structured intake data from the start
    • Marketing communications feel relevant and personalized to travelers
    • Leadership has unified visibility into both service and marketing performance
    • System is built to scale with HAS’s growth and ambition
The Catalyst team has been a true partner from the beginning. Their responses are efficient, comprehensive, and proactive to any issues that would/could have arose. I particularly appreciated the direct line of communication with the Leadership team at all times. They brought a true consultive nature to ensure project success. I am extremely satisfied with Catalyst’s overall performance, and I recommend any aviation system take the opportunity to experience the 5 Star Service and Support that Catalyst has provided to us.
Cornell Watts Houston Airport System Senior Project Manager