Behind every flight are thousands of people working rotating shifts: controllers, ramp crews, security, immigration, cleaning staff, flight crews and employees of shops and restaurants. Many spend long shifts on their feet, eat whatever the terminal sells at airport prices and rest wherever they can. On the other side, passengers face long layovers, waits without enough seating, little free drinking water and almost no space for nursing mothers, something that has been law for medium and large U.S. airports since 2019. Fitwel, created by the U.S. CDC and GSA, certifies that the building serves both groups: decent staff break areas, accessible drinking water throughout the terminal, healthy food options, inviting stairs, lactation rooms, restorative spaces, smoke-free areas and clear emergency protocols. For airport operators and concessionaires, it's a concrete way to improve the passenger experience and the conditions of the team that keeps operations running.
Terminal assessment: we evaluate the terminal and operational buildings against the applicable Fitwel scorecard, separating passenger areas from staff-only areas.
Registration and strategy: we register the project with Fitwel and set the target level, from one to three stars, together with the operator, retail concessionaires and security teams.
Implementation: we coordinate water fountains and bottle-filling stations, lactation rooms, staff break areas and restorative spaces, and draft policies on healthy food, smoke-free spaces and emergencies.
Certification: we submit the documentation, secure the seal valid for three years and set up the recertification plan.
Fitwel charges a registration fee and a per-building certification fee, with special terms for portfolios, useful for operators with several terminals. Since it doesn't require on-site performance testing, the total cost is well below WELL's and operations aren't affected. Physical investment usually focuses on bottle-filling stations, lactation rooms, staff break areas and restorative spaces. The process takes 4 to 8 months, and certification is valid for three years.
Yes, through its workplace and public-use scorecards. At airports, the assessment defines which buildings or sections —terminal, administrative buildings, staff areas— make sense to certify based on operations.
Many Fitwel strategies —drinking water, break areas, healthy food, smoke-free policies— benefit everyone working in the terminal, whether they're employed by the operator, airlines or concessionaires, improving conditions for the entire airport community.
4 to 8 months on average, depending on the terminal's size and coordination between the operator, concessionaires and authorities. Since Fitwel requires no on-site testing, operations aren't interrupted during the process.
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