Reference Guide on Understanding Common Use at Airports (2010)

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73 The roadmap for airport common use is designed to help airport operators see the overall picture, define business cases, and plan implementation. This roadmap can be used for internal discussion of and education in developing a common-use airport vision and strat- egy. It can also be used as the basis for assessing the airport’s existing and required common- use capabilities, in order to help understand its current position and develop a strategy for the future. The roadmap emphasizes the need to balance the requirements of the airport operator and the key stakeholders (e.g., airlines, agencies, and solution and maintenance providers). Following this roadmap can assist an airport operator to break down traditional roadblocks when dealing with major implementation changes and new approaches. This chapter presents a brief overview of what road mapping entails, its benefits, and the process involved in building a roadmap and then presents a 12-step Roadmap to Common Use and its key success factors. Roadmapping Definition Roadmapping, in its simplest form, helps people to understand where they are today and where they would like to be at a stated point in the future. A roadmap provides a step-by-step transition path between these two states. Benefits Roadmaps provide structure, direction, and quantifiable objectives that can be shared and communicated with all stakeholders, both inside and outside the airport. Business benefits of roadmapping include the ability to • Break transition plans into discrete and easily manageable steps • Link airport operator business strategy decisions using a cost-benefit approach, thereby resulting in improved communication and consensus development • Highlight the gaps between the key stakeholders • Assist in developing priorities • Support and develop consensus, which leads to focus and effectiveness • Identify planned technology and asset management changes and determine when they will be introduced and/or come on line C H A P T E R 5 Common-Use Implementation – A Framework for Success

74 Reference Guide on Understanding Common Use at Airports Building the Roadmap Roadmapping results in more than a simple roadmap document. It is an all-encompassing practice and collaboration that should involve all the key stakeholders’ elements, including peo- ple, process, and supporting technology: • People. The airport operator staff’s engagement at all levels is key to ensuring ownership and focus. Building ownership during the iterative roadmapping process should ensure that gaps and challenges are covered during planning so as to avoid potential blocks later. It is impor- tant to involve all key stakeholders actively (i.e., terminal operations, airlines, facilities main- tenance, ground handling providers, airport administration, and frontline technical staff). • Process. Develop sustainable common-use approaches to ensure plans and roadmaps are actively planned over time; the process is iterative and needs supporting processes to measure progress. • Supporting Technology. Implement common-use solutions and tools that result in long-term value for improved passenger processing. Common-Use Roadmap The steps of the Roadmap to Common Use follow and are illustrated in Appendix D. Step 1. Audit Current State and Review Common-Use Criteria. Catalog the airport’s current services and approaches as well as their interrelationships. Step 2. Formulate a Cross-Organizational Common-Use Committee (C-U-C). An airport operator should establish a Common-Use Committee composed of representatives from all key stakeholders. The Committee composition should reflect the local airport operator’s organiza- tional structure and be tailored to the local airport situation. The Committee should include • Appropriate airport operator representative(s) who look at the whole picture and are aware of common-use opportunities and challenges • Appropriate airline representatives (e.g., local station managers and corporate management) • Appropriate Government agency representatives • Outsource aviation service providers (where appropriate) Step 3. Perform Common-Use Gap Analysis and Cost-Benefit Analysis. The Committee should perform a formal analysis or risk assessment to identify the local criteria and framework for the cost-benefit analysis. This will serve as a basis for further activities. Elements to consider: • Managing peaks • Infrastructure investments • Revenue enhancements • Flexibility of infrastructure Step 4. Make an Implementation Decision. During this step, the Committee should make a go/no-go decision to operate as a unified team and execute common-use strategies in a seamless process. Step 5. Create/Refine Local Common-Use Strategy. Following a decision to move to common use, the Committee should create strategies that will foster an integrated seamless approach to common use among the airport operator, airlines, Government agencies, and other aviation ser- vice providers. Step 6. Provide Training and Education. The Committee should, through appropriate train- ing of frontline personnel and relevant stakeholders, ensure that all parties are implementing the new policies, practices, and procedures in accordance with the strategies created in Step 5.

Common-Use Implementation – A Framework for Success 75 Step 7. Execute the Initial Common-Use Steps. The Committee should have a unified approach to the common-use rollout to improve overall passenger processing. Step 8. Check, Adjust, and Align to Industry Standards. Following the initial phase of a common-use strategy implementation, the Committee should meet and review the overall pas- senger benefits and incorporate lessons identified. Step 9. Document Lessons Identified. The Committee should update practices, procedures, and policies. Also, the Committee should update the resources needs required to support common-use technologies and assets, as well as update and administer revised training sessions as appropriate. Step 10. Perform a CUC Debrief. After the initial implementation, the Committee should meet to review the cost-benefit and added value to passenger processing and incorporate lessons learned from the recent implementation into the overall common-use strategy (Step 5). Step 11. Enhance Common Use. The Committee should schedule regular communications with its associated stakeholders and share best practices identified during the implementation. Step 12. Share Lessons Learned with the Aviation Community. On a regular basis, as the dif- ferent common-use business models come on line, the Committee should share lessons learned and key operational experiences with the aviation community at large to learn from fellow air- port operators who recently implemented common use. Key Roadmapping Success Factors • Be compelling. Identify common-use benefits both tangible and intangible. • Ensure top-down commitment. Ensure the airport operator’s executive team and key stake- holders are all on board. • Manage bottom-up commitment. The airport operator’s staff and key stakeholders must see the value of supporting the common-use approaches. All staff must be confident that the common-use approach will be of value and benefit to passenger processing. • Ensure cross-organizational commitment. Persuading the cross-airport key stakeholders to establish and enhance common-use approaches through collaborative decision-making is imperative. Such commitment will ensure that actions result in a unified level of improved passenger processing across all airport stakeholders. Conclusion By introducing a simple roadmap process, an airport can begin to develop and adapt its underlying common-use approaches into more responsive passenger processing. Such planned common-use approaches can deliver both top and bottom benefits over the mid and long term. Key agents in this transformation include stakeholder intercommunication and top-down man- agement support.