Airport Terminal Facility Activation Techniques (2010)

Below is the uncorrected machine-read text of this chapter, intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text of each book. Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.

5BACKGROUND This synthesis is based on information gathered from the Synthesis Topic Panel, a search of relevant literature, and interviews with those involved with airport terminal facilities openings and activations. Valuable information was also col- lected from and lessons were learned during interviews with those involved with both airports that opened successfully and those that opened with problems. Many of the latter requested anonymity. Hence, in the survey responses the respondents are identified by number. SYNTHESIS TOPIC PANEL The Synthesis Topic Panel included industry experts who gen- erously shared their time and expertise to develop the scope for this study, provided insight into the challenges of airport terminal facility activation, and assisted in developing con- sistent terminology and Current Industry Practices. Many of the issues identified and comments made by the Synthesis Topic Panel are consistent with and reinforce the conclusions of the synthesis. Working with the Topic Panel it was agreed that Airport Terminal Facilities Activation encompasses the process used to transition a new or reconditioned airport terminal from a state of contractual completion to full operations. It includes: 1. Confirmation and verification that the facility is fit for its intended use within the terms of the contract and in association with the ultimate occupiers or users. 2. Review of new or reconditioned facilities to confirm that they are fit for the intended purpose. 3. Identification of any issues and determination of whether it is appropriate to address them before or after the opening. 4. Development of operating plans for new or recon- ditioned facilities, systems, equipment, and business processes. 5. Recruiting, familiarization, and training of staff and stakeholders. 6. Trials to confirm that the new facilities, operational plans, staff, etc., function and work together as planned. 7. Relocation of staff, tenants, and equipment. Some of the members of the Topic Panel as well as some of the survey participants advised that on some projects acti- vation also includes the commissioning of a new system and facilities and approvals from authorities having jurisdiction. Although both commissioning and approvals are part of most terminal facilities projects, they are generally the responsi- bility of the architect engineer construction (AEC) team. Typically, activation includes verifying and confirming that these tasks are complete, but that the actual commissioning and approvals are the responsibility of the AEC team. This effort is included in the confirmation activities referenced in item 1 of the previous list. AIRPORT TERMINAL FACILITIES ACTIVATION Airport terminal facilities activation is the process used to bring a new or rejuvenated facility from the state of static com- pletion to normal ongoing operations. Ideally, this happens before and culminates on airport terminal facility opening day (AOD). Unfortunately, some facilities open before the airport terminal activation process and/or even the construction is complete. This risks an increased potential for delays, diver- sions, cancellations, and other embarrassments that can lead to significant losses for airlines, airport authorities, and other stakeholders. Typically, small facilities with systems, equip- ment, and procedures everyone is familiar with open without incident and without publicity. The opening of larger more complex facilities with new systems, equipment, and proce- dures generally receive much more publicity, particularly when the openings are characterized by surprises and delays, diver- sions, and/or cancellations. Although it appears that the risk of an unsuccessful opening is directly proportional to the size, complexity, and duration of the project, even small poorly planned projects can experience the same problems. The longer the project takes to complete, the larger the facility and the more operational changes needed to operate it effectively, the greater the likelihood that problems will occur, this happens because: • Staff working in the facility at an opening may not be adequately familiar with it (they may get lost or have trouble getting to work). • Staff may not be adequately trained on the new systems and operational procedures. • New processes, systems, and procedures may not work as anticipated. • Construction and systems may not be 100% complete and commissioned. CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION

Opening a large new or rejuvenated airport terminal facil- ity can be daunting. It is different from opening most other types of facilities and presents unique challenges. • It is very public—if there are problems the world will know about them. • It does not happen often—there is a limited pool of exper- tise and there are limited sources of information regarding how to do it. • It often includes complex new systems, intricate new processes, and a wide variety of different and new individuals with diverse interests all smoothly working together—as if they have been doing it for years. • It often involves integration of existing and new systems and processes. • There is often a long period of time between the initiation and completion of airport terminal facility projects— staff, business processes, and technologies often change during this period. DATA COLLECTION After confirming a willingness to participate in this Synthesis, participants were e-mailed a copy of the survey. Some par- ticipants completed and returned the survey form, whereas others provided information by means of telephone interviews. Both those who returned the survey and those who did not participated in telephone interviews, as required, to obtain or clarify responses. SYNTHESIS STRUCTURE The Synthesis is composed of the following chapters struc- tured to help the reader gain an understanding of the impor- 6 tance of the airport terminal facility activation process and current practices. • Chapter two: New Airport Terminal Facilities—Where Activation Fits In—reviews synthesis findings regard- ing when and how the activation process is incorporated into the planning, design, and construction of facilities and the importance of keeping the activation and oper- ations teams involved throughout the design and con- struction process. • Chapter three: Phased versus Consolidated Openings— discusses synthesis findings of the risks and benefits of phased versus consolidated openings. • Chapter four: Soft versus Hard Date and Schedule for Airport Terminal Facility Opening Day—explains Syn- thesis findings linking AOD to completion of construc- tion, commissioning, and airport readiness as opposed to a fixed point in time, mitigates the risks of surprises on AOD. • Chapter five: Terminal Activation Governance—high- lights synthesis findings regarding the importance of transparency, communications, and timely decisions. • Chapter six: Terminal Activation Policies, Processes, and Procedures—includes Synthesis findings regarding policies, processes, and procedures used to successfully activate large airport terminal facilities. • Chapter seven: Airport Terminal Activation Tools and Services—discusses manual tools, electronic tools, web- based collaboration tools, and electronic document man- agement systems (EDMS) used by one or more of the survey participants, which can play a critical role in facil- itating the timely sharing of accurate real-time informa- tion across large activation teams. • Chapter eight: Conclusions and Current Effective Practices—highlights key findings of the Synthesis and identifies a need for further research.