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AUTHOR ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Aero Tech Consulting, Inc., (ATCI) performed the research reported herein under ACRP 01-03. ATCI is the contractor for this study. Christine Stocking is the Principal Investigator, Steve Loper of Amadeus Consulting Inc., is the Co-Principal Investigator for Integration, and James DeLong is the Co-Investigator for Airports. Thomas Healy serves as the Administrator. Vicki Braunagel is the Investigator on Airport Financial and Business issues. ABSTRACT This summary report documents the efforts of the Aero Tech Consulting, Inc. (ATCI) team in response to a Request for Proposal (RFP) issued by the Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP). This RFP detailed the challenges facing airport managers when attempting to integrate many disparate systems, software applications, financial and operational activities at airports today. The ATCI team sought to illustrate the âbig pictureâ through extensive research, interviews with airline executives and Information Technology professionals, and analysis of several aviation systems. The team has developed a list of best practices and validated all of its findings through a systematic series of phased interviews. When necessary, the team has leveraged its own understanding of the industry, developed over many decades of experience as airline, airport and Information Technology executives. This study resulted in the description of a typical airport organization, the completion of a comprehensive handbook for the integration of existing systems, as well as several recommendations for an approach to the future. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The aviation industry is complicated with many factors that need to be considered. Airport managers at every level are tasked with organizing information, making pivotal decisions, increasing efficiency, and coordinating operational and financial activities. Airport managers rely on various systems, some of which are decades old, and there is little communication between these systems. Making sense of these disparate systems and volumes of information is a key challenge facing the aviation industry today. The Aero Tech Consulting Inc., (ATCI) team (the team) was contracted to develop a Handbook that builds the foundation for airports to meet these challenges. Developing this understanding requires a disciplined approach to research, analysis, communication, collaboration, and problem-solving. For more than a year, the team has collaborated with the ACRP panel, facilitating key meetings, and proactively seeking review for certain portions of the research. The team has developed several pivotal metrics, identified the business-critical information, and the associated key data elements. In order to fully understand the big picture, and validate all of its findings, the team has conducted dozens of interviews with airport managers, IT professionals, and software providers. Combined with the wealth of experience of the team members themselves, the collaborative interviews generate a comprehensive knowledge base of the various elements involved. Furthermore, the team has reviewed hundreds of existing systems, software applications and technical papers, looking for business critical information and the techniques and tools used to integrate this information. More than 200 studies have been analyzed and 70 software solutions reviewed. Throughout the research effort, the team has defined and refined a list of best practices for the efficient operation and integration of existing airport systems. The team also describes a âmanagerâs dashboardâ that is designed to organize and optimize disparate systems on an airport managerâs desktop, giving them immediate access to the information they need. There are also many elements of infrastructure that should be considered
including a central web site, several software packages, and additional practices designed to improve efficiency in operation. This summary report details the teamâs collaborative approach to the research.
