Primer for Airport Organizational Redesign (2022)

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1   Summary of the Problem: The Need for Organizational Redesign The airport industry is a unique ecosystem comprised of customers, tenants, and stakeholders. Societal trends and economic impacts tend to converge and have a multiplicative effect on air­ port operations and customer experience due to the complex intersections within this eco­ system. The airport industry is not a stranger to rapid fluctuations in travel behavior, staffing skill gaps, ever­changing airline and tenant financial decisions, and broader economic impacts. In fact, the industry seems to survive in a constant state of flux. In one year alone, the industry went from its highest travel demand to its lowest as travelers immediately halted trips due to the COVID­19 pandemic. Prior to this powerful economic force, airports were already faced with increasing pressure to innovate, expedite, and respond to passenger requests for more con­ veniences. As travel behavior resumes, the constraints on resources and demands for passenger accommodations are only expected to grow. In addition to chasing consumer demand, the industry is faced with complex business models. For example, airport governance structures often reflect conflicting identities. Airports are funda­ mentally public service organizations limited by civil service employment requirements, and yet, most airports are not funded by taxpayer dollars but rather rely on revenues from their tenants (e.g., state/county/city; single or multi­purpose governing authority). Thus, optimiza­ tion of airport organizational design is central to ensuring agility and responsiveness to various stakeholders and consumer demands. This is particularly true in an unpredictable world where change remains the only constant from economic recession to prosperity, global health restric­ tions to increased globalization across businesses, and unemployment rate fluctuations to the permanent departures of masses from the labor market. It is essential for airports to ensure their organizational structure meets the needs of the current industry and to have the ability to pivot quickly to respond to change. Subsequently, it is important for airports to recognize how to best create an optimal structure. This project and the resulting primer are intended to provide guid­ ance to airports as they seek to redesign and optimize. Purpose of the Primer This primer focuses on identifying organizational redesign best practices that will help ensure airports maintain consistent operations, high levels of employee engagement, passen­ ger satisfaction, and overall mission achievement in the face of adversity and unexpected cir­ cumstances. The purpose of this primer is to present these best practices to the industry in an easy­to­use format that will guide airport leaders through strategies and actions to take across specific facets of organizational redesign leading to improvements in how the airport positions C H A P T E R   1 Introduction

2 Primer for Airport Organizational Redesign itself moving forward. While each recommendation may be extracted and used independently, it is advised that leaders first review all recommendations and ensure they are articulating a broad strategy with clear objectives for the redesign that incorporates aspects of each recom­ mendation. One intent of this primer is to remind leaders that organizational redesign does not happen in a vacuum. Instead, it is important to plan intentionally and anticipate the possible impacts of a single change—whether it be within a business unit, a single terminal, or across the entire airport—on all other facets of the organization from the personnel to the processes, systems, other functional areas, and overall continuity of operations. Content This primer includes important information on understanding the facets of organizational redesign, specific steps on how to navigate an organizational redesign process, and best practices and lessons learned from both scientific research and reputable organizations that have under­ gone a redesign process. The recommendations provided herein are customized to the industry, so airports may utilize them to successfully implement an organizational redesign process of any scale. Intended Audience and Benefits of the Primer This primer is intended for airports of all sizes and operating models to understand the orga­ nizational redesign process for implementation at individual airports. This guide will help air­ ports successfully navigate the redesign process as well as offer best practices and lessons learned from airports that have implemented an organizational redesign process. Data Input for Developing the Primer These recommendations are based on information gathered from airports that have engaged in successful organizational redesign or have begun considering it. Information gathered from airport leaders was synthesized in seven case studies that provided real­world illustrations for each recommendation. The airport participants are listed in Table 1­1 along with the airport name, contact title, airport size, location, and region. Navigation Recommendations were developed considering the diverse nature of airport organizations and are, therefore, applicable to airports of varying sizes and locations. They are designed to be easily implemented using the steps provided with each strategy. This primer is organized by the seven components of organizational redesign that resulted from an annotated bibliography and literature search: structure, processes, culture, people, systems, contextual setting, and leadership. Figure 1­1 provides an overview of the seven facets of organi­ zational redesign. The primer concludes with actionable steps on how to navigate organizational redesign and apply the recommendations. The recommendations are described with the challenges they address, the relevant organiza­ tional facets, and detailed implementation guidance.

Introduction 3   Airport Name Contact Title Size of Airport Location Region Naples Airport (APF) Senior Human Resource Manager Executive Director Small Naples, Florida Southern St. Louis Lambert International Airport (STL) Human Resource Manager Mid-size St. Louis, Missouri Central Reno-Tahoe International Airport (RNO) Vice President of Human Resources Small Reno, Nevada Western Pacific McKinney National Airport (TKI) Airport Director Small McKinney, Texas Southwest Ontario International Airport (ONT) Executive Director Mid-size Ontario, California Western Pacific Myrtle Beach International Airport (MYR) Assistant Director of Airports Small Myrtle Beach, South Carolina Southern Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) Vice President of Human Resources Large Grapevine, Texas Southwest Table 1-1. Participating airports. Organizational Redesign Structure Processes Culture PeopleSystems Contextual Setting Leadership Figure 1-1. The seven facets of organizational redesign.