Ask a mid-level Airport services planning manager anything
Discussion
Europa1 said:
What is an airport services planning manager?
Excellent question. It is, in my opinion, the single most crucial role in the whole business. Without me, other people would have to do more work, and also without my role, I would have to work elsewhere or do a different role in the business with all my experience..
I basically play with spreadsheets and calculate numbers to give other people an idea of how much it will cost them, or how they could save money/spend the money they have better.
But I'm only mid-level, not yet full Company Director
Shakermaker said:
Excellent question.
It is, in my opinion, the single most crucial role in the whole business. Without me, other people would have to do more work, and also without my role, I would have to work elsewhere or do a different role in the business with all my experience..
I basically play with spreadsheets and calculate numbers to give other people an idea of how much it will cost them, or how they could save money/spend the money they have better.
But I'm only mid-level, not yet full Company Director
A follow up question: what's the "it" in "How much it will cost them"?It is, in my opinion, the single most crucial role in the whole business. Without me, other people would have to do more work, and also without my role, I would have to work elsewhere or do a different role in the business with all my experience..
I basically play with spreadsheets and calculate numbers to give other people an idea of how much it will cost them, or how they could save money/spend the money they have better.
But I'm only mid-level, not yet full Company Director
Europa1 said:
Shakermaker said:
Excellent question.
It is, in my opinion, the single most crucial role in the whole business. Without me, other people would have to do more work, and also without my role, I would have to work elsewhere or do a different role in the business with all my experience..
I basically play with spreadsheets and calculate numbers to give other people an idea of how much it will cost them, or how they could save money/spend the money they have better.
But I'm only mid-level, not yet full Company Director
A follow up question: what's the "it" in "How much it will cost them"?It is, in my opinion, the single most crucial role in the whole business. Without me, other people would have to do more work, and also without my role, I would have to work elsewhere or do a different role in the business with all my experience..
I basically play with spreadsheets and calculate numbers to give other people an idea of how much it will cost them, or how they could save money/spend the money they have better.
But I'm only mid-level, not yet full Company Director
Europa1 said:
Shakermaker said:
For me, usually the "it" is "labour"
The labour to do what?Aircraft Cleaning, terminal cleaning, passenger assistance services, security - but not passenger screening, more things like baggage screening, or people going into secure but not critical parts of the airport, we also do a few facilities management bits but I have little involvement in those directly.
abzmike said:
Why are customer services staff in airports generally so poorly informed, and really unable to offer much valuable help?
Oh, and why so airlines blame airports, and airports blame airlines?
Thanks!
I know exactly what you mean - something I want to eliminate myself. Oh, and why so airlines blame airports, and airports blame airlines?
Thanks!
It boils down to a lot of people working with the mindset of "That's not my job, mate" and ignoring people.
Me, I don't know everything, but I know where to find the information that the person is looking for even if I don't know it myself - you do get all kinds of questions thrown at you but that just meant that I used that to learn more, and encourage staff to do the same. "What time does the train go to London?" "I don't know, but if you go around to the railway station (directions) then the information screens are on the left hand side above the ticket desk, there's one which says "Next Fastest train" at the far end which will tell you"
There's also a huge unwillingness by some parties to actually share relevant information with others. Never more apparent than during a flight delay. Most people that you would encounter when you are walking around the terminal or even when you go to a help desk - even the exact correct help desk for your airline or their appointed agent - are working to a screen which only really gives outline information. Nobody actually tells that person "Right, the plane is delayed, the engineers have got the spare parts and it will take them 2.5 hours to fix and test", they will be told "Next information in one hour" and for some (not all) airlines, they think this is the best way to handle people, drip feeding them information but worse, only drip feeding it to the front line staff who have to deal with 250 passengers who will be on a scale of "OK, thanks for the update" to "OMG I WANT ALL MY MONEY BACK YOU INCOMPETENT FOOL, I SHALL NEVER EVER USE THIS POS AIRPORT AIRLINE OR COMPANY AGAIN I'M GOING TO COMPLAIN TO EVERYONE UP TO THE LEVEL OF GOD" as soon as you give them info. Which in my opinion, only seeks to make more people unhappy/enraged if they then feel let down/misinformed. I've seen people very good at handling these situations, and I've seen people handling it very badly. In my previous role, I would be trying to make sure that the people who handled it badly, were shown how to try and handle it better.
As to the "blame" question - that depends as well, on what the issue is. But they like to blame each other for minor failings in an overall wider picture that they caused themselves - I've seen it myself, the airline will be delayed because of something that is within their remit - say, the flight arrives late because the airline is trying to meet an incredibly tight schedule and only gives itself 30 minutes from arrival of one flight to departure of the next. but when the flight arrives late, it can no longer be parked in the place it was planned for, because it was late, that isn't accessible. And for arguments sake, that now means the aircraft can't park next to a jetty bridge and everyone has to get a transit bus to the terminal. Passengers will complain about the extra faff, but the airline will say it is the airports fault for not having enough space for them to park, but the airport will then point to the fact the flight was late.. the airline will say it could have been forseen they were going to be late, make space for us.. and it goes on, and on. Because at the end, I guess someone has to pay and neither side wants to if they can get out of it.
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