LGT 2106

Case Study
Case A
Birmingham International Airport

Lam Sin Yin

14090414D
Birmingham handles numerous flights everyday. There are some
micro-operations found in the daily operation in the airport.

First, one of the micro operation is airline ticketing operation.

Ticket is the transformed resource and the transforming one is
ticketing staff. The output is the correct ticket with information like
destination and personal information. The customer involved in
passenger. The predominant transformed resource of air ticketing
operation is customer that deals with lines of passengers, each of
who have different final destination.

Refueling of the plane is also one of the micro operation. Fuel

acts as the transformed resource and fuel refueling staff is the
transforming resource. The output is to fill the plane fuel tank up.
The customer involved is the staff of different airlines. The
predominant transformed resource of providing fuel to aircrafts is
material.

For aircraft cleaning, the transformed resource is the aircraft and

transforming resource is the people responsible for cleaning it. The
output is a clean plane. The predominant transformed resource of
aircraft cleaning is material.
 For baggage handling, the transformed resource is the baggage.
The transforming resource is the staff responsible for baggage
handling. The output is the baggage reach its destination and with
correct tagging. The customer is the passenger of the flight. The
predominant transformed resource of baggage handling is satisfied
travelers, which are the customers, the airport arranges, check and
dispatch luggage to departing aircrafts.

For security checks, the transformed resource is passengers.

The transforming resource is the security staff; they check whether
a customer carry prohibited materials. The output is the the plane
reach its destination safely with passengers. The customer is the
passenger of the flight. The predominant transformed resource of it
is customer.

For information desk, the transformed resource is information

and queries such as transportation method, flight information or
location of different facilities. The transforming resource is the
customer service at the information desk. The output is to provide
proper information. The customer are passengers or visitors. The
predominant transformed resource it is customer.

For building infrastructure and maintenance, the transformed

resource is the building. The transforming resource is the
maintenance worker. The output is nice, solid, secure and well-
maintained building. The customer are users of the building. The
predominant transformed resource of it is material.

The job of the operations director is to oversee 600 of the 700

employees of the BIA. He manages day-to-day operation and
perform short and medium operational planning. His job also
includes maintaining the airways, agreeing slot allocation with the
airlines, developing and implementing safety management system.
Besides, he has to keep the fire crew fully trained to ensure the
airport can handle any incidents. The management of the terminal
buildings and other facilities of the airport is also part of his job. He
has to ensure the operation procedures of the airport is efficient and
smooth. Moreover, he has to improve the airport continuously, make
necessary changes to the current situation, to encourage
investments.

The main issues the operations manager faces in managing the

airport are decision making. He has to take the right decision at
right time. He is responsible for managing and developing the
operations of the airport. He has to manage and agree on
allocations of air-bridges and stands to different airlines. When
emergency incidents occur, such as fire, evacuations, bomb threats,
ill passengers and deaths in the airport, he has to handle it well in a
short period of time. Another emergency situation occurs when
there are flight delays or mechanical problems. Delays in arrivals or
departures are commonly found in the airport. He has to arrange
and handle passengers well and provide help to the people who are
being affected. If the plane broke down or any problem occur
causing it not able to use, he has to make decision instantly to solve
the problem. The airport operations also include forecasting and
planning of new facilities or building in order to meet with the
increasing number of passengers using the airport. He has to make
planning for building projects and make sure all the airport is
capable and can handle visitors efficiently.

Richard Heard are responsible for many tasks every day. One of
the daily workload of Richard Heard is the management of the 600
employees under his supervision. He needs to assign jobs and tasks
for teams. He has to make sure that different teams perform their
job well to let the operations of the airport be smooth and efficient.
Besides, he has to cooperate with people working in the airport
other than employees of BIA, for example different airlines, shop
owners, handling agents and cargo handlers.

He should spend time on managing day-to-day activities, it

includes controlling the effectiveness of the processes and
procedures, overseeing day-to-day running of the airport, and make
short and medium-term planning. He has to asset, evaluate and
coordinate daily operations of the airport and ensure it is safe. He
has to make sure the airport has plans to deal with emergency
problems or any incidents occurred in every day such as flight
delays, extreme weather condition or system or facilities break
down.

His time is also spent on setting up and coordination of the

safety and customer service standards for everyone involved.
Therefore, effective allocation of resources is ensured. The safety
management system has to be well-developed as to deal with any
emergencies happened in daily operations.

Some of the time is spent on long-term planning. For example,

he should analysis data from the airport and plan to build extra
facilities, shops or buildings if needed. He should ensure that the
airport can handle increasing number of users well. When he
receives reports from different departments, he has to review and
see whether there is a need to make a new plan, he needs to have
meetings with staff, contractors or shareholders to make medium or
long-term planning.

Long-term operational planning includes making daily operation

of the airport as efficient as possible. It includes planning of
runways, maintaining and agreeing of slots. Good processes and
procedures need to be in placed so that people involved in the
operation process will know what to do in their day-to-day tasks,
people should know what they are responsible for. The procedures
need to be thought through, tried and tested to ensure the best way
to run daily operations has been found.

Long-term issues are about future development plan of the

airport. The existing facilities need to be evaluate and the number of
growing passengers need to be forecasted. Therefore, the airport
can make future plans or building projects. It ensures the terminal
has enough capacity to accommodate the growing rate of
passengers.

Richard manages to oversee both of them at the same time

because he has different managers to assist him in handling daily
operations and operational planning. Terminal managers deal and
sort out day-to-day operational problems occurred, they ensure
people are informed when schedules fall apart, handle incidents like
bomb threats or stranded passengers at the airport. Terminal
managers work on a 24x7 basis with one senior manager
overseeing each shift.

Operations duty managers are equal to the terminal duty

managers who look after the airfield side. They are responsible for
handling problems including changing allocation stands when there
is any flight delay or arranging snow clearance if there is a sudden
fall.

Richard has weekly communication meetings with terminal

manager, operations duty manager and operational planning
department to ensure problems are discussed and make
amendments when necessary. It is also important to maintain
excellent team spirit to make operations smooth.