Unessay: Global Best Practices for Airports and the Pandemic
- Discipline
- City and Regional Planning
- Semester
- Spring 2022
- designer
- Lang, Mac
- faculty
- McNair, Amber
- Description
- My project explores the response to COVID-19 in airports around the world and aims to find best practices that can be brought back to the United States and airport infrastructure planning in general. I was in Israel during the start of the pandemic, and I was struck at how differently the Israeli and American governments approached the pandemic. Various political, economic, social, and epidemiological conditions across countries led to a varied approach to the pandemic, and this manifested in aviation. As gateways to the world, international airports serve as an important representation of this diversity, and as a place where these differing approaches must collide. By analyzing the way the pandemic forced innovation in global aviation, we can find ideas that have value even as COVID begins to recede. My approach to the topic was to explore one case study from each region of the world. This allows me to explore a number of contexts in regards to the pandemic’s impact, the state of aviation in different regions, and global approaches to airport infrastructure. This has an important impact, as the response to COVID was very different depending on the location of the airport and the policies of the host country. For example, Asian countries tended to be much stricter in their lockdowns, reducing travel. They are also more likely to implement technology as a solution. This is possible due to very high smartphone/computer usage in Asia, but this might not be possible at an African airport, for example. When making recommendations specifically for US airports, we can assume a high level of technological competence, but this is an important reminder that we also need to implement a contingency plan for consumers that are unwilling or unable to use technology at requisite levels. Regardless of the context, I sought to find some generalizable principles that can inform airport planning broadly. This unessay is structured like a briefing or presentation for a legislator or policymaker at a government agency. This project is somewhat inspired by my time interning at the State Department, so I am familiar with the audience and the types of presentations that are conducted. The general theme of my project is highlighting lessons learned from the pandemic that can be used to improve travel in the post-COVID world, so I think structuring it like a presentation to the people who have the ability to implement these practices makes sense. Structuring the presentation with an emphasis on each individual case study allows the lesson to be easily understood and referenced. I also complemented the narration with some visual elements that showcase the innovation. The analysis concluded with three primary takeaways. The first is the value of flexibility. This has been highlighted as a virtue prior to the pandemic (for example, ACRP Report 79: Evaluating Airfield Capacity encouraged flexibility in modeling assumptions due to changing conditions), but was truly on display as COVID overhauled the industry. Successful case studies were defined by creative uses of space and technology, changing priorities, and an overall willingness to adapt to the new circumstances. For example, Ethiopian Airlines successfully pivoted to a cargo first operation and remained financially sound, without needing a government bailout, as a result. In the US, airlines utilized existing digital infrastructure to centralize travel information, reducing the burden on airline workers and ensuring a convenient experience for travelers. This represents a flexible repurposing of assets that are already in place, a great example of how airports can respond to changing circumstances with little capital investment. The rapidly changing nature of technology and travel behavior dictate that airports must be similarly prepared to evolve alongside it. The second takeaway is the value of coordination. Airports do not exist in a vacuum and are thus reliant on strong partnerships with external partners that influence their operations. This can take the form of Airport-Airline, Airport-Government, Airport-Business, and several other partnerships. Successful case studies were marked by effective coordination between these groups. The European Union is a strong example, with the governments of the bloc coordinating to make a unified, universally accepted, and easily accessible verification document for travelers moving between EU member states. This was hugely beneficial for restarting travel and helped the airport comply with government regulations rather than forcing them to manage the transition themselves. Singapore looked holistically at the airport experience and worked with stakeholders, notably including travelers, to optimize the process in a mutually beneficial way. This level of coordination is essential in ensuring that the needs of the airport and all concerned parties are met. In the US, some best practices specifically for governmental coordination are established in ACRP Report 216: Guidebook for Assessing Collaborative Planning Efforts Among Airport and Public Planning Agencies. The final takeaway is the value of longevity. Every airport was forced to reposed to COVID in some way. What sets these case studies apart is the way that their innovative responses will have an influence even after the pandemic. Colombia’s implementation of AI technology to manage disease transmission is certainly useful for mitigating COVID, but could also easily be repurposed to manage overcrowding, optimize gate allocation to reduce passenger flow, or countless other applications that may not even occur to us at this time. Ethiopian’s new terminal featured innovative bio-safety improvements that will make it more COVID-safe but also include new technologies that can help improve the customer experience and elevate the standard of African aviation. As a general practice, building for the future and avoiding narrow, purpose-built solutions will have a larger impact and equip airports with the tools needed to be flexible when future challenges arise. Overall, these findings represent a diverse range of approaches to the pandemic from around the world. These practices have been synthesized into guiding principles to inform airport planning in the post-pandemic world. While the disruption caused by COVID-19 has certainly had serious negative impacts, it is possible to utilize these lessons as a point of growth in future planning considerations.