Birmingham International Airport - Case Study Example

Instructor Name: Student Name: Student ID: Introduction Birmingham international airport is one of the busiest airports in Europe. The airline handles about 20 flights in a period of 30 minutes. There are also operations of planes arriving and leaving the main terminal which is located next to Eurohub. Being a busy airport, the work of operations management is vital for its operation. This case study looks at the functions of the operations management at the airport and the responsibilities of the operations director. Key functions of operations management at the airport At the airport, operation management is vital for smooth running of activities. The main aim of the management is managing the activities at the airport. The activities managed include; planning, airport security, leadership and coordination. Through operation management, all the departments are able to interact and work toward same objective. Planning As explained by Operations director at Birmingham airport, planning is vital in the running of an airport. The manager is involved with both long term and short term planning at the airport. This involves a lot of planning functions on the airfield and the terminals. This involves making the operation of the airport very efficient. The operations director achieves this by making the required allocation of the infrastructure to the airlines. The infrastructure includes the air bridges and stands among others in the airport. Leadership and coordination Operation management is also involved in providing leadership and coordination. The management has to ensure that they provide support and coordination to the offsite teams. These include the community groups which oversee and improve the environment. The operation management has to ensure there is coordination between the teams that work at the airport operations. All the airport departments and organizations work together with a community spirit which they have been able to develop through operations management. This ensures that there is success in the operations. This is done through setting up the standards which are supposed to be adhered to. Security The management has to ensure that there is security in the airport. This is a key task as it ensures that the passengers, employees and the airport facilities are safe. The operations management has to ensure that they look at all the aspects that can lead to breach of airport security. This includes acting on the lead and ensuring security protocols are followed. Key responsibilities of the operations director and the main issues/ problems he faces in managing the airport Overseeing customer management The operations director has to oversee smooth handling of the customers at the airport. This involves baggage handling, loading and unloading, catering, fuelling and cleaning of the airplane. The customers have to be serviced with the tickets and also given information on their destinations. There are also activities such as security checks and restaurants management. The operations director has to oversee all these activities. Human resource management This task involves ensuring that the team that works under the operations department is managed appropriately. According to Birmingham International Airports (BIA) operations director, he oversees 600 of the workers at the airport. This is the group that is involved in day to day running of the airport. Human resources management very vital in the operations of the airline as they are they carry out all the tasks of operations. The main challenge that is faced by the operations director in managing the human resource occurs in instances like a strike which can lead to passengers being stranded. Asset management The operations director has a responsibility to manage the terminal buildings and other facilities. The assets that are involved in the airlines are sensitive especially to security issues. It’s the duty of the operations director to ensure that there is required security in all the assets of the airport. The operations director manages this by employing the facility management team and the servicing team for the assets. Assets management includes overseeing the planning being carried out for new buildings, car parks and other infrastructure in the airline. Managing and developing airport operations This involves coming up with decisions on what to develop, where and when. This is done through forecasts on the airport growth rate. The rate of the expected expansion of the airport leads to planning on the operations development. The challenge of managing this task is enormous due to the huge budget that is involved. Developing procedures The operations director has to be involved in developing processes. These includes coming up with the evacuation plans, bomb threats management, handling sick passengers and other emergencies that can occur including fatalities such as death. Main problems faced In some cases, things go wrong when the plans fail. This can be caused by delays by plane, diversions or mechanical failures. This can in some cases lead to a lot of passengers being forced to wait than they had planned. The operations management uses the duty manager to coordinate all the efforts of the department. This is accomplished by informing all involved who includes the catering department and information services. The passengers are informed through information services in time. The operations director has to be involved in high risks decision pertaining to the long term design and development. These are projects that involve a lot of money and making wrong decisions can lead to disastrous results. The operations director has to be able to do appropriate forecasting and planning to avoid major problems in future. Relationship between the day-to-day tasks and the long-term Issues and how Richard manages to oversee both at the same Day to day tasks in the airport includes maintaining the runways, slot allocation, passenger catering, safety management systems and emergency preparedness. For these tasks to run properly, the infrastructure has to be in place. The infrastructure that is involved includes buildings, human resource and other structures like parking. Infrastructure is one of the long term issues that require long term design and development. This shows that the success of the day to day tasks depends on the implementation of the long term issues. Richard as the operations director is involved in planning for new projects such as buildings and also managing human resource. The work of the operations director involves planning and managing the assets in which the day to day activities in the airline are carried out. As the operations director, Richard has to ensure that the development of new building projects is carried out and there is proper management of the assets. This ensures that the day to day activities are carried out smoothly. As seen in the case study, Richard is actively involved in ensuring that there is smooth flow of day to day activity through managing the employees who are under his department. He coordinates all the activities of the department to come up with a strong team to manage the activities. Richard is also involved in the development of the new projects through setting up teams to oversee the planning. In conclusion, operations management is very important in any busy organization such as Birmingham international airport. It enables the operations of the organization to run smoothly and on time. The operations director has a noble role of ensuring that everything in the airport operations is working and there is coordination. He also ensures that planning is carried out according to the forecasts to enable day to day activities run as scheduled. References Johnston, R., Chambers, S., Harland, C. & Slack, N. 2003, Cases in Operations Management: Birmingham International Airport , 3rd ed. FT Prentice Hall. Read More