The Impact of Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport - Essay Example

The Impact of Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport Introduction The opening of Terminal 5 at Heathrow International Airport was amidst a great marketing fanfare, as well as a divided opinion filtering all the way through the British Airways Company itself. The terminal has been identified as a definite need for the ever busy Heathrow airport, but was also condemned by the environmentalists that claimed the additional terminal will be the source of added environmental and noise pollution, as reported by the BBC in Heathrow terminal splits opinion (March, 2008.) It is acknowledged that the company, British Airways, may well have required expanding operations, due to an overcrowded terminal, and specifically terminal 3 but the expansion has had several effects based upon internal analysis of this expansion. Within our study we have identified these effects and attempt to establish what this impact upon the internal stakeholders has been. Our study and survey has focused upon the Terminal 3 staff, as well as the staff of Terminal 5. The Terminal 3 staff comprise of a variety of organizations and airlines, whilst Terminal 5 staff are predominantly British Airways Staff. This effect upon the staff was also specifically highlighted by the moving on of two senior executives from British Airways (Sky News). The resignation of these executives was as a direct result of the initial opening problems of Terminal 5 and reflects the fact that this Terminal opening has affected the staff from the very top level right down to the grassroots level, as illustrated in our research and analysis below. Basis for Research Our study and research was chosen to include key stakeholders that were directly or indirectly affected by the opening of Terminal 5. These would include the organizations and individuals that remained within Terminal 3, where British Airways (BA) predominantly ran their operations from, as well as the staff in Terminal 5, who would constitute existing BA staff from Terminal 3 as well as new staff that were recruited for the expansion of BA and the opening of this terminal. A total of 40 respondents were selected to answer a set of questions that specifically pertain to how the opening of Terminal 5 has affected them in their work structure as well as any potential changes to existing management frameworks that may have occurred. Analysis of Findings The findings of the various questions, that were structured to gauge whether or not the opening of Terminal 5 had a positive or negative impact on staff members of both Terminals 3 and 5, revealed that the overall viewpoint of these staff members indicated an affirmation of the positive impacts that the opening of Terminal 5 has had. In terms of the staff that remained within Terminal 3 consensus was reported in the fact that the terminal was less crowded and this gave room for the remaining companies to expand their operations and improve upon services, as BA had relocated to Terminal 5. A major key issue that was raised by the respondents, from Terminal 3 was the fact that after the opening of Terminal 5 the environment has become more competitive in that the organizations and individuals are competing against BA, its staff and Terminal 5 itself. Terminal 5 had been designed to accommodate the latest developments in technology in terms of the airport management facilities and function, and therefore this sense of competition stems from the fact that the remaining companies and staff must keep up to the standard of the BA technology that is being utilized in the new terminal. Although the opening of terminal 5 coincided with a recessionary environment on an international basis, BA had to recruit additional staff to be able to effectively run with the new Terminal and the accompanying infrastructure. According to respondents some staff were in fact promoted, and there was a significant reshuffling of staff both at junior level, as well as within the management level and structures. One of the key issues that came into operation which directly that of staff was the automated placement of the staff, via a mobile and computerized system. This system placed staff where the staff member was required and at which specific time they were required to be there. This was done via a mobile phone system, and each staff member was contacted via the phone and given the necessary instructions. This is perceived as a significant advancement technology in terms of airport management, however according to Thomson in British Airways reveals what went wrong with Terminal 5, the resultant hearings and committee meetings revealed that a lack of testing of the Information Technology, as well as the handling of the situation by the IT staff exasperated the situation at the time of opening. This has a direct relevance on the staffing of terminal 5 as it stated by Thompson in Staff had not been trained properly. Change Management A key concept in the modern organization of today is that of change management, this according to the negative reports received about Terminal 5 at Heathrow seems to have been lacking, specifically within the Information Technology department. As revealed by our study and the respondents, specifically that of the Terminal 5 staff shows that a major change occurred within the placement of staff and the manner in which this was done. Although the majority of respondents stated that the opening of Terminal 5 was both necessary, as well as a positive step forward specifically for BA, mention was made of the reshuffling of staff as well as the fact that the staff no longer worked in teams. This issue can be seen as an automation of the staffing allocation procedure and although the process may be perceived as being technically correct, the information technology was lacking, as was the training of the staff which resulted in a number of disastrous logistical (IT related) problems when the terminal was opened for business. This could well have been preempted on a testing basis, however this appears to have not been done. This lack of change management from a training point of view could well have contributed to the results of the senior executives resigning, as previously mentioned. Conclusion If we analyse the responses of our chosen respondents in terms of their overall perception of the opening of Terminal 5 from an operational point of view, we realize that the overwhelming majority of respondents are in fact very much in agreement with the opening of this terminal. In addition all respondents felt that it was positive for the companies remaining at terminal 3, as well as BA moving to terminal 5. This has allowed for terminal 3 companies and staff to expand and improve upon their service to their clients, and the terminal 5 was to allow BA to cope with their large amount of passengers and clientele. Unfortunately inadequate staffing and training revealed that Terminal 5, upon opening had almost the opposite effect in the eyes of the public, and ultimately their customers. Many lessons can be learned from the opening and operational issues of Terminal 5, and although from an internal point of view the opening of such a terminal was deemed, and probably is, necessary the ways in which the terminal was opened raises questions from project management, operational and staffing points of view. The fact that the terminal, from inception, took no less than 19 years to finally open should well have presented the opportunity to iron out any potential problems. The theoretical staffing issues and placement of the staff is definitely a positive aspect, but when one loses the control over basic issues, such as the training of staff, projects such as that of Terminal 5, although perceived as positive in the eyes of internal staff and stakeholders, does in fact lose the ultimate effect, point and practicality of the project as a whole. References BBC News (2008.) "Heathrow terminal splits opinion." BBC [Online]. March 14, 2008, accessed April 3, 2009 via http://www.bbc.co.uk SKY News (2008.) "Heads roll over T5 fiasco at Hetahrow." SKY News [Online]. April 15, 2008, accessed April 3, 2009 via http://news.sky.com Thompson, R. (2008.) "British Airways reveals what went wrong with Terminal 5." Computer Weekly. [Online]. May 14, 2008, accessed April 3, 2009 via http://www.computerweekly.com Read More