(photo credit: oisa at Flickr) Project Management in Airport Projects: Case Studies of Success and Failure Airport construction

and renovation projects are typically very complex and involve many interconnected and vital pieces. Terminals, baggage systems, and other components are crucial to an airport s competitive advantage. !trong in"rastructure allo#s more passengers to get through sa"ely and e""iciently, increasing the airport s reputation and allo#ing "or greater passenger capacity. A breakdo#n in any area causes delays, monetary losses, and bad publicity. !evere problems can also present sa"ety risks. There"ore, strong project management can be the deciding "actor in the success or "ailure o" these complex and risky projects. $n this article, #e examine t#o airport projects%the &''(s )enver airport baggage handling system project and the *((+ ,eathro# Airport Terminal & -enovation project..to see #hat kind o" role project management practices played in the success or "ailure o" the project. /any project management students and practitioners probably kno# about the "amous case study o" )enver airport0s "ailed baggage handling system project. The retirement in *((1 o" the automated baggage handling system at )enver $nternational Airport, used only by 2nited a"ter a series o" high.pro"ile errors caused the delay o" the entire airport s opening&, marked the end o" a project that #as plagued by a variety o" issues since starting in the early &''(s. The )enver airport0s baggage handling system project, overseen by 3A4 Automated !ystems, #as designed as a system o" computers, tracks, laser scanners, and carts that #as meant to process bags automatically and get them to passengers 5uickly through a net#ork o" automatically.driven carts. The system
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#as intended to improve response time over the manual handcart system? ho#ever, the complexity o" the project and the layout o" the airport led to issues. /any carts #ould crash in an e""ort to go around corners, spilling bags, and other parts o" the system that #ere supposed to keep the baggage sa"e instead mutilated bags and their contents. -ising costs and bad publicity led to the airport using a stripped. do#n version o" the system, #hich only 2nited Airlines used up until *((1. * !everal project management "actors doomed the )enver airport project. The major "actor cited is a misunderstanding o" the level o" complexity in the system? ho#ever, other "actors cited include issues #ith scope, budget, schedule, and change re5uests. $n particular, 3A4 agreed to an unrealistic schedule o" just over t#o years #ithout reali@ing the inherent risk, and also had to respond to change re5uests that altered the scope and stretched the limits o" the schedule and budget. $n addition, the airport and project team proceeded despite expert #arnings about ho# the system might "ail. A$n the end, it is estimated that the baggage handling system added B1+( million to the airport0s overall budget and delayed its opening by &+ monthsC. The )enver baggage handling system project has been considered by many project management scholars and pro"essionals as a project that "ailed due to inade5uate use o" project management practices. Diven the complexities o" projects involving airports, it is #orth#hile to examine #hether there are stories o" airport projects that succeeded because project management practices #ere used #ell. $n their article, E6hanging the "ace o" the busiest airport in the #orld through project management,F :/$ presents a success story o" project management at ,eathro# Airport in Gondon, 4ngland1. 3ritish Air#ays and the !tar Alliance success"ully coordinated and managed a project #ith the help o" )avid 3uisson, :/:, to renovate ,eathro#0s Terminal & #ith minimal disruption to airport operations. ,ighlights include+: #ork per"ormed on a live airport terminal #ith a tight schedule a large number o" #orkers and contractors to coordinate many budget and scope changes, including +.A million D3: (Dreat 3ritain pounds) o" #ork added #ithout an increase to the approved budget completed on time #ith a total schedule o" 1((,((( #orking hours and total budget o" 1H.+ million D3:

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no health or sa"ety incidents reported, even though the project involved "loor renovation, asbestos removal, and revamping o" the terminal s electrical system

The ,eathro# renovation described by the :/$ case study succeeded due to strong project management, especially in a "e# key areas: Strong risk management. According to the article, EFor every aspect o" the project that involved any risk, risk schedules #ere revie#ed, updated, and published through a "ormal revie# meeting held every month. $n addition, the main contractor undertook the same process o" risk management "or its respective activities along #ith its key suppliersF H. 3oth o" these details sho# a strong approach to risk management. 6onstantly reassessing risk throughout the project is a good #ay to stay on top o" risks that might arise and the impact they might have. $n addition, getting buy.in "rom contractors and suppliers on the risk management process helps to lessen risks that might come "rom them. Strong communications management. The system that #as set up allo#ed anyone involved to raise concerns that could be instantly approved or rejected by the project manager. The project team also set up #eekly meetings to address grievances. Another decision that helped #ith buy.in is that the project team and main contractor chose to co.locate near the #ork site7. Jeeping each other in close proximity allo#ed the t#o sides to stay on top o" rapid changes. Strong time management. 3ecause an airport project involves many complex parts, there are many possible critical paths as di""erent units can depend on others "inishing their #ork to start theirs. The project team and contractors accounted "or this possibility by conceiving and implementing a joint phasing plan so that the "loor renovations did not delay other parts o" the project'. /eeting to resolve one o" the kno#n dependencies made it less o" a complicating "actor throughout the project.

The ,eathro# renovation project team #ere "ortunate in many #ays. Not all projects bene"it "rom contractors #ho are #illing to co.locate #ith the project team and buy in to the team0s risk, time, and communications management approaches. Another key di""erence is that the ,eathro# renovation involved just one part o" the airport, #hile )enver0s baggage handling system #as the cornerstone o" the ne# airport and there"ore became the entire airport0s critical path. $t is o"ten more "easible to build a system up "rom a series o" smaller.scale projects than it is to deploy an ambitious, large.scale project upon #hich many other things depend.
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3uilding a project up in this #ay allo#s "or better risk management because the risks can be discovered more easily #ith a smaller project and the impact o" risks occurring should not be as high. 3oth the )enver airport and ,eathro# airport projects, despite the di""erences in si@e and complexity, #ere large, complex projects that #ere critical to the success o" their respective airports. $n the case o" the )enver airport project, inade5uate risk and communications management and skill in adhering to scope, time, and cost caused the project to have issues. $n the case o" the ,eathro# airport project, strong risk, time, and communications management helped the project succeed. From these examples, #e see that using project management practices e""ectively can help projects thrive.

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