What are the biggest workforce challenges for airport organizations in 2024?

After the shock of the COVID-19 pandemic North American airports are thriving once more.

Travel restrictions, lockdowns and reduced consumer confidence all damaged airport revenues in 2020, but 2024 is seeing record passenger numbers. However, for airport organizations, this new era of air travel comes with its own challenges. 

Following the hiring freezes of the last three years, many airports are now short-staffed and struggling to recruit, retain and engage the skilled and experienced staff they need. 

Like many organizations, airports have been hit badly by the ‘Great Retirement’ – a phenomenon which has seen the largest generation in the US and Canada, the baby boomers, age out of the workforce. This has been felt keenly in a sector where these valued workers, helped into retirement by the pandemic and favorable financial conditions, such as increasing house prices, are badly needed. 

A buoyant and competitive economy where skilled professionals are in great demand also makes recruitment difficult. This is exacerbated in a sector ill-suited to the now-expected flexible remote and hybrid working arrangements emerging from lockdowns. Compounding this issue, critical staff such as firefighters, police and operations specialists typically require lengthy training periods, during which existing staff often work at high overtime levels.

These working conditions create strain on customer-facing, operations, and maintenance personnel, which can result in poor experiences for passengers if they do not receive the expected level of service. 

How can airports respond to the workforce challenges of the next decade?

To respond to the challenging macroconditions, airports need to transform their organizations. This may involve changes to organization structure, processes, systems and staffing, but the starting point for all of these is a robust strategic plan, which sets new priorities for the new era. 

Identify your strategic priorities: A clear, concise strategic plan with broad staff buy-in provides common direction and focus, as well as contributes to healthy team morale. This plan must define clearly articulated goals and priorities and approach the shifting landscape in a manner that’s both realistic and agile. The organization can then be designed around the capabilities required to deliver the strategic plan’s goals and priorities.

Make your organization more flexible: US airports often have rigid, hierarchical organizational structures with high levels of inertia (government rules, fixed grading systems etc). Transformation of performance will require fresh, flexible thinking.

Go digital, data-driven: Processes can be redesigned to enable and take advantage of digitalized operations powered by data. This can optimize revenue, make operations more efficient and responsive, and enable tailored and enhanced passenger journeys. 

Prioritize collaboration and communication: Many airport processes, including management of passenger touchpoints, require collaboration among airport partners (airlines, concessionaires, and TSA for example). Process clarity and effective communication are critical for seamless, efficient service delivery.  

Be pragmatic on staffing concerns: Given the on the ground situation, airport directors and COOs receive frequent requests for staff increases. Decisions should be made after careful consideration, asking questions such as whether the request is critical to achieving the organization’s long-term goals. Is the request based on increasing activity due to a change in passengers, operations, assets or capital projects? Has there been a change in scope, complexity of work, or service level requirements? Is there an alternative way to solve the problem, for example increasing efficiency by simplifying and/or automating processes?

Balance internal and external hiring: Not every role is suitable for a full-time hire, and it’s important to understand the nature of the need. Speciality roles with a variable or uncertain workload are suitable for support from contractors or consultants, whereas roles with stable long-term workloads are more efficiently filled by a full-time employee. Customer-facing functions such as queue management can usefully be bolstered by third parties (especially during periods of surge demand) as long as incoming staff are selected carefully, receive clear instructions and are fully committed to their customer service mission. Understanding the demands of different work areas, including cyclical workload patterns and which roles will benefit from long-term institutional knowledge, is essential. 

Approach new technology with realism: Technological solutions can create efficiencies but add their own challenges. New skills, upfront investment and increased maintenance are all attending requirements for any new tech implementation, including AI, and need to be carefully considered. 

Steer: Advising on a new era of aviation

Working across cities, infrastructure, and transportation, Steer is a global management consultancy that combines commercial, economic, technical, and planning expertise to find powerful answers to our clients’ complex questions. In aviation, we advise airport managers and investors on how to improve performance and optimize value. 

We have assisted airports large and small throughout North America with strategic planning, organizational design and workforce planning. Our approach is collaborative, recognizing the importance of obtaining staff buy-in, and we move rapidly with a focus on the client’s desired outcomes. This avoids becoming bogged down in theory and excessive analysis. 

We also provide a broad range of other aviation services, including traffic forecasting and financial analysis, as well as advice on sustainability/NetZero, policy and regulation, and the role of private capital in airports.