Few airport operators across the United States are unaffected by the buzz around “innovation.” Rather, most operators have been inundated with emerging technologies promised to solve their greatest challenges, and many of them struggle to prioritize which solutions they truly need.
Ian Law, Chief Digital Transformation Officer (CDTO) for Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA), is no exception. Law warned, “The danger here is that everything is attractive unless you have an ‘orienting principle’ for where you want to go.” LAWA has been known to push the envelope in many technology areas. Over the last few years, LAWA has strengthened its commitment to innovation and developed a sharper, more strategic focus—leading to the creation of Law’s position. Based on an interview with Law, this article highlights the following six “orienting principles” as the foundation of LAWA’s focus on innovation:
- Support from the CEO
- Clear alignment of organizational structure
- Data sharing across organizational boundaries
- Emphasis on guest experience
- Prioritization of high-value projects
- Collaboration in the aviation industry
Support from the CEO
Whether the individual at the highest level of an airport organization is an airport director, president, or CEO, that person plays a key role in sustaining innovation or digital transformation efforts. At LAWA, the CEO sets the vision of the organization, backs initiatives in alignment with that vision, and even affects the overall culture of the organization. Law noted that support from LAWA’s CEO, Justin Erbacci, is critical to success and foundational to all orienting principles.
Clear Alignment of Organizational Structure
LAWA’s increased focus on innovation led to the creation of the CDTO role and the selection of Law for the position. LAWA determined that the CDTO should provide oversight of information management and technology programs and guest experience to forge the nexus of technology and physical experience, both on and off the airport. This move was partially driven by changes in customer service solutions that were greatly accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, such as the increased need for digital commerce tools. It also helps to emphasize that innovation is the responsibility of the entire organization, not just the information technology (IT) department.
Any organization seeking to make a similar shift should expect to face challenges, as Law noted with a few examples of lessons learned. One potential challenge is that many staff in the organization may still view innovation roles as only IT positions. The positioning of innovation in an organization is far from easy. As Law stated, “Executives will frequently claim that innovation must belong to every member of staff in the company, but how can this be embedded in such a way that the effort yields a conveyor belt of tangible, high-value innovations to the organization?”
Data Sharing Across Organizational Boundaries
In the modern airport environment, airport operators, airlines, and tenants generate enormous amounts of data that can be used in almost innumerable ways to improve operational efficiency and organizational decision making. However, this data is usually produced in different formats, stored in discrete locations, and maintained within proprietary boundaries. LAWA recognizes both the value and challenges of data sharing and strongly prioritizes efforts to break down silos of information to enable more real-time integration. Current efforts focus on identifying instances in which LAWA relies on verbal sharing of valuable information, digitizing the information where needed, and establishing integrations that expand access to the data.
Law noted an example of leveraging new data across the organization: the use of passenger contact information that many airports, including Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), are now obtaining via new, online parking-reservation systems. Airports now have tens of thousands of visitor emails from these systems. Law is considering how all this new data could help LAWA grow its passenger engagement opportunities. Airlines and airport concessionaires traditionally have had a direct, business-to-consumer relationship with their customers, but airports had not been aware of the identity of consumers (passengers, guests, etc.) passing through their facilities. Now, airports, airlines, and other travel value-chain operators are being presented with opportunities to create new journey experiences from the base of a common understanding of their passengers.
Emphasis on Guest Experience
Guest experience is a major priority for LAWA. For example, the CEO’s profile notes how he is “managing more than $14 billion in programs to revolutionize how guests access the airport, to modernize all of LAX’s terminals and to significantly improve operations, retail, food and beverage, and the overall guest experience.”[1] Any innovation-related efforts must be assessed in light of how they impact LAWA’s guests.
To ensure this, the guest experience team was moved under the oversight of the CDTO and deployed into the terminals to interact directly with passengers—an effort that provides much deeper insight than just reviewing Airport Service Quality scores. Through this, LAWA has captured tangible information on ways to improve guest experience. The airport operator is currently working on the best manner to distribute this information to everyone who helps to serve LAWA’s guests.
The guest experience team is also working to develop a process for solution development by looking at what technology is in use and what will provide more flexibility and speed in LAWA’s operations. Emphasizing how urgently new solutions are needed, Law noted, “The days of the two-and-a-half-year technology project are over!”
Law also discussed how the guest experience team uses social media with the understanding that it helps you see only the target audience. In other words, strategic social media use allows the airport organization to see what is irritating and exciting passengers, and it helps public relations and marketing departments keep an eye on what is happening throughout the facility.
Prioritization of High-Value Projects
Law noted the importance of prioritizing high-value projects. This includes shifting the focus from “bright, shiny objects” to addressing core enabling building blocks, as well as identifying multiplier effects, such as projects with concession benefits, airport revenue increases, and enhanced passenger experience.
One such area is information management. LAWA is seeking to stream as much data as possible into the airport, even turning to solution providers that may not be accustomed to sharing data with airports. This, in itself, is a challenge, followed by the need to identify useful ways to combine and present the data to stakeholders who can benefit from it. For example, according to Law, the concession program director told him, “If I could have anything, it would be an online tool that I could give to concessionaires that provides turn time forecasts [time at the gate in-between flights] so they can schedule around it.” Law immediately recognized the value in this integration and initiated a project to deliver it.
Collaboration in the Aviation Industry
The aviation industry is one that collaborates. As Law noted, “We keep each other up to speed on what is going on. We compare solutions and experience and discuss issues and challenges. We learn from each other.” This collaboration can help an airport operator remain in touch with where the industry is headed and avoid pitfalls experienced by other colleagues. It can even provide opportunities for industry-wide solution development. For example, Law noted the need for an industry-wide data architecture. Airports and airlines each have standardizations and models, but the industry could benefit from a push to unify data structures. Airports collaborate through Airports Council International’s data standards program, called Aviation Community Recommended Information Services or ACRIS, on developing standard application programming interfaces, or APIs, for sharing data across the industry.
Conclusion
With so many options available, airport operators can find great clarity in establishing orienting principles for innovation. And for anyone feeling overwhelmed, Law provided an encouraging note: “You don’t need to build the rocket ship to Mars; you just need to fix a problem in the parking garage.”
References
[1] “LAWA Airport Management, Justin Erbacci, Chief Executive Officer,” LAWA, accessed February 2, 2023, https://www.lawa.org/lawa-governance/lawa-airport-management/justin-erbacci.
Header photo by Los Angeles World Airports, modified by Barich Inc.