Value of Stakeholder Engagement to Innovation

Summary

Most airport executives are looking for ways to be innovative or transformative. This often translates to deploying a new technology or an update to an organizational process. However, without a healthy level of engagement with internal and external stakeholders, even the best ideas can fail.

This article covers ideas from a conversation with Samuel Ingalls, previously Assistant Director of Aviation, Information Systems at the Las Vegas Harry Reid (previously McCarran) International Airport (LAS), now a consultant in the aviation industry. Ingalls shared lessons learned from successes at LAS and through leadership in aviation associations, with strong stakeholder engagement being at the center of each.

Internal Stakeholders

Success in stakeholder engagement starts within an airport operator’s organizational boundaries. Each airport organization has a wide range of internal stakeholders, spanning the executive suite, legal, finance, operations, and several other key areas. Ingalls related how the team at LAS was able to form a culture of innovation, which facilitated an expansion of new technologies and processes: “To have an effective innovation program, you need buy-in from executive leadership; the CEO has to be all in.” For example, at LAS, the CEO and the rest of the executive team developed a process through which employees could participate in the airport’s innovation. This included quarterly meetings in which all airport staff were present and encouraged to give suggestions that the executive team would then personally investigate and follow up on.

One example of how this process helped create change at LAS, and even the entire industry, was when a member of the cleaning staff commented that it was difficult to clean the holdroom chairs in the allotted time. This led to the CEO spending a shift cleaning the chairs and realizing just how difficult the design of the chair made the cleaning. After this, the CEO pushed the seat provider to redesign the chairs to allow for easier cleaning.

This process was replicated several times to make improvements across the facility. LAS found the involvement of all internal stakeholders in building a culture of innovation to be absolutely essential to making lasting, positive change.

Keys/Tips for Internal Engagement

Form cross-functional groups, and get all departments involved.
Get passengers involved or inform them when trials are taking place.
Make innovation part of everyone’s job description.
Do not be afraid to fail, and make sure everyone can feel that way.
Make it easy for staff to provide input.
Develop a clearly defined manner of assessing that input.

Benefits

Staff feel more valued.
Innovation becomes an airport-wide process, not just something the information technology (IT) department does.
Incentive is provided for all staff to give ideas for improvement.

Challenges

Budget/project costs.
Hiring of external innovation leaders (can be positive or negative).
Can be viewed solely as an IT responsibility to “do” innovation.
Resistance to culture change.
- “Is this just another feel-good program without any real substance?”
Time allocation.
- Everybody is busy, and it is difficult to set aside or make time for trials.
Bureaucracy.
- Q: Does a trial really need a 50-page agreement among the various parties? A: Probably not.

External Stakeholders

For some airport operators, the focus of stakeholder engagement is mostly internal. Ingalls discussed the importance of engagement with external stakeholders such as airlines, ground handlers, regulatory organizations—for example, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) or U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)—and concessions to advance innovation at the airport. The following sections provide some examples of why this is a key to success.

Trials with Airlines and Solution Providers

During Ingalls’ time at LAS, one example of external engagement was the development of the Innovation Checkpoint. This was “a collaborative effort between TSA’s Innovation Task Force and the airport that allows for side-by-side testing and evaluation of emerging security technologies in a live checkpoint environment.”^[1] The Innovation Checkpoint fostered engagement between the airport, TSA, airlines, and solution providers, allowing new solutions and technologies to be tested with little need for new infrastructure.

These sorts of trials or pilots are a good starting point for an airport’s engagement with external stakeholders. Ingalls discussed several keys to a successful trial, which can be applied to any airport project or program:

Start with a business process or need—have a good reason for the trial.
Set the timeframe for the trial; unbounded trials can drag on longer than needed.
Set clear expectations.
Have clear responsibilities for each stakeholder.
Create a final report once the trial ends that covers achievements, benefits, and challenges.

Coordination with Regulatory Agencies

Ingalls noted that partnership with the TSA innovation team led to more opportunities for trials in the future. Building close working relationships with regulatory agencies should be a priority for airport executives. This relationship will allow for a more attractive innovation environment when providers and airlines see that the airport has the backing of TSA or CBP.

Engagement with Industry Associations

Another type of external stakeholder that airport leadership can engage with is the various industry associations. (See the Innovation Conferences page for examples of conferences hosted by such associations.) These associations can influence the industry as a whole, and airport leadership can either benefit from others’ work or join in and help guide others.

General Keys to External Engagement

Finally, expect things to not go exactly as planned, especially when dealing with several external stakeholders. Events will come up, and adjustments will be needed. If an airport has good relationships with stakeholders, it will be well-positioned to make these adjustments quickly and with limited negative impacts on the process.

Benefits

Cost sharing with providers and airlines.
Ability to be an early adopter of new solutions.

Challenges

Trust between parties (e.g., honesty, handling of private/proprietary data).
Establishing a budget (e.g., who pays for what.)

Conclusion

Employing these best practices often demands a significant investment of time and effort that many are reluctant to make. However, this commitment can profoundly benefit airport operators in their pursuit of long-term success. By cultivating close connections with stakeholders, airport leaders can tap into a wealth of fresh insights, effectively address ongoing issues, and expedite the adoption of new projects and programs.

Other recommended reading on this site:

Digital Transformation in Airports (Applied Technology in Airports article)

References

^[1] “TSA Unveils First-of-Its Kind Innovation Checkpoint at Las Vegas McCarran International Airport,” TSA Press Release, September 3, 2019, https://www.tsa.gov/news/press/releases/2019/09/03/tsa-unveils-first-its-kind-innovation-checkpoint-las-vegas-mccarran.

Header photo by Fauxels on Pexels, modified by Barich Inc.

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