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ACI World director general, Luis Felipe de Oliveira, considers some of the human resources issues facing airports today and the industry’s response to the challenge.

A huge increase in air traffic demand is hitting the headlines, alongside the suggestion that aviation’s recovery from the pandemic is almost complete.

What’s more, ACI World’s latest forecasts reveal that total passenger traffic worldwide is predicted to reach 19.3 billion passengers by 2041. This includes a steep recovery gradient observed in the first five years (CAGR for 2021–2026) at 19%.

Although that is certainly good news, this also means that an increasing amount of skilled workforce will be needed to make the aviation ecosystem run efficiently and sustainably.

While technology will play an increasing role in the automation of processes, the human touch, particularly in frontline activities such as customer services to passengers, will remain crucial. It is clear that a mix of technology and a diverse workforce will play a key role in improving both airport operations and the customer journey.

COVID-19 brought mass furloughs, redundancies, early retirements, and resignations. According to the Air Transport Action Group (ATAG), the aviation workforce contracted 43% during the pandemic, equating to 4.8 million jobs globally.

As airports rehire and upskill their personnel with the return of air traffic, workforce challenges continue to affect airport operations. Staff shortages is a challenge felt by many service industries, not least aviation.

However, a lot of proactive work is being conducted. The aviation community (ANSPs, airports, airlines, ground handlers) has actively been engaged in planning and co-ordination activities to ensure a more effective response to the peak air travel demands.

Many airports have been working directly with their stakeholders to ensure that staffing levels are sufficient, that contingency plans are developed, and that communication to the traveling public will be provided on the conditions that they may face.

To assist the industry in the longer term, ACI has explored possible solutions in our whitepaper, The Evolution of the Airport Workforce. And we passed a resolution at our October 2022 World General Assembly, Creating a strong and diverse airport workforce to meet future demand and ensure the long-term sustainability and resilience of the aviation system.

A key aspect of the resolution, and of staff attraction, recruitment and retention in general, is the need for greater diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I). Women and minority groups are under-represented in aviation, and it has the potential to stunt our sustainable growth. It can affect performance and even limit our potential to provide positive and lasting socioeconomic benefits.

The industry must be accessible and attractive to all individuals, regardless of their age, background, gender, ethnicity, or disability. A diverse workforce is an innovative and creative workforce and DE&I will be vital to a great customer experience going forward.

That great customer experience will also depend on getting the employee experience right.

Of course, if we are to understand the employee experience and staff engagement, we first need to measure it and the ACI Employee Survey for Customer Experience (ECE) does just that. The ECE survey can help airports understand and measure employee and stakeholder motivations, engagement, and commitment to airport’s customer experience strategy. It fosters a positive customer experience culture among airport employees and stakeholders.

Importantly, employee engagement is not a one-size-fits-all strategy. Millennials and Gen Z have different expectations and motivations from older generations, and the same is true for office versus frontline employees. The more granularity there is in employee journey maps –
a pathway for an individual’s career progression – the better.

Ultimately, the aim is to build a framework for attracting and creating engaged employees and to establish a culture that is authentic, unique and customer centric. Indeed, ‘Empowering the Airport Community for a Customer-Centric Culture’ will be the theme for our forthcoming ACI World Customer Experience Global Summit in Seoul on September 3-4, 2023, hosted by Incheon Airport. Don’t miss it!

ACI World’s efforts to address the workforce challenge, including the CX Global Summit, will drive the airport sector forward. To go from being understaffed to having well-trained and engaged employees will take time and hard work, but is absolutely critical to sustainable airport growth.

The global trend is clear. Airports must handle ever-growing numbers of travellers and they must do so while providing an unrivalled customer experience. Engaged employees is the answer to that conundrum. Airports should take action now.