London’s Heathrow airport is at the center of a project management nightmare. Does the airport that is already operating at 98% capacity stay within it’s constraints , or does Britain’s busiest airport step into a potential war zone and build a third runway? Regardless of what side of the argument people fall under, there is one commonality: strong project management is needed if the airport wishes to maintain it’s place as one of the gateways to Europe.
Why the emphasis on just one airport? Here are a few statistics to illustrate the key place Heathrow has in the world of aviation.
- A flight takes off or lands every 45 seconds from one of the two runways
- Heathrow handles 480,000 flights each year
- No other airport in the world handles that much traffic on just two runways
- Heathrow is the most slot restricted airport in the world, meaning that each takeoff or landing slot is valuable. One slot pair sold for $75 million
A simple Google search for London Heathrow Third Runway will bring up countless results and viewpoints on how the expansion should or or should not be handled. Whether the decision is made to expand or not, very little has been said about the project management aspect of the issue. If Heathrow is given the green light to expand, it would be one of the most difficult ever seen in the aviation industry. On the flip side, how will Heathrow continue to operate as the demand for passenger air travel continues to increase?
Let’s take a look at the plan if the third runway is given the go ahead. To begin, the M25, one of London’s major highways would have to be moved and rerouted under the new runway. This would require major sections of the road to be closed for significant periods of time for construction. The next major hurdle involved the leveling of several villages in the path of the new runway and to accomodate two 24,000 space parking garages needed to handle the additional passengers. While there is no official project plan as of now, one can imagine the planning needed to execute these three phases of the project alone. The project manager would need to assemble a strong team that is able to handle a project of this caliber. As with projects in industry, there will need to be a statement of work (a large one), timeline, budget, and a risk assessment to gather the full scope of the project. This expansion would involve the cooperation of contractors from different areas including one of people’s least favorite; the government. These components add up to one massive project plan. From there it is up to the project management team to ensure that the project is completed on time and on budget.
Now to change gears, what would the project management outlook be if Heathrow was not given the approval to expand? The project managers would need to contend with an airport that is already being stressed to near it’s breaking point. Heathrow currently operates at 98% capacity and handles approximately 80-million passengers each year. The project management team would have to devise a way of easing congestion without affecting the already rigid time schedule the airport runs on. The project plan would look far different of that from the plan needed for the expansion. Rather than being a plan for a new project, it would be a plan focused on supporting something that is already in active production. Some of the questions they will need to answer include: How will the physical infrastructure be maintained? What is the DR plan should passenger numbers suddenly . skyrocket? How much more traffic can the runways handle? How will the internal transit system accomodate even more passengers? These questions and many more will need to be taken into consideration should the expansion be given the no-go.
The team of Project managers at Heathrow are in the midst of a very uncertain period. Regardless of the final decision, a concrete plan will need to be in place if Heathrow wishes to continue operation. Although not much can be said about when and if the final decision will be made, one thing is certain: the future of London Heathrow depends on project management.
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