Name of article: Some Issues of the Airport Management
Location/URL of article: http://steconomiceuoradea.ro/anale/volume/2012/n1/151.pdf
The article entitled, “Some Issues of the Airport Management” written by Marian Ovidiu provides a comprehensive review about the role of aviation in today’s society. She likens airports to cities due to the vast interactions and business transactions occurring on a daily basis. More importantly, the author cites evidences of the importance of airports towards improving the macro economy. It is the lifeblood of a nation providing not only transportation but a wide range of services from business opportunities, employment, trade and communication. As such, the author assumes that airports are critical to economic prosperity and success. She then relates the importance of airport management in successfully leading airports to meet public expectations. By taking a historical perspective, the author notes how the role has become increasingly complex over the years. Previously, pilots assumed airport managerial roles after acquiring some flight and management experience. However, this is no longer applicable in today’s airports as managers must both have business and administrative acumen (2009).
The author outlines the issues facing airport management that are largely due to increasing demands on airports from accommodation, traffic and hassle free operations systems. Furthermore, she highlights the importance of airport managers to work with local governments such as the chamber of commerce in order to fully optimize airport use. Primarily, airports have become so intertwined with public trade, transportation and economy it is increasingly vital for airports to upgrade their facilities and respond better to customer needs. This can only be achieved by working closer with the immediate community while micro managing the internal operations of an airport (Ovidiu, 2009).
I agree with the author’s perspective noting how large airports are important to encourage economic activity. The author was able to emphasize through evidence the chain of contributions airports offer both in a macro and micro level. In this way, airport management is a necessary step towards improving prevailing issues wherein a qualified and experienced manager can address problems. While the author did not specifically delve into the various problems airports encounter, it would have been ideal to focus on this topic as it is the title of the article. The author chose to discuss public relations and how this is a primary role of airport managers. Through public relations, airports can resolve many of its issues especially through engagement and collaboration (Ovidiu, 2009). I also concur with the author’s views but she may have simplified an overtly complex topic in her explanation. The author provided public relations guidelines but did not relate how each can be used to reform or upgrade an airport management’s system.
For example, the author did not examine the issues amongst publicly held airports, which have to contend with governmental supervision and bureaucracy. She also did not fully discuss the financial issues faced by airport managers in creating a customer friendly operational framework. This is the largest challenge in airport management since capital is needed to create airport facilities that provide timely and accurate service while still prioritizing passenger safety over profits. Significantly, the need for airport managers to be equipped in financial and risk management is one of the issues lacking in the article (Young. and Wells, 2011). Overall, the author was able to contribute to academic literature on the subject even providing doable recommendations in terms of public relations placing a strong emphasis on public relations in airport management.
Bibliography:
Ovidiu, M. (2009). Some Issues of the Airport Management. Retrieved from
http://steconomiceuoradea.ro/anale/volume/2012/n1/151.pdf
Young, S. and Wells, A. (2011). Airport Planning and Management. New York: McGraw-Hill Professional
