Sean Broderick Next set of issues is likely to include sustainability and urban air mobility initiatives.
Sean Broderick
Los Angeles World Airports was an early supporter of the consortium, and its CEO believes the program remains relevant as the travel recovery gains momentum. Credit: Jacob Brosseau/Los Angeles World Airports
An airport stakeholder consortium formed to generate quick responses to problems created by the COVID-19 pandemic has been so successful that it is eyeing post-recovery challenges.
Announced in late 2020 and coordinated by the American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE), the Airport Consortium on Customer Trust (ACT) Program was created to tackle problems that the pandemic brought to airports—everything from quickly integrating touchless technology for passengers to documenting how well heating ventilation and air conditioning systems clean the air.
Association-directed consortium formed to help airports
Results have helped advance various programs
Small teams of airports and vendors are working on specific issues, with deliverables ranging from guidance documents for long-lead-time topics, such as terminal design, to operational programs backed by real-world trials. A steering committee chooses the topics to ensure broad buy-in, and various airport-industry teams tackle them.
“We identified a few areas where we needed some help,” says Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) CEO Justin Erbacci. “We said: ‘We’re going to act fast.’ And we gave ourselves timelines. We came up with some tangible results in a very short period of time.”
ACT’s initial slate of issues included health screening and related topics, such as creating inter-airport health corridors; finance and revenue-sharing innovations; indoor air quality; terminal design; virtual queuing; and self-service technology, including touchless options. Working groups developed deep-dive reports on each of the six areas, and the reports will be available to industry.
Some reports offer general guidance tailored to reflect issues spotlighted during the pandemic. The terminal design report urges airports to consider health-emergency response-plan requirements when planning passenger facilities. Including them as a permanent part of a terminal, rather than temporary accommodations that can be quickly set up and customized as needed, is likely too risky. More to the point, predicting specific requirements dictated by future disruptions is not possible, the report says.
LAX is among the airports working on the airbridge concept that would create safe travel corridors between major gateways and help jump-start international demand. Credit: Jacob Brosseau/Los Angeles World Airports
LAX is among the airports working on the airbridge concept that would create safe travel corridors between major gateways and help jump-start international demand. Credit: Jacob Brosseau/Los Angeles World Airports When possible, the reports took lessons learned from real-world pilot programs, such as Denver International Airport’s (DIA) VeriFLY program, which allows passengers to reserve socially distanced spots in checkpoint lanes and automated passenger trains. At Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), work that had been underway before the pandemic and that involved biometrics to improve passenger processing was applied in several areas, including the “airbridge” concept that airports are pushing as a safe, practical way to reopen travel between international airports.
“We already had a digital-first mindset, so we were working on pilot [programs] that were pushing the concept of biometrics and other touchless and seamless activities,” Erbacci says.
Although some topics, such as indoor air quality, may not see much advancement after the pandemic, several areas could help shape the travel experience well into the future by addressing long-standing issues.
“We’ve been talking about touchless technology and virtual queuing for years,” says Carter Morris, AAAE vice president of services and the association’s ACT staff liaison. “The pandemic ends up being a catalyst for things that we have been talking about for a generation.”
Topic-specific committees are not new. ACT’s approach, however, is different in several ways. A steering group picks a few big-picture priorities based on broader input. Most important, each project or study involves a limited group of airports and other stakeholders.
“We don’t need everybody doing everything,” Morris says. “We just need small groups focusing on specific issues” and then reporting back. “Coordination is key,” he adds.
Senior-level buy-in is also essential. ACT’s publicly announced members include large hub representatives such as Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, DIA, Greater Toronto Airports Authority and LAWA. Smaller airports participate as well as suppliers and consultants. CAG Holdings, a Carlyle Group company dedicated to airport infrastructure funding, supports ACT.
“Other CEOs and I were actually in the meetings,” Erbacci says. “When we didn’t have the CEO, we had somebody who was absolutely empowered—working closely with the CEO. There has to be support from the top.”
Senior-level commitment combined with an “act fast” mentality drove the group to outcomes, he says.
“We couldn’t have another group that just talks about things and shares best practices,” Erbacci says. “We have to have a bias for action.”
ACT is confident it can help speed the pace of travel recovery, particularly if ideas such as the airbridge health corridors are applied to international gateways. In these areas, ACT’s goal is to integrate as many approved policies as possible from the agencies that govern travel, such as the Transportation Security Administration and Customs and Border Protection in the U.S., rather than propose entirely new processes.
While jump-starting travel after the downturn is ACT’s top priority, the group sees the value of its work going beyond the pandemic. Its next set of issues is likely to involve sustainability and addvanced air mobility—two topics that will affect airports for decades to come.
“There will be a slate of new priorities soon,” Morris says. “It may not be six topics. It will be whatever they feel they need to be focused on.”
