Sustaining aviation-stakeholder engagement

Stakeholder engagement is an avenue for negotiation that enables airports to survive and be profitable. It enables the airport to engage with a variety of stakeholders whose views on the success of an airport vary widely. It is vital for sustained survival of aviation in Africa where the business and operational environment can be unpredictable and sometimes turbulent.

Sustainability has various strands that cut across economics, social, environmental and ecological issues. Also, sustainable transport will entail meeting current transport and mobility needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet these needs. Sustainable transport in aviation cuts across all areas of effectively running an airport such as finance, operations, Human Resources, community and investor relations, environment and others.

Stakeholders cut across those groups and individuals who can affect or are affected by the activities of an organisation as it seeks to achieve its purpose. It will entail managing the relationship between an organisation as an airport and different stakeholders (sometimes referred to as airport community), with a view to enhancing the effectiveness of the decisions and strategies of that airport.

In the process of stakeholder engagement, it should be kept in mind that airports may not have control over many stakeholders, but they do to a large extent have control over how they manage their relationship with their stakeholders.

Some literature on stakeholder engagement stress that it should be far reaching, inclusive and balanced. Those airports that seek to effectively engage with stakeholders will have to clearly identify them and note those who can affect the airport or those who will be affected by the airport achieving its objective; then identify and prioritise the issues related to these stakeholders. This will lead to having stakeholder champions and doing a stakeholder analysis.

Stakeholder champions act as contact points, command the respect of these stakeholders and play a role in the airport community. They are able to facilitate as well as coordinate the involvement of the community.

Stakeholder analysis entails identifying and defining the characteristics of key stakeholders. Then take a careful look at how they might affect or be affected by current operations and future developments. Another area of interest will be the various capacities of these people and groups to participate in the development of the airport. Then map out the most appropriate method of engaging with each of them.

Now, not all demands of stakeholders can be met. However the process of engagement is vital to a successful outcome. An individual or group whose views and opinions are turned down can go all out to prove their cause and might become very challenging for the airport. Relations between various stakeholders should also be appreciated and potential areas of conflict as well as joint expectations should be appreciated and managed. It is not a very easy task to balance the needs of these different groups. These stakeholders have different concerns and interests. The chain of interactions among them should be given serious thought. They should feel valued as part of the airport community.

Some airport stakeholder groups are: government, airport employees, airlines and concessionaires, local and state governments, travelling public, communities affected by airport operations, Non-Governmental Organisations, environmental bodies, airport suppliers, other transport service providers, community leaders and others.

Issues of interest cut across policy making, regulation,  development, growth, stable employment,  opportunities, growth and development, environmental protection,  noise, safety, security and others.

One challenge an airport will have to watch out for is that of opportunistic managers, who acting in their self interest, put forward the claim that their action benefits some stakeholder group. This calls up the need for performance measurement. Stakeholder engagement and expected outcomes should be planned, measured and evaluated. The process is continuous and stakeholders do not remain static. So, airports have to keep an eye on them, the airport community and the process of engagement for effectiveness.

Sydney Airport on its website describes how stakeholders are identified by them: The airport works to understand which groups have a “stake” in their business. They do so by looking out for organisations and people that work with the airport operator to operate the airport, like those who provide goods and services to the airport, regulate them or operate part of the airport process.  Others are those who interact with airport assets as customers, or members of the local community. There is also the group that is impacted by the business of the airport such as the local community of the airport; or have an interest in their business. Engagement of these stakeholders is through a range of channels.

So, airports need to be diplomatic, creative and innovative in their engagement with stakeholders and realise that it is a negotiation process that needs to be well managed and outcomes measured and benchmarked.

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