When it comes to airside resources, Airlines and Airports need to conduct massive planning ventures. Luckily, many of these planning ventures are done prior to the day of the flight. Airports often conduct planning exercise on a regular basis and work with the FAA when it comes to their Master Plan. “A successful plan guides the orderly and timely development of the airport to meet current and future air traffic demand. It should define a development program that meets the needs of the airport and airlines.” This planning program is directly linked to the airports ability to receive Federal Grant and funding. Speaking from personal experience as an airport employee and an individual with 25 years of airport experience, the Master plan takes into consideration as much possible on the growth and airline traffic expected in the upcoming years. With this the airport designs the terminal expansion, customer parking, restaurants and even dog relief areas. In addition to the Domestic Terminal, the airport looks at International terminal and cargo facilities as well. Often these terminals are separate from either by security points or in separate buildings all together.
When it comes to Airlines planning of the airside resources, just like the Airports, the airlines look at as much details as possible. “To determine the amount of equipment and personnel required for each arrival and/or departure, the ramp service provider will have to conduct further analysis based on the expected daily flying operations plan.” (Bruce, pg. 158). This analysis is conducted monthly based on the amount of flight that the airline is expected to have for that time. The airlines will a lot a specific time for each aircraft to be turned based. This expectation is based on how long it should take to offload the passengers and luggage, clean the aircraft, and then load it up back with passengers and luggage. These times change based on the size of the aircraft and if the airline wants the aircraft to have any type of maintenance or other specialized services done while on the ground. Times may differ if the aircraft is international or a cargo aircraft.
In conclusion, there is planning for Airside resources completed by the Airlines and the Airport alike. These plans take into domestic, International, or Cargo operations as well. Even with all of this attention, the plans often need to be adjusted because of weather or other maintenance issues.
