Philadelphia international airport

After Action Review

World Meeting of Families and Papal Visit 2015

Derrick Stokes

10/19/2015

The After Action Review (AAR) is a process technique that uses a review of experience to avoid recurrent mistakes and reproduce success. As a vehicle for capturing and learning from experience, the AAR provides an effective tool of continuous learning for an organization.

INTRODUCTION

The After Action Review (AAR) of the Philadelphia International Airport’s customer service initiatives for the World Meeting of Families (WMOF) and the Papal Visit is an informal examination of the Airport’s preparation and execution of strategies to welcome travelers to Philadelphia; to disseminate transportation information to travelers and to Division of Aviation (DOA) employees; to assist SEPTA in the marketing and selling to rail passes and tickets; and to assist the Secret Service in monitoring social media for threats and other disturbances during the Papal Visit.

The purpose of this informal AAR is to determine what happened, why it happened, and how to sustain strengths and improve on weaknesses.

EVENT SUMMARY

The World Meeting of Families (WMOF) was held at the Pennsylvania Convention Center Sept. 22 – 25, with the largest crowds expected for the Papal events on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway (Festival of Families, Saturday, Sept. 26; and Papal Mass, Sunday, Sept. 27). The Papal Visit was projected to become the largest event in the city’s history, drawing up to 1.5 million people, which would have presented extraordinary transportation challenges for our region, the airport and its employees.

WMOF organizers met regularly with city leaders and consulted with many agencies on safety and transportation issues. WMOF organizers, city leaders, SEPTA officials and the Secret Service had developed and executed plans to ensure security and manage crowd control and the transportation of hundreds of thousands of attendees. PHL expected an influx of passengers at the airport during the week; an impact comparable to Thanksgiving traffic.

Dozens of volunteers were staffed at “hospitality kiosks” in the Baggage Claim areas. They were joined by dozens of DOA employees and Guest Services representatives (Parkway) who were tasked to roam the airport to welcome and assist visitors.

“Welcome to Philadelphia” pop-up banners and floor decals were installed throughout the airport and on light poles along Departures Road in front of the airport terminals and along Arrivals Road in front of the airport’s Baggage Claim areas.

SEPTA sales staff sold passes and tickets for the Airport Line at five locations in the non-secured areas of the airport. All passengers traveling on the Airport Rail Line, including seniors, those with disabilities and children over the age of 5, were required to purchase tickets prior to boarding the train.

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THE FINDINGS

More than 20,000 people attended the World Meeting of Families Congress, the largest ever; but the Papal events drew considerably less than the projected 1.5 million.

American Airlines, Philadelphia's dominant carrier, did not experience a rise in bookings for the World Meeting of Families or for the papal weekend. In many ways, it was considered “business as usual” at the airport.

The bulk of SEPTA Papal Passes were not sold. A total of 8,866 passes were sold during the weekend of the Papal event (5,010 on Saturday, 3,856 on Sunday).

PHL tried to promote rail service to Center City from the airport weeks prior to the event. Despite late advertisings via social media to highlight available parking at the airport, there were not many “pilgrims” who used PHL parking facilities as park-and-ride locations that weekend.

Best Practices

PHL was able to leverage its strong relationships with its stakeholders – American Airlines and the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau (PCVB); its vendors (Parkway) and the local transit agency (SEPTA) to ensure that all concerns pertaining to transportation for visitors and airport employees were addressed. PCVB and Parkway both have experience in mobilizing personnel for significant events that draw thousands to the city. These paid staffers and volunteers were provided training and marketing collateral to welcome and assist visitors.

PHL Human Resources worked closely with the airport’s Public Affairs unit to draft and edit correspondence, i.e. letters, emails and flyers, to employees to educate and inform employees of all Papal Visit preparations and the potential effect on their respective commutes to work. The two units worked closely to develop a staffing strategy for DOA employees. Public Affairs also facilitated a briefing for all employees selected to work special overtime assignments during the week of WMOF/Papal Visit.

PHL utilized the talents of its Curator and Special Events Coordinator to identify locations to place “Welcome to Philadelphia” pop-up banners and floor decals in various locations in the airport. Directional signs were also strategically placed to help guide visitors to the temporary SEPTA sales locations.

The institutional knowledge of PHL’s experienced staff enabled employees to quickly compare the challenges posed by the WMOF/Papal Visit to other significant events, i.e. snow emergencies, transit strikes, with staff to quickly respond to problems without having to resort to a playbook or written guidelines. This “muscle memory” allows experienced staff to retain standard operating procedures (SOPs) mentally. Of course, there are advantages and disadvantages with this practice.

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Areas for Improvement

Knowledge Sharing

Experienced PHL employees can be described as “knowledge workers” who continually learn and apply learning to changing situations as standard operating procedure. As a general rule, all procedures should be recorded and documented and made visible and accessible to all employees. Since many experienced PHL employees may be retiring soon, it is recommended that a strategy be developed and implemented to ensure that the knowledge that exists in one area of the company is captured, shared and used by others.

Staff Allocation Planning

The duties of PHL’s Information Services unit and the Hospitality Program provided by PHL’s vendor, Parkway, are similar in scope. Experienced PHL employees supervise both the unit and the vendor; therefore, assigning additional customer service responsibilities and managing these employees was seamless. However, there may be occasions when additional staff, i.e. other DOA employees, will be needed. It is recommended that the Information Services unit be empowered with the responsibility of selecting, training (briefings) and supervising of these DOA employees for the duration of their special assignment.

Human Resources solicited volunteers for customer service duties for WMOF/Papal Visit and accommodated every request to provide each employee an opportunity to earn overtime compensation. This practice led to overstaffing which could stress budgets allocated for overtime. However, failure to provide every employee with an opportunity to earn overtime could have an adverse effect on employee morale. The role of Human Resources should not be to award employees with additional compensation because it may lead to accusations of favoritism. Human Resources can solicit “volunteers” on behalf another unit, but the responsibility of selecting, training (briefings) and supervising those volunteers must not be Human Resources, which should remain impartial.

Employee Communications

One important role of Human Resources is to disseminate information to employees. Human Resources staff drafts correspondence; Public Affairs staff edits copy. It is recommended that Public Affairs assume responsibility of all employee communications, with direction provided by Human Resources. Since communications professionals in Public Affairs are currently writing correspondence on behalf of the CEO and COO; designing flyers and/or providing instructions to graphic designers, and updating the PHL website, this transition should be seamless.

Disseminating information to employees continues to be a challenge. Human Resources currently uses e-mail blasts and “paycheck stuffers,” correspondence placed in an employee's paycheck envelope. PHL does not publish an employee newsletter nor does it have an Intranet site to post information about citywide events (like WMOF/Papal Visit), employment opportunities and airport construction updates. Not surprisingly, information sometimes does not trickle down to the rank and file employees.

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In the case of WMOF/Papal Visit, information regarding Airport Line regional rail service for airport employees could not have been posted publicly due to an agreement negotiated with SEPTA. Employees, who received the email blasts or paycheck stuffers, contacted SEPTA customer service, which gave the employee information that contradicted information that was sent by PHL Human Resources. There should have been a central repository for all correspondence, flyers, maps and transit schedules that pertained to the WMOF/Papal Visit. PHL currently has the tools to create an Intranet site before the 2016 Democratic National Convention.

Project Management

Typically, a Project Manager would be responsible for maintaining the central repository. PHL’s experienced staff was able to avoid any problems during WMOF/Papal Visit that a lack of organization and structure would usually cause. There were certain inefficiencies that could have been eliminated by improved planning and organizing meetings and work assignments.

Multiple meetings with SEPTA regional rail managers were held at PHL to discuss Airport Line service during WMOF/Papal Visit. Formal agendas should have been issued prior to the meetings to inform attendees on what was going to be addressed and by whom. Minutes should have been recorded, saved (central repository) and forwarded to attendees. The project manager could have used the minutes (transcripts) to ensure that issues and questions were addressed at future meetings and to hold individuals accountable for work/duties/responsibilities.

Instead, SEPTA officials were able to avoid making any firm commitments of rail service for airport employees until less than a month prior to the WMOF/Papal Visit. Meetings were not as productive and redundant.

The Project Manager would also have the responsibility of determining the budget, and, when possible, seek reimbursement for all costs, including but not limited to staffing (additional customer service provided by vendor and overtime compensation for DOA employees) and the design and printing of marketing collateral and special promotional signage.

Budget

As an important gateway to the city, the airport plays a vital role in shaping the perception of the city it serves. While keeping the facility clean and tidy is routine maintenance, the airport may incur costs that are above and beyond its daily scope of operations when the city is preparing to host significant events like the WMOF/Papal Visit. It must be noted that City Hall and the city’s two tourism bureaus depend on the airport’s role and responsibility to welcome visitors.

It is typical for law enforcement agencies, like the Philadelphia Police Department, to seek reimbursement for costs associated with security for special events. As a city agency, like the police department, the airport can justify requests for reimbursement if the Mayor and event organizers agree that the airport play an active role in promoting the special event.

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Unlike most city agencies, the airport generates its own revenue and is self-governing. There may be expectations that the airport should cover all costs to promote special events. However, it is important for the airport to avoid all unfunded mandates pertaining to promoting special events in the city.

For special events, like the WMOF/Papal Visit and the Democratic National Convention 2016, which place Philadelphia in the international spotlight, it is beneficial for the event organizers to coordinate all marketing and promotional activities with the airport. The coordination of marketing and promotional activities should include costs and a negotiated reimbursable rate, if 100 percent reimbursement is not possible.

Ultimately, the Mayor will determine the process if, when and how the airport is reimbursed for its costs. It is recommended that the airport CEO make a case for reimbursement when costs are projected and budgeted prior to the special event.

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RECOMMENDATIONS (In Preparation of DNC 2016)

1. Appoint Project Manager who will:a) Obtain Best Practices from airports in Tampa (RNC 2012) and Charlotte (DNC 2012)b) Appoint Project Leads in the following units: Airport Operations (Transportation), Human

Resources (Staffing), Public Affairs (PR/Marketing)c) Facilitate meetings with Project Leads; all meetings be recorded via meeting minutesd) Coordinate efforts with DNCe) Serve as liaison between the airport and the Secret Service or delegate responsibility to a

Project Leadf) Develop budget and project timelineg) Brief CEO and executive leadership

2. CEO briefs Mayor3. Project Leads conduct employee briefings prior to special event4. Project Leads compile costs post-event5. Project Manager provides costs to CEO and executive leadership for reimbursement

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