The Boomers are bailing — retiring to places where the weather is warm, drinks are cold and taxes low. As they leave the workforce in droves, many organizations struggle to fill their senior-level positions. Further complicating matters, the “milllennials” who hope to fill the Baby Boomers’ spots have a distinctly different set of qualifications, personal attributes and attitudes about work.
Airports - large and small - are no exception to the trend. Lance Lyttle, chief operating officer of the Houston Airport System, is keenly aware of the industry's changing personnel market. "People from the Y Generation (typically defined as those born between 1980 and 1999) have a totally different set of expectations than their predecessors," Lyttle comments. "They rely heavily on technology and social media. They expect to be able to work from home, at least some of the time; and, unlike the Baby Boomers, they do not necessarily see themselves working at any one company for a lifetime."
While many grumble about Generation Y workers, Lyttle has a different perspective: "Their greatest attribute is the fact that they come in with a whole different way of looking at things. Guess what? People traveling through airports come from various generations as well, and their expectations are different. For example, if we have a directional screen at the airport, someone from the Y generation may expect it to be a dynamic touch screen, whereas a Baby Boomer may be satisfied with a static screen. In order to compete, we need to bring in new people with new ideas and expectations."
Finding the cream of the Generation Y crop can be tricky. Typically, Houston Airport System tries to fill executive positions in 120 days and lower-level positions in about 50. However, it recently spent months trying to find the right person to hire as its assistant director of project management. With initial efforts proving unfruitful and its in-house executive recruiter already stacked with multiple other positions to fill, Houston Airport System recently hired Aviation Career Services to find it an "A player" candidate for the three-airport system that served more than 50 million passengers in 2012.
factsfigures Project: Executive Recruitment Locations: Northwest Florida Beaches Int'l Airport; Houston Airport System Executive Recruiter: Aviation Career Services |
The outside executive search company provided background information on three candidates in approximately three weeks, scheduled preliminary telephone interviews and "really kept us in the loop," recalls Lyttle. In addition, the firm also flagged a conflict between the type of candidate HAS was looking for and the compensation it was offering. "One of the first things they pointed out was that our salary range was not competitive, which is probably why we struggled in our initial in-house search," he explains. "That was really good information, and we made the appropriate adjustment."
Outside the In-House Box
Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport (ECP), a smaller operation that served approximately 816,500 passengers last year, also recently retained Aviation Career Services. With the company's help, ECP hired its new deputy executive director in about four months, reports Executive Director
Parker McClellan.
"We have a small staff and knew right off the bat that doing it ourselves would not be the most efficient way to go," explains McClellan. "We were looking for someone to join our team with experience running an airport, (someone) with an emphasis on operations who would be able to provide guidance and input as we develop the airport."
After ECP wrote a job description for the position, Aviation Career Services posted a presentation about it and the airport on its website, advertised the opening via other industry media and served as the initial point of contact for interested candidates.
"I didn't have to handle calls," notes McClellan. "They reviewed the resumes, did preliminary interviews, verified the data submitted, then recommended their top 10 candidates for us to review further and set up interviews with selected candidates."
Nedra Farrar Swift, a recruitment and human resources associate for Aviation Career Services, reflects on how drastically the search process has changed since she began in the mid-1980s. (Before joining Aviation Career Services, Swift held human resource leadership positions at several major airports across the country.) Without the Internet, airports and search firms relied on local newspapers and industry association newsletters to advertise available positions, she recalls.
The attributes airports look for in potential executives has also evolved, notes Eric Mercado, the firm's managing director. "There's a move toward finding more diverse candidates with backgrounds broader than solely operations and maintenance," explains Mercado. "Candidates may have to have a background in finance, business development and marketing - all of which are major concerns at airports today."
Those seeking higher-level positions have also changed, adds Swift: "(Years ago,) all of the resumes I received were from people with an operations background who were either getting ready to retire or who had already retired from the military."
Now, candidates often come from schools such as Southern Illinois University and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and have backgrounds in areas other than operations. They often initially apply for jobs in general areas of aviation management, and are then promoted to supervisor, assistant general manager and eventually general manager, Swift explains.
"These candidates are no longer being educated and trained in a single specialty," she says. "They are being educated to take on any number of management responsibilities."
It's also less likely to simply find an airport director from another airport these days, notes Mercado. "The Boomers aren't there to take their experience from one airport to another anymore," he relates. "Airports have to conduct a deeper search to find individuals with the required skill sets."
That's where his firm's resources and experience can help, he emphasizes: "We maintain a database of more than 4,000 airport professionals whom we can reach out to. Being airport practitioners in the industry, we know many of the players."
On the Flip Side
From the job seeker's perspective, timing can be a critical issue. Richard McConnell, whom ECP hired as its new deputy executive director, feels that some recruiters and airports take too long to contact interested candidates.
"Applicants need to be informed if they don't make it through the first cut," says McConnell. "In the old days, you received a letter; then it was an automated email; and now you don't hear anything. Six months down the road, you might get a call saying you're being considered; but, shoot, I might be long gone by then."
In contrast, McConnell appreciated the ongoing communication and post-interview feedback he received during his recent search. "It helps tremendously to know after the interview whether I'm communicating clearly and whether I'm offering the information the interviewers are looking for," he notes. "Some of this boils down to professional courtesy."
The Right Questions Yield the Right Hires
With three airports to staff, Houston Airport System has developed a unique process to find and screen candidates for George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH), William P. Hobby Airport (HOU) and Ellington Airport (EFD).
When an airport is approved to hire a new employee, it begins the process by developing a scorecard with reality-based outcomes unique to the position it wants to fill. If, for example, IAH needs to hire a chief development officer, one of the outcomes might be increasing non-aeronautical revenues by X% within a year. 1. The hiring manager or a human resources representative conducts initial screening interviews via telephone or Skype. Typically, they last about 30 minutes and are used to determine which candidates should be brought in for further consideration. 2. Next, onsite top-grading interviews are conducted by a panel consisting of the hiring manager, a human resources representative and someone from an outside division. Questions focus on candidates' previous positions: What were you hired to do? What accomplishments are you most proud of? What were some of your low points? What changes did you make within the organization? Similar questions are repeated regarding each of a candidate's previous employers in an effort to identify trends. Has the person consistently advanced over the years? Did he or she achieve prescribed goals? Candidates are also asked to describe their major accomplishments. If the person was hired to do X, is that his or her proudest accomplishment? Throughout the process, interviewers look for red flags such as difficulty working as part of a team or failing to accomplish primary objectives. 3. During focus interviews, candidates are presented with specific reality-based scenarios such as: How would you increase on-time departures X% in one year? Individuals with specific expertise in a candidate's area conduct and evaluate focus interviews. If, for example, the airport is hiring a construction project manager who will be expected to deliver a new terminal within three years, an airport engineer with technical knowledge may serve as the resident subject matter expert during the interview. Candidates are evaluated on how they fit into the airport's culture, whether they share its values, and their overall ability to achieve the desired outcome for the open position. 4. Houston Airport System takes a unique, time-saving approach to its final step, reference interviews, by giving potential hires a list of five days and times and having them coordinate interviews between their references and the airport. Questions throughout the four interviews are intentionally interrelated and candidates' answers are subsequently cross-referenced. For example, if candidates are asked how their bosses would rate them on a scale of 1 to 10, the bosses are asked how they would rate the candidate during reference interviews. Similarly, when candidates are asked to discuss their strengths and weaknesses during top-grading interviews, those answers are later compared with references' assessments of their strengths and weaknesses. "While we're interested in what the person has done in the past, we're more interested in how the person will achieve specific outcomes," says Lance Lyttle, chief operating officer for the Houston Airport System. "We want someone who has a 90 percent chance of achieving these outcomes." |
2022 Charlotte Douglas International Airport Report of Achievement
Giving back to the community is central to what Charlotte Douglas International Airport and its operator, the City of Charlotte Aviation Department, is about, and last year was no different.
Throughout 2022, while recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, we continued our efforts to have a positive impact on the Charlotte community. Of particular note, we spent the year sharing stories of how Connections Don't Just Happen at the Terminal - from creating homeownership and employment opportunities to supporting economic growth through small-business development and offering outreach programs to help residents understand the Airport better.
This whitepaper highlights the construction projects, initiatives, programs and events that validate Charlotte Douglas as a premier airport.
Download the whitepaper: 2022 Charlotte Douglas International Airport Report of Achievement.