39 AirportImprovement.com May | June 2026 OPERATIONS SFO logical architecture that brings together diverse data sources into a unified operational framework,” explains Rajegowda. “This convergence empowers analysts, dispatchers, specialists and planning teams with predictive insights, enabling them to anticipate and prepare for future scenarios while simultaneously addressing unforeseen events. The ability to rapidly identify root causes, coordinate triage and respond in real time significantly enhances operational efficiency and elevates overall safety for passengers and airport personnel.” Looking Ahead The AIOC was designed with three phases in mind. The first is descriptive: telling airport operations teams what they need to know now; what’s happening in real time. Phase 2 is predictive: preparing them to best use the massive amounts of data at their disposal. The third phase will be prescriptive: helping the teams make decisions for the best possible outcome for customers based on historical data. Currently, the airport is in Phase 1. “This is telling me right now that my domestic garage is at 96 percent capacity,” Byun Riedel explains, pointing at a monitor in the AIOC. “My team will start looking at that, reaching out to parking and taking some proactive measures. But there are many, many more dashboards.” Airport management is excited about the predictive phase because it is designed to guide decisions before problems develop, enabling a smoother experience all around. For those capabilities, SFO tapped Aerology, a company that builds AI tools and deep learning algorithms to predict air travel disruptions and interpret weather forecasts, flight schedules and airport capacity to derive rough disruption probabilities. Aerology founder and Chief Executive Officer Tim Donohue spent several years in the Operations Department of United Airlines, gaining perspective about the technological possibilities. SFO already had massive amounts of data coming in; Aerology is helping the airport parse it and use it more effectively. “This project has been an excellent impetus for the airport to start working with all these data sets that they’ve been collecting and storing and generating,” says Donohue. Inside the AIOC, at least one monitor details the statistical probabilities of runway movement based on weather forecasts and traffic. If SFO must switch to a southeast runway configuration, that can be very disruptive. Understanding if and when a switch is imminent allows the airport to reduce transition time by moving cranes and construction equipment out of the way in advance. And that’s just one example of the facility’s many capabilities. “The new AIOC is not just another operations center. It represents a fundamental shift in how large-scale critical infrastructure is operated,” Rajegowda summarizes. “All the technologies converge. It’s the true single pane of glass for an entire airport ecosystem.” TIM DONOHUE You wouldn’t hire a baggage handler to run a daycare ... So why hire an engineer for operational readiness? We love engineers, and we’re crazy about architects. We don’t do what they do. But when it comes to operational readiness, we know a thing or two. Trust your facility opening to the specialists. ORAT. It’s what we do. chrysalisaviation.aero
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