Airport Business - 17

CONTRACTED SERVICES
garage keeper's liability insurance or
death and liability insurance and the rate
has gone up, the cost could be reduced by
putting an operation out to bid.
If IT or an off-site after hours call
center isn't being offered by the current
operator, it might be something that
another operator is willing to take on,"
Wicks said. If innovation has stagnated,
it could also be a sign it's time to change.
He said another aspect to watch is
how the operator is working with its
contractors as well.
"Sometimes the operator and the local
equipment and service provider, maybe
they have too cozy of a relationship," he
said. "Sometimes it makes sense to review
those contracts and providers separately,
but do it in a way that says we really are
getting the best deal that we can from
each of these providers rather than having
a provider be too comfortable and some
other kind of deal between those two
entities."
One of the key indicators it's time
to look at outsourcing janitorial work is
when an airport has trouble finding staff.
"They can't recruit people, they can't
retain people, but that's not their core
responsibility, so they don't know what
they're looking for in a janitorial worker
or aircraft cabin cleaner," Wright said.
"When you have trouble filling positions,
you're short staffed and the scope isn't
getting done and you're missing periodic
work like window washings or f loor
cleanings because you can't keep up with
the daily work, that's when it's really time
to start thinking about other options."
Wright said companies like Flagship
keep up-to-date with all the latest trends
and equipment when it comes to facilities
maintenance, so they can bring those
new concepts into the airport realm.
"We have access to greater purchasing
power because we do service not only
in airports, but other accounts as
well," she said. "In terms of purchasing
consumables or supplies, we're buying
that in bulk, so we get discounts, which
can ultimately lead to cost savings."

The Power of Change
Tulsa International Airport (TUL)
changed its contracted parking operator
to LAZ Parking in 2019 as part of its
plans to upgrade operations. Fabio Spino,
chief financial officer for the Tulsa

Hallmark Aviation Services
began contracting lostand-found services at
DFW in 2018 and puts a
customer service focus on
its services.
HALLMARK AVIATION SERVICES

Airports Improvement Trust, said the
former parking operator ran the facilities
for 25 years. During that time, the airport
never did a significant investment in the
software side of the parking management
system.
"Currently, we're running off of
an antiquated revenue control system,"
Spino said. "The software isn't supported
and the mechanicals are failing like our
ticket dispensers and our gates, so what
we need right off the bat is for them to
work with us to put together a request
for proposal for revenue control system."
TUL goes out to bid every five years
for parking services. Spino said there
were about eight replies to the RFP.
The airport did a tour of the facility
so bidding companies could see the
operations and outline the challenges
TUL has as a growing airport.
"It was just one of those things that
we know how to run an airport; we need
guidance and expertise to help us tackle
the current and future challenges that
we're going to face with parking," he
said. "It's something that we definitely
have to hire someone with an expertise
and it made more sense to continue using
a third party provider to help us learn
what we didn't know and having their
expertise guide us through the process
of running a more efficient customer
service-oriented facility."
TUL learned about LAZ and the
company studied the Oklahoma market.
Spino said they worked together to
make a smooth transition to the new
management. The company hired
a number of staff from the previous
operator, including the parking manger.
"It was just slight changes in
procedures, learning and relearning,"
he said
LAZ rebranded the garage and
parking facility within the first month.
Spino said he noticed a change in how
they communicated with himself and
other members of the team.

"It's a more clear channel of
communication that's very responsive,"
he said. "The parking manager has been
given more support as far as the pool of
knowledge they bring to the table and
support mechanisms from not only their
regional manager, but the manager above
him."
Wight said changing contract service
providers can bring new ideas into an
airport to improve efficiency. They can
also bring in ideas used at other airports
or industries to solve issues.
"Companies can get complacent when
they've been in there for 20 years," she
said. "That happens a lot."
The biggest concern in a vendor
change is employees, Wright said.
"On average, we retain about 80
percent of the employees from the
previous vendor," Wight said. "But
there's always going to be attrition, but
the priority is to work with the airport
because there may people that they don't
want to keep or may want to let go, but
were unable to let go due to unions
or other things like that, so it's during
that transition period of doing all those
interviews and making sure they're a
right cultural fit."
Wright said they like to set up a
transition oversight committee, where
leaders can communicate all the data
they need and give the vendor access to
interview people.
Wright said Flagship will even do a
mock go-live event prior to taking over
services just to make sure everything runs
smoothly when the change occurs..
Spino said it's important to take a step
back, look at the current provider, get an
idea of challenges and needs when going
to bid. TUL did a landside study, which
put things into perspective on how busy
the access road is, the current offering
and the changing products available to
travelers.
"Having that in your mind about
what you want to provide and what your

OCTOBER 2019 \ AVIATIONPROS.COM / 17
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Airport Business

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