WBP NEWS
Time to Build? Carrie Shaeffer, Swinerton’s vice president and national director of aviation considers the challenge of building up aviation’s built environment in North America.
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onsumer confidence is paramount to the long-term financial sustainability of airlines and airports. After all, there is no silver bullet when it comes to compelling leisure travellers to board flights with family or convince business passengers to swap out video meetings for air travel once again. However, creative adaptations to the built environment are giving an edge to some in the aviation industry. From signage and sounds, to the look and feel of airline holdrooms and premium lounges, new design-build strategies balance more restrictive budgets with priority construction projects. Our strong recommendation to aviation clients: if you can fund it, build it now. Or, move forward as soon as you can. Why? There is a greater potential for cost savings due to minimal disruption with less airway traffic. Quality design-build partners do more than just deliver the end-product. These essential resources help evaluate the means and methods to meet the needs. Increasingly, these firms are also responsible for incorporating Infection Control Risk Assessment (ICRA) planning to ensure that site containment standards align as closely as possible to those of healthcare facilities. By cross-teaming with its healthcare division, Swinerton’s aviation division is parlaying healthcare environment best practices to aviation environments. An essential element of Southwest’s strategy involves partnering with companies involved in various projects across their network who are committed to excellence on site – as well as on the back end, where fiscal responsibility requires routine assessments on capital investments. “Working with Swinerton on our Denver hangar project, we’ve been really pleased with their project management skills – including working hand-in-hand with us to optimise the project to conserve
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capital spending to help us get through the COVID-19 pandemic impact on our overall business,” said Dan Landson, communication lead at Southwest Airlines. Southwest Airlines is working in concert with various medical experts to learn more about COVID-19, it’s spread, and how they can work to limit the spread of the virus. “We want to make sure we’re doing what we can to keep our customers and employees safe and welcome travellers back with the hospitality they’ve come to know and love about Southwest,” continued Landson. “As a result, we’ve implemented our Southwest Promise, a multi-layered approach to the wellbeing and comfort of our customers and employees. “Some of the changes within this programme, include limiting contact between our employees and customers, installing Plexiglas shields at the ticket counter and gate podiums, increasing cleaning onboard the aircraft and in all our physical spaces, and requiring customers and employees to wear face masks.” The COVID-19 pandemic is requiring the aviation industry to shift function and focus, and implement more innovative, forwardthinking solutions to not only maintain but also improve operations in order to keep both travellers and employees safe. From enhanced personal protective equipment (PPE), deep cleaning services, air filtration and other protective measures – leveraging sophisticated analytics and design-build processes to ensure short and long-term fiscal health is paramount. Swinerton has worked with most of the nation’s airlines and airports to design and execute critical construction needs – including several projects for Delta Air Lines at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport (ATL), the world’s busiest airport and global headquarters for the air carrier.
