The Policies of the Civil Aviation Authority and the Strategic Operating Plan - Essay Example

Airline Policy & Strategy Assessment Academic Year Formulating Analysing & Researching Policy The first assessment for this module asks you to deconstruct a piece of tourism policy. It draws directly on the research paradigm outlined by Fidgeon & Ritchie (2005). In addition it develops the self-directed activities you have been recommended to undertake in your study pack together with our work in lectures and tutorials. As a consequence you should be familiar with all of the tasks being assessed in this exercise. Before you launch into the assessment, read the policy document you have been given thoroughly. In addition the assessment also requires that you find some additional detailed information. Check that you have it to hand. Engage with the literature here. This requires you to reference material and include this in a bibliography at the back of this assessment You have seven weeks to complete this task. Answer in the space provided below each question. Alternatively if you wish you can replicate the assessment on your own PC and submit a word processed version. Completed scripts should be submitted to the Faculty Office (TC375) with an accompanying cover sheet. An electronic copy of your work should also be submitted through Turn-it-in by the same date and time. Remember, this should be treated as an individual task. Identical scripts will be treated as plagiarism and will be dealt with accordingly. This exercise will count as the equivalent of 40% to your overall assessment mark. If there are any problems see me at the end of your lecture or tutorial or alternatively make an appointment to see me at a mutually convenient time. Paul Fidgeon February 2013 Task 1. Tourism policy can be conceptualised as an integrated set of components. The first step in this process is to understand what you can do and what is legally, ethically and politically acceptable (the developmental philosophy). To this end, what underlying philosophies have influenced this policy and how? Identify five here. 1. Climate Change: The climate change strategy was influenced by the changing global policies on green house gas emission reduction. The policy is philosophically aligned with the UK government’s commitment to reduce the green gas emissions by 80% by the year 2050. (Govt. Of UK, 2013). The Heathrow airport’s climate strategy states that “...by 2020 reducing carbon emissions from energy use in fixed assets at the airport by 34% compared to 1990 levels.(Pg.15). A target of 34% to be achieved within the next 10 years or less is quite relative with the UK governments overall target of 80% for the next 40 years. 2. Social Commitment: The European Union has laid special emphasis on standardising the Corporate Social Responsibility policy. The CSR policy published by the European Commission in October 2011, sates the ““should have in place a process to integrate social, environmental, ethical and human rights concerns into their business operations and core strategy in close collaboration with their stakeholders”.(EU, 2013). The social commitment element of the Heathrow airport is philosophically motivated by this policy of the European Union. It clearly states “As a responsible business, HAL needs to find the right balance between economic, social and environmental objectives: enhancing the positive impacts that Heathrow brings, while minimising the negative impacts and meeting agreed environmental limits.”(Pg.15) 3. Waste Management: The policy statement of the Heathrow airport on waste management envisages recycling 70% of the airport waste. The key princi0ple of European Union’s Waste Management strategy makes it obligatory for the member state to formulate legal framework for waste recycling. It states “EU directives now require Member States to introduce legislation on waste collection, reuse, recycling and disposal of these waste streams (EU, 2013a). The policy statement of the airport specifically mentions its compliance with The Planning Act 2012 (Pg. 20) which is the legal framework formulated by the local authority for the airport to follow on several areas including waste management. The EU waste management approach has stated that EU countries are already recycling over 50% of its waste (EU, 2013). A target of 70% is thus inspired by the EU waste management approach. 4. Benefit Sharing: The policy statement of the Heathrow airport has incorporated provisions for its compliance with The Planning Act 2012. The policy makes HAL liable to pay charges like Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) which is further used by the local authorities for local development (Pg. 20). The benefit of this is thus enjoyed by the local people. Thus the policy of Heathrow airport complies with the philosophy of benefit sharing with the local community. 5. Regulatory and Legislative framework: The policy statement of the Heathrow airport has incorporated provisions for compliance with the Regulatory and Legislative framework of the local government and that of Civil Aviation Authority Task 2 From an understanding of the socio-economic and political parameters that influence a piece of policy it is possible to come up with a vision. With reference to the literature identify what is visioning? Provide an example of a vision statement from your policy document. (Note it may be necessary to read between the lines if this is not immediately obvious.) Why is it necessary to undertake such an exercise? “The vision of an organisation is set before its mission.” The vision statement gives a brief of what the future could be. It provides the organisations goals and aims to achieve (Banhegyi, 2007). The vision of HAL is “‚Europe’s hub of choice and the UK’s direct connection to the world by making every journey better‟.(Pg.7) Task 3 Any vision will always be influenced by the mission statement of the company or organisation responsible for formulating that policy. Identify the mission statement of this company/organisation. "To give safety and security the highest priority at all times by systematically assessing and managing our safety and security risks through audited, best practice management systems." (HAL, 2013) Task 4 Any policy will include a statement of what it hopes to achieve i.e. its aims. Outline any five policy aims taken directly from your policy document. 1. To achieve positive social and economic effects (Pg.15) 2. To improve its capacity to forecast aircraft and passengers, with improved resilience 3. To be able to operate at a competitive total cost of operation relative to Heathrow’s passenger mix, service and facilities “(Pg.7) 4. To reduce the impacts of noise at the airport (Pg.15) 5. To “Provide competitive solutions for passengers and airlines” (Pg.8). Task 5 How will these aims be operationalised? i.e. put into practice. (Note one sentence is all that is needed here) The aims are prioritised and translated into strategies of action Task 6 Outline five demand and five supply orientated strategies found in your policy document. Demand Strategies 1. Enhancing the passenger experience with a mixture of asset replacement and terminal upgrades. (Pg. 11) 2. Encouraging investment in new facilities at airports in time to satisfy anticipated demand by the users of such airports; and (Pg. 17) 3. Implementation of technology which reduces operating costs and delivers improved value to Heathrow’s business, airline and passenger stakeholders (Pg. 11). 4. Providing passenger-friendly, convenient connections for Heathrow travelers (Pg. 16) 5. “The strategic operating plan for IT was developed to support the strategic intents for Heathrow through improving IT service, reducing operating costs and implementing technology which delivers improved value to Heathrow’s business, airline and passenger stakeholders” .(Pg.34) Supply strategies 1. The geographic location enables ease of access for local demand and allows a connection of transfer passengers between large international markets (Pg.9) 2. Delighting passengers by improving the products, services, facilities and atmosphere in each terminal on a planned and agreed basis.(Pg.8) 3. Investment programmes to further strengthen passenger experience at Heathrow (Pg.9) 4. Improved customer service enabled by staff service training (pg.11) 5. Improved Traffic Forecasting (Pg.14) Task 7 Clearly some ‘entity’ (i.e. body or organisation) must be designated with the responsibility for writing, co-ordinating and implementing any policy document. In the case of this policy, who has such responsibility? How do they envisage conducting their role(s)? For example, will they take total responsibility for the document and its content or will they designate certain responsibilities? The policy document is prepared by HAL (Heathrow Airport Limited). Sanjay Vadhera, Regulatory Compliance Manager has been made responsible for managing the consultations on the policy document. The policy document is currently in the consultation stage. Regulatory Compliance Manager will entertain views of the airlines on the policy and incorporate those opinions into the Capital Investment Plan so as to avoid duplication and to create room for innovative ideas. The overall responsibility of the implementation and the monitoring of the project lies with London Airport Consultation Committee (LACC). A Joint Steering Team will work under LACC to implement the project. Specific core groups have been formed to carry forward different projects listed in the project portfolio. Task 8 Finally we used the term stakeholder for any person who seeks to influence the policy making process. Give some examples of the stakeholders who influenced this policy document. How were they involved? (How did they get their views across?) Were they successful in influencing policy decisions? Again it will be necessary to engage with the wider literature here to fully answer this question. 1. Airline Community: The policy document has been prepared in consultation with the airline community as a part of the constructive engagement process so as to come up with the most suitable capital plans catering the overall needs of passengers. “ HAL has also been working closely with airlines through the Master Planning Working Group (MPWG) to develop the Masterplan and Land Use plan for the airport” (Pg. 5) 2. Customer: As the policy has been created keeping in mind the overall improved experience fir the customer, this stakeholder has largely influenced the policy 3. Local Communities: The policy has tried to strike balance economic, social and environmental objectives taking into account the wellness of the local community. 4. Civil Aviation Authority: Trials to comply with the regulatory and legislative policy laid down by the Civil Aviation Authority has largely influenced the framework of the Capital Investment Plan 5. The Local Council: The local authorities will collect the levy from HAL to be used for local development. 6. Employees: The policy also aims at providing a good experience for its employees A separate committee for the management of the stakeholders known to be the Surface Access Stakeholder Programme Board has been setup to “Ensure airlines and key stakeholders are engaged with the Programme objectives and delivery, so that the objectives are achieved Provide stakeholders with an overview of all solutions in the Programme to assure alignment Demonstrate compliance with the CAA Q5 CIP Settlement Annex G 44 “ (Pg. 43) The Civil Aviation Authority has been able to largely influence the business plan, as the components have been carefully designed to comply with regulatory measures of the authority. Thus the policies of Civil Aviation Authority have been able to mould the discussed policy to have social and environment and friendly concerns. Similarly, The Local Council also has successfully influenced the policy in favour of the community. On the other side, the local community is placed within the stakeholder feedback loop being directly and indirectly benefited by the policy. References Banhegyi, S. (2007) Management: Fresh Perspectives. Cape Town: Pearson Education. European Commission( 2013) Sustainable and responsible business [Online]. Available from[ Accessed 12 March 2013]. European Commission( 2013) Waste [Online]. Available from[ Accessed 12 March 2013]. Govt.of UK (2013) Reducing the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050 [Online]. Available from[Accessed 12 March 2013]. HAL(2012) Sustainability Strategy , Strategic Capital Business Plan 2012 (SCBP 2012) [Online]. Available at:> http://www.heathrowairport.com/static/HeathrowAboutUs/Downloads/PDF/SCBP/2012/Heathrow_SCBP2012_Main.pdf [ Accessed 12 March 2013]. HAL(2012) The Planning Act (2008), Strategic Capital Business Plan 2012 (SCBP 2012), [Online]. Available at:http://www.heathrowairport.com/static/HeathrowAboutUs/Downloads/PDF/SCBP/2012/Heathrow_SCBP2012_Main.pdf [ Accessed 12 March 2013]. HAL(2012) Vision for Heathrow Airport , Strategic Capital Business Plan 2012 (SCBP 2012) ,[Online]. Available at:> http://www.heathrowairport.com/static/HeathrowAboutUs/Downloads/PDF/SCBP/2012/Heathrow_SCBP2012_Main.pdf [ Accessed 12 March 2013]. HAL(2012) SWOT analysis for Heathrow Airport, Strategic Capital Business Plan 2012 (SCBP 2012) ,[Online]. Available at:> http://www.heathrowairport.com/static/HeathrowAboutUs/Downloads/PDF/SCBP/2012/Heathrow_SCBP2012_Main.pdf [ Accessed 12 March 2013]. HAL(2012) Projects in the Plan, Strategic Capital Business Plan 2012 (SCBP 2012) ,[Online]. Available at:> http://www.heathrowairport.com/static/HeathrowAboutUs/Downloads/PDF/SCBP/2012/Heathrow_SCBP2012_Main.pdf [ Accessed 12 March 2013]. HAL(2012) Current Regulation, Strategic Capital Business Plan 2012 (SCBP 2012) ,[Online]. Available at:> http://www.heathrowairport.com/static/HeathrowAboutUs/Downloads/PDF/SCBP/2012/Heathrow_SCBP2012_Main.pdf [ Accessed 12 March 2013]. HAL(2012) Surface Access Strategy, Strategic Capital Business Plan 2012 (SCBP 2012) ,[Online]. Available at:> http://www.heathrowairport.com/static/HeathrowAboutUs/Downloads/PDF/SCBP/2012/Heathrow_SCBP2012_Main.pdf [ Accessed 12 March 2013]. HAL(2012) IT / Systems Programme, Strategic Capital Business Plan 2012 (SCBP 2012) ,[Online]. Available at:> http://www.heathrowairport.com/static/HeathrowAboutUs/Downloads/PDF/SCBP/2012/Heathrow_SCBP2012_Main.pdf [ Accessed 12 March 2013]. HAL(2012) Weaknesses, Strategic Capital Business Plan 2012 (SCBP 2012) ,[Online]. Available at:> http://www.heathrowairport.com/static/HeathrowAboutUs/Downloads/PDF/SCBP/2012/Heathrow_SCBP2012_Main.pdf [ Accessed 12 March 2013]. HAL(2012) Context, Strategic Capital Business Plan 2012 (SCBP 2012) ,[Online]. Available at:> http://www.heathrowairport.com/static/HeathrowAboutUs/Downloads/PDF/SCBP/2012/Heathrow_SCBP2012_Main.pdf [ Accessed 12 March 2013]. HAL(2012) Consultation on Capital Projects, Strategic Capital Business Plan 2012 (SCBP 2012) ,[Online]. Available at:> http://www.heathrowairport.com/static/HeathrowAboutUs/Downloads/PDF/SCBP/2012/Heathrow_SCBP2012_Main.pdf [ Accessed 12 March 2013]. HAL(2013) About Heathrow Airport, Heathrow Airport Holdings Limited, ,[Online]. Available at:> http://www.heathrowairport.com/about-us/partners-and-suppliers/property/safety-guidance [ Accessed 12 March 2013]. Read More