Peer Perspective: Managers meet to learn from each other and offer advice on Ottawa's new facilities

By John F. Infanger, Editorial Director

Peer Perspective
Managers meet to learn from each other and offer advice on Ottawa's new facilities

OTTAWA - In the room are some 25-30 managers from airports in the U.S., Canada, even Norway. They're here at the invitation of the Ottawa International Airport Authority, which is in the final stages of building a new terminal/parking facility, adjacent to the existing structures. Ottawa is looking for input, to review steps it has taken to date, and to get advice on how best to proceed with the opening in October. The attendees, meanwhile, are here to give their input but also to discuss issues ongoing at their airports. Welcome to a Peer Review Group session, under the capable leadership of facilitator Bill Fife, vice president with DMJM+Harris.

Fife has been in the airport field some 39 years and is the former head of aviation for the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey. He has been conducting peer review sessions since the mid-90s, and receives no compensation for his services. "I find this to be a very productive investment," he explains. "I'll come away with 20 new ideas to help me with the 50-plus airports I'm working with today in the U.S. and Canada. It allows me to be a better consultant."

Central to the success of such sessions, he says, is active participation by newcomers and those who attend on a recurring basis. "There is the sense of almost team-building," says Fife. "Folks who don't participate the first day are active participants on the second day."

For a typical peer review group meeting, the mission is to share problems and best practices among the group, with the host airport generally taking up part of the agenda with its own hit list. The host airport takes care of daytime meals and usually a dinner, but attendees cover the rest of their costs.

Another version of such sessions, explains Fife, is what he calls a mini-peer review, in which an airport has a very specific agenda (such as building a new terminal or runway) and it is seeking input from people who have exactly that experience. In this case, says Fife, he and the airport will create a list of people to specifically invite and all costs, including travel, are picked up by the host airport.

He explains that officials from Ottawa had previously held a mini-peer review when they were first looking at building a new terminal.

This meeting in July served as a follow-up to review what they had done and to get input from a broader audience on how to proceed as opening day approached. Says Fife, "They wanted to pick the brains of people who had opened stuff. I think it was very successful."

Ottawa's Best Practices
Fife says that peer reviews and an emphasis on benchmarking throughout the construction process have helped Ottawa officials construct a leading edge terminal/parking facility. "They've done a marvelous job; you could hear it from the other participants," he says.

David Caulfeild, who has directed Ottawa's $300 million (CAN) expansion, points out some of the best practices the airport authority has learned along the way: