Post-Pandemic Planning Demands Futurist Thinking
That’s Boyd Group International
At Boyd Group International, we’ve earned the reputation of being the one consulting firm that isn’t reticent to question the status-quo… to discuss new, unseen trends… to disrupt consensus thinking. Sticking with the norms and perceptions of the past are comfortable.
We’ve never been “comfortable” – and neither have the clients we’ve assisted in stepping out of the past and into the future. We have never run with the herd, and we’ve never been reticent to tell it as it is. Most other consultants will claim to be so… the difference is that we have the track record (and the media clips) to prove it.
Today, there is no longer any comfort zone for airports – it’s been torpedoed by the economic destruction caused by the global CCP-Covid pandemic.
The CCP-Covid pandemic has fundamentally changed the underpinning and the communication role of air transportation. Airlines had to move quickly and decisively and repeatedly to adjust to the commercial devastation of this global scourge. They are still
Travel patterns have changed, and with the changes in global economic flows, airports must now adjust to not only much reduced revenue flows, but also adjust to new air service demand drivers. Business travel patterns have shifted. Leisure travel has seen a bump upward. Airlines are shifting fleets to accommodate both domestic and international upheaval in consumer patterns.
Airport strategic and functional planning must also adjust.
Boyd Group International has always been at the forefront of futurist aviation research and planning. We understand that the structural changes in global economies will shift the role of air transportation as a channel of communication. We also recognize that these disruptions are not “across the board” but instead will affect each airport and each community in unique ways.
We understand that any pre-2020 data are representative of an airline system and consumer patterns that no longer exist. We understand that U.S. carriers are moving aggressively to adjust, based on their own internal strategies and analytical metrics. The “formulas” of past air service development are obsolete.
We understand that, even before the arrival of the CCP-Covid pandemic, airlines were no longer in the business of just following economic and demographic metrics. They are in the business of highest and best use of their resources, and that is not the same as the traditional assumption that they simply fly airplanes to meet the air service desires of given communities. In fact, in many cases, the objective of airline strategies is to create new demand that will generate higher returns.
All this means that airports need to pursue new and future-appropriate strategies to adjust and prosper in this new environment.
We’ve been keeping our clients ahead of the curve since 1984 – we’re the leader in forecasting and trend projections.
We invite you to take a look at our solutions for airports… then give us a call and we can start collaborating on the future.