Airport, and the power of systems
In a 2018 video, author John Green speaks about how interwoven systems shape our lives in powerful ways. Like how him visiting the hospital to get a simple tetanus shot is only possible because there is a system of roads and bridges in place to help him get to the hospital, a supply chain that keeps chemicals refrigerated, institutions that facilitate training and licensing of healthcare workers, and what not!
Often, in the mad rush of our own lives, we fail to notice these robust systems that form the backbone of developing and developed nations. But when we do take a step back and think about it, we are hit with a humbling reminder that no matter how independent and self-made we might think we are, there is a large network of people, processes and systems that have directly or indirectly helped us get to where we are.
In my case, my appreciation for systems was recently re-kindled when I read the book Airport by Arthur Hailey. The book is an edge-of-your-seat classic centred around the many challenges that a large airport faces during an unprecedented storm. The book, while fictional, is a wonderful representation of the ins-and-outs of airport management, giving us a sneak-peak into the intricate systems that are needed to ensure that passengers get to enjoy a safe and pleasant flight.
Link to book: https://www.amazon.com/Airport-Arthur-Hailey-ebook/dp/B00JVCHC36
Airport deals with numerous themes, while never failing to thrill. In this post, I’ll talk about a few of the themes which stuck with me.
Tough work
The novel forces readers to put themselves in the shoes of various people who work in the aviation sector, both at the frontend and at the backend. One of the roles which I got to learn about and appreciate, through this book, was that of the air traffic controller.
The team of air traffic controllers is shown sitting in a dimly lit room monitoring dozens of aircrafts and their routes via a digital radarscope. The job demands high levels of concentration and skill, requiring controllers to quickly form a mental picture of all moving aircrafts in a given sector, their speeds, altitudes and landing sequences – along with the ability to think on their feet and pass on appropriate instructions to pilots whenever a change of route is needed. All of this while keeping their voices neutral and low-pitched to give the impression of being in complete control.
The author writes: “In a way, it was like an intricate chess game, except that all the pieces were at various levels and moving at several hundred miles an hour. Also as part of the game, pieces had to be raised or lowered while they still moved forward, yet none must come closer than three miles laterally or a thousand feet vertically from another, and none must go over the edge of the board. And while all of it happened, the thousands of passengers, anxious for their journeys to end, had to sit in their airborne seats – and wait.”
The mental strain of the job is such that many people in this role almost entirely burn out, well before the normal retirement age, with hardly any exit or growth opportunities. And on the chance occasion that a slip-up occurs, it has an extremely scarring effect. Keith’s story arc deserves special mention here.
In the book, there is a character Keith Bakersfield, who had once been in the thick of things during a plane crash that he was partly responsible for, as a controller. To make things worse, circumstances had led his colleague facing most of the backlash for this tragedy. The book describes the limitless feeling of guilt which Keith experiences every day, one which has led him to contemplate suicide.
A few hours before Keith’s planned time of death, a grave emergency situation arises during his shift, and he is hit with a sudden mental block. But somehow, he manages to summon whatever little is left of his mental faculties, and works his way out of this rut to avert disaster.
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In the end, Keith decides not to end his life just yet:
“Keith wondered if… from now on… he could remember the Redferns with sadness, but do his best to make the living – Natalie, his own children – his first concern. He wasn’t sure if it would work. He wasn’t sure if he had the moral or the physical strength. It had been a long time since he was sure of anything. But he could try.”
As you can see, Keith doesn’t get a giddily happy ending, and even his decision to move on is smeared with doubt all over. But perhaps that’s just life as a controller.
The premium on security
This book was published in the 1960s, and quite naturally, some of the airport protocols described in the book have evolved over time. In a way, this book serves as a very useful time capsule, providing rich context to all the frisking and scanning in airports that we have come to accept as a given in today’s world.
In fact, the author alludes to this point in the book’s foreword: “...any person could enter an airport and walk without hindrance or questioning to an airline departure gate… no one had a right to question or delay a ticketed passenger… I mention this here because there’s a whole generation of air travellers who have grown up accepting as normal their passage through metal-detecting machines, having hand baggage searched, sometimes their main baggage questioned… looking back, it’s a high price the majority of us have paid for protection from extremists and lunatics...”
Apart from the obvious lack of security devices, we also learn that in some cases, having a focus on security was actually counter-productive for business back then.
For example, the book talks about how passengers who manage to sneak into aircrafts without a valid ticket aren’t really penalized; they are just sent on a return flight back home. Part of the reason is that it is desired to keep these violations as hushed-up as possible, so that other air travellers won’t realize how easy it is to travel without paying (and potentially hurting airline revenue).
There is another incident in the book about a Customs officer in America who is hesitant to tip off the Customs department in Italy, regarding a passenger who he suspects is carrying something dangerous in his briefcase. The simple reason behind his hesitancy is that tip-offs aren’t commonplace, due to fierce rivalry between the Customs departments of different countries.
Systems can be powerful, but when there are flaws in incentive design, things can blow up quite literally!
Focus on the invisibles too
Rapid growth is wonderful for any business, but with great growth comes great responsibility.
Through the character Mel Bakersfield, a manager at Lincoln International Airport, the book talks about how this airport, on the surface, is one of the most modern airports, adorned with a spectacular array of facilities. But what is invisible to the public eye is that runways and taxiways have become barely sufficient to handle the growing load, where a take-off or landing happens every thirty seconds. To make matters worse, decisions around investment in aviation are sometimes politically motivated. Mel laments about how an earlier proposal to triple-deck all parking lots had won approval quite easily (as it was something voters could see and touch) whereas his proposal to increase runway capacity had failed to get any support.
Mel’s brother Keith quips: “Okay, so we can stay on our toes in the tower, and we cope with the hairy ones, and we haven’t brought two airplanes together at that intersection yet. But someday there’ll be a second’s inattention or misjudgement, and one of us will. I hope to God it isn’t me because when it happens it’ll be the Grand Canyon all over again.”
Keith’s prediction nearly comes true when one of the runways is blocked during the storm, and a damaged plane urgently needs to land to keep its passengers alive. Luckily, disaster is prevented in the nick of time, but the crisis does open the authorities’ eyes to the pressing need to focus on the invisibles.
Conclusion
Airport is both well-researched and well-written. Despite its thorough detailing of airport operations, the book never gets dry at any point. I’d say the book is more plot-driven than character-driven, but it still manages to provide multiple layers of complexity to most of the main characters. A highly recommended read!