Traditional Airport Performance Indicators: A Critical Perspective

Abstract

Airport managers require effective performance measures to enable them to plan and manage within the context of rapid passenger growth and the trend toward an expansion of commercial activities. Airport performance measurement in various ownership patterns from Europe and the United States is reviewed, bringing together a rich picture of different practices. The need to be aware of contingent circumstances to evaluate airport performance objectively is emphasized. Many measures currently in use are output variables and are usually quantitative and based on what is easy to measure instead of what is important to measure. The problems of discrepancies in the definition of key variables and of attempts to achieve direct comparability between airports are examined. Consideration is given to the dysfunctional effects of measurement systems and how they can be adapted to encourage innovation and organizational learning through such techniques as best-practice benchmarking. Airport planners, managers, and academics who have an interest in performance measurement and who wish to question the role of traditional measures will be interested in the discussion. Lessons from European experience in a postprivatization environment are considered. The research recommends the adoption of a performance measurement system for airports that examines processes as well as results and that considers antecedent variables as well as outcome variables. The conclusions indicate how airport planners and managers can gain new insight into the underlying processes behind quantitative indicators and how an understanding of these processes can stimulate organizational learning and innovation.