Lean implementation for continous improvement at airports

In today's aviation business, continuous customer satisfaction is all that matters as it is the determining factor of business viability. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness and compare the implementation of lean management in the aviation sector of the King Khalid International Airport, European and other Asian airports. A field survey and visits were undertaken using an individual qualitative interviews and final group questionnaires for three airports in Saudi Arabia, Europe and Asia. Results indicated that with total commitment, good leadership to champion the lean program and with a clear defined objective included putting the passenger first, sustainable responsibility, beat the number, people and teamwork, airport security and health and safety, a lean Airport system is achievable with all its benefits in cost reduction, passengers satisfaction and continuous improvement. The Aluminium Conservatory Company showed that lean brought about a more organised and efficient production set up. There was also a reduction in travelling distances and also a huge reduction in process time. Being airports are a complex organizations whose areas of comparative advantages and efficiency hinges on elements that the airport management, it can be concluded that Lean management philosophy resulted to optimization of resources, efficiency in performance and gradual but continuous reduction of all forms of waste amongst all localities of airports under studied. This implies that Lean management philosophy if properly followed guarantees continuous customers' satisfaction which in turn ensures business viability of airports. Future work suggests that Lean management should be studied and implemented in other European and Asian airports. © IDOSI Publications, 2011.