“Be prepared” has many facets

Snow-covered cockpit windows of a commercial airliner adorned the cover of “International Airport Review,” issue 2/2020, with the headline “Prepare for the unpredictable” superimposed. What the editors were aiming at was how to deal with sudden onset of winter confidently. Corona and its impact on global air traffic were not mentioned on any of the 66 pages of the renowned trade journal (https://www.internationalairportreview.com/).

Looking at this front page may elicit a pained smile from some: “Oh, if only it were just a few blizzards and huge masses of snow that we’re worried about today.” But the real root of the matter story goes deeper: in fact, the aviation industry has been very quick to get on track with safety and hygiene concepts because there is such a willingness there to manage the unexpected. As FM service providers to some major airports, we know this from daily life – and we are an active part of this “readiness”. But what deserves our attention at the same time is the predictable. It speaks for the competence of our teams and business units that, in the face of the sheer “crisis mode” in the world and at many customers, we keep the tasks of everyday life in hand, just like the tasks of the future. Digitalization, New Work, supply chain transformation: All of these will pose new challenges to holistic FM.