29.03.2009 Management

The Power of Bureaucrats

“Our Heads Are Round so our Thoughts Can Change Direction” [Francis Picabia]

The past weeks have been quite a dramtatic change to me. Taking over the marketing at Erfurt Airport was the right decision. It calls for a fire fighter. And the first weeks produced a lot of bureaucratic overkill that made my life more miserable than it hat to be – challenging and fun as these weeks were.

What I discussed with family and friends is actually the thought, why bureaucrats are that way. Why is it, that they require reports and statistics on obviously clear things? Why do they knowingly destroy instead of create? I will never truly understand it, but we are all facing them, so the bureaucrats are somewhat a part of life we got to live with.

Some discussions on LinkedIn address the same topic. What makes a “leader”? My first ever boss told me some basic rules:

Keep your supplier in mind. Only if you pay decently he will produce good work and only then he will remain your supplier. And suppliers are a small family always – they know each other. So once you go the cheap route, you will have trouble getting decent quality.
A leader decides. Get as much data at as short time as possible and decide. Sometimes you have no data. Trust your experience. Some call it “intuition”. It’s as good a guide than any made-up figures. Future holds no guarantees.

Thinking about the last sentence: We all learned that lesson well last year, did we not? But one sentence is also true and may make the bureaucrats happy. We do need the bean counters. They shall question us. We better have a good idea, what we are doing. But we are here to do something. Not to count the beans.

08.03.2009 Aviation

Fresh Breeze at Erfurt Airport

Many of you have heard or seen that I became responsible Head of Marketing at Erfurt Airport. It was a very busy first week, we all face ITB next week and sure it is a lot of new faces and there is also a lot to do. This airport is an excellently located international airport in the heart of Germany. As you can see on the image, it is rather modern and supports CAT IIIb Instrument Landing. Air freight facilities as well as the four large car rental firms and a General Aviation Terminal complete the excellent impression.

Addressing the necessity to give the airport a positive reputation and position it in its due place on the map of international aviaiton, the airport has received a new management in the past months: Matthias Köhn has been managing the Kiel Airport before, after a six months transition period he is now the General Manager at Erfurt Airport. The second key position, the Manager Operations (Verkehrsleitung) is taken over by Susann Hörl, before having been General Manager at Jena’s Air Field. With Marketing now in my hands, we have an excellent and competent team to properly address the necessary changes to position Erfurt locally, nationally and internationally as a reliable and valuable partner to airlines, travel managers, travel agencies and all other partners. As this is a long-term, full-time commitment, please see my address changes reflected on the website already and coming up. Pending jobs at Barthel.eu Consulting are taken over by excellent partners I have worked with for many years and who are competent in the required jobs. And I am sure that more news will be addressed before the end of the month.

I appologize to the readers, I have no real “Food For Thought” this week. If you have topics you think I shall address, please let me know!

So yes. Food For Thought: What do you wish me to address?

01.03.2009 Aviation

The Power of Regional Airports

There was quite some buzz the last weeks as I decided to take over my new job at a regional airport (more details I assume to be allowed to release next Sunday). Aren’t they doomed, especially in today’s crisis?

In addition, the Russian regional airports project develops well, Russia is very well aware of the need of regional airports.

So no. I do not agree. I do see regional airports to prosper. Not with point to point traffic, but feeding into the international hubs. Time remains a necessity. Four hours ground travel time are about the maximum business allows before air travel becomes a business case. Some will find their niche, even maybe a major one as I suggested to the Saratov PTBs as part of my side study on their situation. Which is a good example for other communities and their airports.

I also got the new figures of airport developments this month and I find quite interesting examples where and how airports position themselves. Globalization is here and air travel is vital to many businesses for sheer survival – may it be scheduled, charter or freight!

My example in the past years: Compare sizes of cities in the world with the existing of an airport and air travel. It’s a mutual development. But only cities with an airport having good flight connections nearby prosper. And I started in the business booking VIP passengers from the U.S. on the precedessors of Eurowings and other small airlines – flying little Cessna’s in scheduled service between Frankfurt and Paderborn, Dortmund and other such cities.

Food For Thought…