A Day in the Life: Airport Operations

What is OPS?

Airport Operations, or more commonly referred to as "OPS" is a department within the airport tasked with coordinating the day to day operations of the airport. The responsibilities of a larger airport operations department are traditionally separated in to two job roles "landside" and "airside." This separation does exist for the Long Beach Airport (LGB) operations team, however they do switch between the two roles as needed. Air-side responsibilities can include taxiway/runway inspections, airfield patrol, clearing foreign object debris (FOD), and wildlife management. Land-side responsibilities can include facility inspections (including parking facilities), maintaining relationships with the airlines, maintenance coordination, and ensuring a smooth passenger flow in the terminal. Airport OPS is constantly working throughout the day to ensure that travelers have a seamless and safe experience at LGB.

Our Day with LGB Airport Operations Specialist, Janice

Janice's morning air-side OPS shift begins at 6 a.m. with a full airfield inspection. This inspection requires her and her team to look at every taxiway, runway, and lighting system that LGB has on-site. The bulk of our shift with Janice was spent patrolling the airfield. On these patrols, Janice looks for anything out of the ordinary like a broken fence or animals on the airfield. OPS also looks for items such as broken or burned out lights, cracks and potholes in pavement, faded paint or signs, foreign object debris (FOD), and rubber buildup on the runway when they inspect the airfield. Occasionally, OPS will receive requests from the Tower to assist with items such as pilot reported FOD or a disabled aircraft (most often a tire that has gone flat). Each of these items is carefully logged, and if needed, reported to other airport departments such as engineering. Janice and her team complete their inspection before the opening of LGB's main runway each morning. During and after inspection, Janice is also on the lookout for any unexpected tall items on the horizon, such as construction cranes, that may have been placed overnight. If she finds something unexpected, a member of OPS is dispatched from the airfield to gather information about the site. OPS directs the site owner to file the proper paperwork with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) so pilots can be alerted to the potential hazard. After her morning inspections, Janice shifts her focus to the airport NOTAMs (Notice to Airmen) for the day. These NOTAMs inform pilots of irregular conditions at the airport such as construction, non-functional lighting, and potential hazards to the airport. Janice and her OPS team ensure that the published NOTAMs match the current conditions at the airport, and make changes as needed to ensure the safety of flights in and out of LGB. According to Janice, assisting a disabled aircraft requires quick thinking and often involves garnering assistance from one of the airports fixed base operators (FBOs) or maintenance companies. Throughout Janice's shift she is constantly monitoring both airport police radio, and air traffic control frequencies. This alerts her of anything happening at the field, and ensures quick response to any problems that may arise. While on the job, Janice is required to maintain contact with air traffic control (ATC). When her work requires her to enter a movement area, such as a taxiway or runway, she must contact ATC for permission. This enables ATC to keep her, and the airplanes on the field, safely separated. Janice shared her favorite part of her job is the ability to interact with the many components of aviation. This includes learning about the lesser-known areas of aviation like firefighting. Janice says this is a special perk of working at LGB, due to the unique variety of activity that occurs at the airport.

Job Responsibilities

Operations personnel are commonly called to perform a large variety of tasks, including a few that you may find surprising.

Assisting with wildlife management on airport grounds is one of the many responsibilities given to the OPS team. While you may not think of wildlife as a potential issue at LBG, animals on the field are somewhat common. Birds and larger animals like coyotes find their way on to airport grounds, putting both themselves and the aircrafts at risk. OPS personnel work closely with agencies such as the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), to monitor and relocate wildlife that may find its way onto the airfield.

Another responsibility of Operations is coordinating construction and repair efforts. OPS personnel are often the first to find items in need of repair on the airfield, but their jobs do not end there. A repair as simple as a pothole on a taxiway requires OPS to work with multiple airport departments to ensure the repair is made as quickly as possible. For such a repair, OPS will contact Airport Engineering to develop the best plan for repair, then they coordinate with Air Traffic Control (ATC) and airport tenants to close the taxiway so crews are able to work on the area. If the repair requires outside construction crews, OPS escorts these crews onto the field and ensure security standards are maintained. After the repair, OPS inspects the area; verifies it is free of debris and all lights, signs and paint markings in the area are still visible and functional. This process can become much more complex for large-scale construction projects.   

The OPS department is also responsible for working with various government agencies such as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). As an airport that provides commercial service, LGB is required to maintain elevated standards of operations and facilities. The OPS team works closely with the FAA to ensure these standards are met, and to provide information and feedback that is useful for improving the national aerospace system. Similar data and feedback is provided to the NTSB who use the data to better understand general operations at airports. In addition, OPS is responsible for coordinating the response to an emergency on the airfield and determine which agencies need to be notified after the emergency has concluded.

Passenger flow management also falls within the responsibility of OPS. By working with entities such as the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Airport Police, and airline staff, OPS helps to ensure that passengers are able to flow smoothly through the airport's facilities and their gates. This can become difficult when incidents such as car accidents and medical emergencies occur at the airport. If not handled properly, these situations can slow or stop the flow of cars or passengers through airport facilities, leading to missed flights and unhappy passengers. 

The OPS department works tirelessly on both the airfield and terminal to ensure that you have a safe and smooth experience at LGB. The next time you fly out of LGB, be sure to give those white cars and their drivers a wave!