How have Pearson’s operations evolved since the pandemic?

Read this Q&A with Susan Peric, GTAA’s Director of Airport Operations, to learn how our operations and culture have evolved at Pearson over the last several years – and for an inside look at how we are driving on-time performance!

How would you describe your role in running operations at Pearson?

As the Director of Airport Operations at GTAA, I oversee various teams that monitor daily operations, manage our gating systems, and plan and coordinate our emergency response. Put simply, my job is to ensure all airport teams are performing their duties, following their planned procedures, and implementing contingency or emergency plans during any incidents that could affect our operations.

My team is also working in the background as an integrator – connecting all the dots between our 50 + airport operations partners – so our operations continue to flow smoothly. When incidents do arise, we deploy solutions, or even initiate an emergency response if necessary.

Is there anything about your role that might surprise other teams at the airport?

Anyone working at Pearson knows that one issue can have a ripple effect on other areas of our operation – but it might surprise people to know how closely we analyze these things and the information-sharing role my team plays across the airport.

Consider this: heavy traffic on the 409 or lane closures on the 401 could result in a significant number of passengers checking in late and employees arriving late for their shifts. This, in turn, affects baggage handling and security screening processes, potentially leading to delays in pushback time. These events cannot be viewed in isolation as they create a chain reaction – a domino effect. We’re looking 12 steps ahead to ensure we are prepared for what’s coming and everyone is aware, so we can minimize the impact on our on-time performance.

So far this summer, Pearson has achieved about a 20% improvement in on-time performance compared to the same period last year, despite seeing higher passenger volumes. What are we doing differently?

On-time performance can be influenced by a number of factors, including weather, partner staffing levels and more. While some of these factors may be outside of our control, we can absolutely point to some things we are doing differently. First, the GTAA and our partners, including ground handlers, agencies and airlines, had the opportunity to not just hire more staff – but also to ensure they had more training and practice before the influx of summer passengers. Teams know exactly what they need to do in order to implement their contingency plans and keep things moving. When things go wrong – be it an IT or mechanical issue – manpower is always the solution. We and our partners not only have the people now, but we also have some tenure.

The way the GTAA works with our partners has also changed coming out of the pandemic. We have an airport-wide culture that’s more open. We’re looking inward and having hard conversations with each other to resolve issues. Everyone has shown their dedication to constant improvement.

Lastly, our teams are on high alert like we haven’t been before – we’ve been fast and nimble to resolve issues the moment they start to emerge, before they have the potential to impact our operations. We’re monitoring our performance data in real-time to help identify these situations early and act on them quickly.

There are lots of stories of teams at Pearson coming together and going above and beyond for our passengers over the last couple of years, embodying the “I Am Toronto Pearson” mentality. Do you have any stories like that?

I have many stories like that. One sticks out – it was Christmas Eve last year. We had incredibly high passenger volumes and many partners were not yet fully staffed following the pandemic. There were many planes that couldn’t have their baggage offloaded. In over three decades of working at Pearson, I’ve never seen something like that.

I sent a text to my team asking if any of them could even spare an hour or two to help out. I arrived to see that every single person on my team had shown up – with many of them dressed up for family dinners or events. We got to work resolving the baggage backlog as best we could. We didn’t do it alone. The airport community came together – security guards, airline employees, baggage cart staff and more. We knew there were Christmas gifts in those bags and people waiting to get to their families. It makes me emotional to think of this night and the dedication of our teams.

Now in August, more than halfway through summer, do you have a message for your airport colleagues?

We’ve come so far, and we need to stay the course. We need to remain to be proactive and quick to act. We also need to continue the open dialogue and conversations between our airport partners. Let’s finish this summer strong.

The GTAA is driving-on time performance through leveraging data, greater collaboration with our partners and re-imagining our processes. We’re continually looking for new ways to improve our on-time performance for passengers across the airport. If you have ideas that haven’t yet been explored, we want to hear from you! Share your ideas here.