Foundationally, common use is an operating philosophy that refers to the use of facilities, services, and infrastructure in a shared manner by multiple airport stakeholders (such as airlines, federal agencies, business partners, concessionaires, and any other entities doing business at the airport). What makes a common use approach so beneficial is the operational flexibility it enables.
The flexibility enabled by a common use approach can greatly improve the efficiency of airport operations, perhaps most evidently when applied to terminal management. Put simply, when an area is statically leased or dedicated to an airline, space will go unused much more often than it would otherwise need to be. One airport operator thinking of terminal expansion said, ”Why build a new airside terminal facility when we could use what we have more efficiently?” This idea can be applied to the entire ecosystem beyond just terminal management.
The need for flexibility in operations was abundantly evident during the COVID-19 pandemic, given the massive changes in passenger flows and flight adjustments.
A common use program can also benefit customer service by working with airline partners to spread flights across their facilities to ensure areas are not overbooked, leaving passengers sitting on the floor, unable to get food or recharge devices, and waiting for the restrooms. This leads to less money spent and the build-up of a very negative perception of the airport and the overall travel experience.
A common use approach has wide-ranging impacts, affecting all stakeholders-many in a very fundamental way. For example, a change in the check-in/bag drop hall (enabled by common use), which moves an airline to another location, also changes its curb drop-off location. This impacts signage, landside operations, and perhaps even roadway congestion, particularly during peak periods. In fact, such a move could also consist of a shift from one terminal to another, necessitating a change to roadway signage to ensure that both passengers and meeters and greeters find their way to the correct terminal, often via their transportation network company, taxi, or friend/relative drop-off.
A holistic approach to common use involves all impacted stakeholders-and these truly extend across the entire airport ecosystem to ensure each element of the operation and customer experience is considered and properly managed.
To what can this operating philosophy of holistic common use be applied? Well…potentially everything. Figure 1.1 provides a summary of what could be on the table at your airport-the specifics just depend on your needs.
Figure 1.1: The Range of Common Use Possibilities
When you look at this list, you are probably already ruling out that proprietary terminal that ”has been and always will be” dedicated to (Fill-In-The-Blank) Airlines. But even in this case, a holistic common use program has a role to play; specifically, the program leaders need to drive the consideration that the predominant airline may be leaving gates (or other critical space) unused or may, over time, reduce their activity or even depart altogether.
Progressive airports in this category, dominated by a strong hub airline, often provide a common network on which services (even proprietary services) ride or dynamic signage to be used by all. Some of these airport operators have even moved to a fully common use model with their terminal replacement/remodeling programs, shifting the new facilities over as they come online. Newark is one such example.
Whether in a proprietary or common terminal, consider the elements in the journey before or after the gates. Even in normal periods (e.g., not during a pandemic), airlines will always be riding a veritable roller coaster of events. And if the airport does not own, for example, the janitorial services in the publicly accessible areas, it is possible that the consistency of cleanliness will drop in locations that the airlines manage-both back and front of house. Another major consideration is the network. The airport can have trained staff ready to deal with airport-owned equipment in a way that may not be possible with equipment owned by other stakeholders. Another place where a disconnect can occur is concession planning. The airport can implement a consistent program after researching different business models and desires related to specific passenger demographics.
In the mid-1980s-early 2000s, several airports began using systems that enabled flexible use of check-in, gate, and ramp locations among various airlines. The term ”common use” got its start with the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which coined the phrase Common Use Terminal Equipment (CUTE) in establishing their Recommended Practice 1797. When an airport procured common use, this range of systems is what they implemented, typically including the following:
This is ”The Box” of common use, as summarized in Figure 1.2.
