Airport Director EA FAQs — Why do 150 IT Projects ≠ Airport Enterprise Architecture?
- Sunil Dutt Jha
- 6 days ago
- 5 min read
Updated: 3 days ago
Most airports still treat Enterprise Architecture as an IT exercise, which is why EA efforts don’t change terminal throughput, on-time departures, passenger congestion, security wait times, asset utilisation, concession revenue, or safety outcomes.
Airport EA ≠ Airport IT.
This Director EA FAQ explains where traditional EA breaks down and how a true enterprise anatomy reveals the structure that IT alone cannot see, align, or repair.
It explains the logic of shadow anatomies, 12 airport use cases, and the One Airport One Anatomy™ advantage.
Q1: Why do 150 IT projects ≠ Airport Enterprise Architecture?
Myth:
Airport EA = AODB + FIDS + baggage systems + security systems + airport operations platforms.
Reality:
An airport enterprise operates through 15 departments (D1–D15) such as Airside Operations, Terminal Operations, Slot Coordination, Ground Handling, Security, Immigration & Customs Coordination, Baggage Operations, Facilities & Assets, Safety, Commercial & Concessions, Parking & Landside, Finance, Compliance, and Emergency Management — each with its own P1–P6 execution cycle.
Airport IT is only one department.
EA (IT) ≠ Enterprise Anatomy.
A project inventory cannot show how slot strategy, runway utilisation, terminal flow, security rules, baggage logic, and commercial operations align across the airport.
Q2. Why do so many IT projects fail to represent the airport enterprise?
Because airport IT automates only small fragments of P5 tasks, while the real operating architecture of an airport lives in P1–P4, not in the task layer.
Every airport department operates on a full P1–P6 structure:
P1 (Strategy) defines capacity strategy, hub positioning, service levels, safety posture, and revenue mix.
P2 (Processes) defines slot allocation, aircraft turnaround, passenger flow, baggage handling, security screening, emergency response, and asset maintenance.
P3 (System logic) defines runway sequencing rules, gate allocation logic, security thresholds, baggage routing rules, priority handling, and exception flows.
P4 (Component Spec) defines slot tables, gate plans, terminal layouts, baggage rulesets, SOPs, datasets, and control parameters.
This is the architecture of the airport enterprise.
Most IT projects touch P5 only — automating selected tasks such as displaying flight information, allocating gates, tracking bags, issuing access passes, or reporting incidents — while P1–P4 remains fragmented, manual, or interpreted differently across functions.
The mismatch is structural:
IT systems automate tasks.
Airports operate on operational, safety, and flow architecture (D1-D15 X P1-P4).
Because P1–P4 was never architected:
• gate allocation conflicts with turnaround assumptions
• runway sequencing breaks terminal flow • security priorities vary by checkpoint • baggage routing differs across systems • emergency response logic is inconsistent
• commercial flows conflict with passenger movement
Airport IT does not fail because systems are weak. It fails because it is built on an incomplete representation of the enterprise.
Q3. What drives the high project count in the airport industry?
Airports are constraint-heavy, safety-critical enterprises where every change cascades across departments.
A new airline or route impacts slots, gates, security, baggage, and customs.
A terminal expansion affects passenger flow, assets, staffing, and safety procedures.
A regulatory change alters security rules, access control, and reporting.
A disruption event triggers cascading effects across airside, terminal, and landside operations.
A commercial change affects passenger movement and congestion patterns.
High project count reflects operational and safety complexity, not IT inefficiency.
Q4. What is unique about the airport industry’s 15 Functions (D1–D15)?
Each airport has a distinctive 15-function anatomy (D1–D15 × P1–P6).
Airport highlights:
D1 Airside Operations – governs runway and taxiway utilisation D3 Slot & Gate Coordination – governs allocation and sequencing logic D5 Terminal Operations – governs passenger flow and capacity D7 Security Operations – governs screening and access rules D9 Baggage Operations – governs routing and reconciliation D11 Facilities & Assets – governs availability and lifecycle D13 Safety & Emergency Management – governs response and escalation
These functions generate the strongest P1–P6 drift when not aligned.
Shadow anatomies emerge when functions optimise locally instead of structurally.
Q5. What does P1–P6 look like in the airport industry?
This explains how strategy (P1) → operations (P6) breaks down.
P1 Strategy: hub positioning, capacity growth, service levels, revenue mix.
P2 Process: slot allocation, turnaround, passenger flow, baggage handling, security, emergency response.
P3 Logic: sequencing rules, allocation logic, security thresholds, priority handling.
P4 Components: slot tables, gate plans, layouts, datasets.
P5 Implementation: system transactions, SOPs, dashboards, manual overrides.
P6 Operations: airside, terminal, security teams applying rules differently.
Airport drift occurs when these layers no longer form one integrated sequence.
Q6. We already have extensive architecture documentation. Why redo this?
Myth: More documentation means we understand the enterprise.
Reality: Documentation shows parts of the airport. Enterprise Anatomy shows the airport as one integrated model.
Think of the human body.
It has 11 organ systems. Each has its own role, but none operate independently. They function as one integrated system with thousands of interdependencies.
An airport is the same.
An airport anatomy = 15 Functions (D1–D15) × 6 Perspectives (P1–P6).
Traditional documentation describes systems, manuals, and SOPs separately — but never shows:
• how slot strategy drives terminal congestion • how security rules affect throughput • how baggage logic impacts on-time performance
• how emergency rules override normal operations
• where structural fragility originates
You get a library — not a model.
One Airport One Anatomy™ collapses complexity into one integrated enterprise model.
Q7. How do we evolve from EA (IT) → EA (Departments) → One Airport One Anatomy™?
Most organisations stop at EA = IT architecture.
The next evolution is:
Step 1: Elevate EA (IT)
Create the P1–P4 model of Airport IT itself — IT strategy, IT processes, IT logic, IT components.
Step 2: Create EA (Departments)
Map 15 airport functions end-to-end (P1–P6).
Step 3: Create One Airport One Anatomy™
Unify all departmental models into one enterprise anatomy governing airside, terminal, landside, safety, and commercial operations.
This is where drift stops — and operational predictability returns
Q8. What can One Airport One Anatomy™ do that traditional EA cannot?
Traditional EA documents systems. It cannot see that every airport function operates its own shadow anatomy.
In reality:
• Airside runs one set of sequencing rules
• Terminal ops manage passenger flow differently
• Security applies local priority logic
• Baggage systems optimise independently
• Commercial teams shape movement patterns separately
• Emergency teams override rules case-by-case
Across terminals, shifts, and operators, this creates hundreds of shadow anatomies.
Traditional EA documents this fragmentation. One Airport One Anatomy™ replaces it.
It establishes:
• one shared P1 capacity and service intent • one P2 operational flow across airside and terminal • one P3 logic layer for sequencing, security, and flow rules • one P4 definition of layouts, datasets, and controls • aligned P5 execution • predictable P6 operations
This allows airports to address enterprise-wide failures and department-specific issues using the same structural model.
That is something traditional EA cannot do — because it never models the airport as one integrated operating anatomy.
How it Impacts the 12 Core Airport Use Cases
Using One Airport One Anatomy™, airports can address failures across:
Slot & Capacity Management
Runway & Gate Utilisation
Aircraft Turnaround
Passenger Flow & Congestion
Security Screening Throughput
Baggage Handling Accuracy
Disruption & Emergency Response
Asset & Facility Utilisation
Landside & Parking Operations
Commercial & Concession Performance
Safety & Regulatory Compliance
End-to-End Passenger Experience
With One Airport One Anatomy™, these use cases become predictable and controllable — because they run on one enterprise logic stack.
If EA remains limited to IT, Airport continues to drift — rule by rule, service by service, region by region. The Airport operations regains coherence only when its entire P1–P6 structure is mapped as One Airport One Anatomy™.
If you’d like a diagnostic walk-through of how this applies to your environment, write to us and we will prepare it.