Model for measuring airport innovation

Abstract

Identifying and measuring innovation at airports becomes necessary not only to point out theelements of its management or infrastructure to be improved, but also to raise opportunities for innovation, with the aim to collaborate for the best efficiency of air transport. In this sense, this study concerns innovation management applied to airports given the limitations in the state of the art related to measuring innovation in this type of organization. The integrated perception of different airport stakeholders has been collected from a survey with 70 Brazilian professionals specialized in the subject, namely researchers, airports, airlines, and the aeronautics industry managers, in a proposal to measure the level of airport innovation from different indicators. The results proposed an algorithm for an Airport Integrated Innovation Index (AI3), composed by 38 measurable variables related to innovation practices, procedures, and infrastructure elements such as new biometric passenger identification systems, real-time passenger flight tracking systems, new types of runway pavement, and actions to reduce airport operational restrictions. This model can be used in airports of different categories (national or international) and sizes (small, medium, or large). It may be adapted for different countries and contexts according to their markets and organizational cultures.