Mastering Airport Construction: From Groundbreak to Takeoff

Airports are bustling centers of near-constant activity. Roughly 2.9 million Americans are flying every day — a number that’s only expected to rise. This volume of traffic, from planes to cars to feet, means that infrastructure renovation in airports is almost constantly necessary. 

The process of bidding and completing projects at an airport can be particularly tedious, but this kind of construction work is increasingly essential to our interconnected world. So, the ability to navigate an airport’s red tape has never been a more important or valuable skill. 

This article explores how construction at airports happens, what makes it different from other types of commercial construction and how to best prepare for the lengthy process of completing a job inside an airport.

The Airport Construction Process

The most important tenet of airport construction is to minimize any disruptions in the flow of business. That’s not an easy task, though, since smaller airports generally close late in the evening — and larger, international airports are landing planes on their runways 24 hours a day.

That means most construction work at airports happens overnight when fewer planes are landing — especially if the project is airside, meaning it’s in the part of the airport beyond security where personnel needs a boarding pass to enter.

Working around security and operational concerns is a unique part of contracting at an airport, and general contractors (GCs) should be prepared to persevere through a long planning process that requires oversight and input from many stakeholders, including the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). To be successful, they must be both diligent and detail-oriented.

Airport projects can be large and costly, and there are often huge penalties for not completing them on time. Owners may expect contractors to do whatever needs to be done, including working all hours of the day to get the build finished and ready to use.

Also, since even small airports are usually pretty large, many different types of construction might be needed. Airports require maintenance and renovation of runways and taxiways, which are the “streets” planes drive on before and after landing. Many owners are also constantly looking to build new terminals or renovate old ones, and these large-scale projects may last years. 

Other types of construction might include working on hangars, aprons, air traffic control towers, gates, baggage claim systems, fuel stations, security infrastructure and in-terminal retail shops, among others. Because there are many different projects a crew could take on at an airport, the following examples represent only some of what could happen during the phases of construction. 

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Planning Phase

Airport bids tend to be high. To have the best chance at securing work from a bid, it’s important to understand how much more logistically challenging working at an airport is than other types of construction. The barrier of an airport is like the border of a country. Anything — or anyone — going across that line will need to be approved by the airport authorities and security.

The FAA is the main governing authority for airports, and it lists many Airport Construction Standards on its website. There is no unregulated airspace, which means that even doing a build landside — outside the borders of the security checkpoints — may be subject to regulations, such as how tall a structure can be and what equipment can be used. GCs should also be aware of regional regulations for constructing in and around airports.

Preconstruction Phase

As soon as the bid is secured, it’s time to hit the ground running. During preconstruction, the general contractor must submit for materials, hire a crew, and decide who will be airside and who will not. 

Airside projects in particular require many approvals from airport authorities, starting with how the crew will get to work. To cross into the airfield, workers need to pass a background check and complete an onboarding for both the contracting company and the airport.

Once inside, though, workers still need escorts to the jobsite — typically at a 1:1 ratio, meaning that if 50 crewmembers need to enter for work, 50 must escort them inside the airfield. But this can be made easier if crew members obtain credentials to escort themselves inside the airfield beforehand. This can be a long process, so it’s important to negotiate how many employees will need badges early on. 

In general, workers will need to be flexible with their assignments and should be ready to work any shift to get the job done. Another logistical issue for the workforce is that parking will likely be offsite, far from the actual jobsite, and employees will have to go through security every day. Budgeting time and money reasonably for these issues can reduce the risk of losing workers and getting behind on the project. 

In the same vein, it’s also necessary to consider how, where and when building materials and equipment will be delivered to the job site, as everything that enters is subject to TSA and FAA rules, too. All equipment and materials being brought inside must be registered to the airport.

Lastly, airlines may need to be notified if their services are going to be impacted by the production. Also, if the work is out on the tarmac, it might be necessary to shut down some runways at night. But that’s only possible by coordinating with the airport as well as the FAA, which has an in-depth checklist on the procedure, well in advance. For this, a GC will need to be highly organized, with the right equipment at the ready, or else risk wasting valuable time. 

Construction Phase

It’s tempting to think that having meetings with an airport’s construction management team would slow up during the actual work, but in fact, the opposite is true. It’s common to meet every day throughout the construction phase.

If the GC is not able to get badges authorizing entry to the airport, they’re likely going to be dependent on having escorts for every member of the crew, no matter how large it is.

But even if that is taken care of, airport construction is still an exercise in patience. For safety reasons, working airside requires adhering to the directions of flaggers, who are the work area’s traffic conductors. They take responsibility for every vehicle — flying or driving — on every runway and taxiway. It’s important to budget time for interruptions from them as they maintain the safety of the airfield. 

Post-Construction Phase

Finishing a construction project at an airport is maybe the most similar part of the process to other types of commercial work. Closeout is one of the most important steps in the process to set contractors up for future jobs, so it’s important not to burn out at the finish line. 

There will be a series of inspections, including for fire safety and a certificate of cccupancy, and it’ll also be necessary to complete punch lists of any outstanding work that needs to be finished or corrected before handing the project over to the airport authorities to use.

Since many of these projects are publicly funded with grants from the FAA, more meticulous documentation may be necessary than other types of commercial construction. It may seem like a hassle, but it’s important to ensure that taxpayer money is spent correctly and efficiently. 

Roles and Responsibilities in Airport Construction

Working at an airport requires a lot of input from many stakeholders, including—but not limited to—the following. 

Common Challenges on Airport Projects

Beyond the logistical issues, airports have a couple of unique problems that a GC should be ready for. 

Dangerous Debris

A major part of completing construction in an airport is adhering to an intense environmental regulation that aims to reduce Foreign Object Debris, or FOD. (Sometimes, it’s also referred to as foreign object damage.) FOD isn’t just trash or rubble from the jobsite. It can be anything even the size of a thumbnail that’s leftover on the airfield, including tools and equipment. Most airports do daily sweeps of the airfield to look for FOD, and for good reason. If even a small piece of FOD ends up in a jet engine, it could damage a million-dollar piece of equipment—or worse, pose a hazard to the passengers onboard. 

The GC will be contractually obligated to make sure there’s no FOD ever, failure to do so can result in shutting down operations. This might mean having sweepers onsite at all times, or working with a dedicated clean-up crew.

Planning for Pickiness

Many airports prohibit using equipment that’s not environmentally friendly, which rules out using much older equipment. Remember, GCs will have to submit for clearance from the airport authorities on every piece of machinery they’ll use in advance, so it’s important have a detailed plan for how to move through phases of construction. Anything tall, like a crane, will have to be flagged and may have to be boomed down when not in use. GCs need to know the height of all their equipment, as well as when and how they’ll use it, so that planes don’t risk crashing into it. 

Planning is the key to successful airport construction projects.

Plan thoroughly. An airport construction project is truly airport-sized, requiring a lot more logistical problem-solving than other jobs. One of the worst-case scenarios for a GC is getting a job they’re not actually prepared to do, and these projects are not typical bids. Getting hired to work on an airport is all about maintaining positive relationships with owners and their reps.

By being open to communicating with stakeholders to meet their needs, along with a little old-fashioned grit, it’s possible to break into this lucrative area of business — and secure future gigs. 

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