Case study · Qantas, Melbourne Airport · 2018 to 2021
Stopping an airport, and starting it again.
I ran planning and transformation for Qantas at Melbourne Airport when COVID-19 stopped flying. I helped steer the operation through the shutdown and the staged restart, as part of a broader group effort.
The situation
Qantas is Australia's flagship carrier. As Planning & Transformation Manager I ran transformation, workforce planning and crisis response for its Melbourne Airport operations, with 15 direct reports, and was accountable for the $100m staffing component of the airport's annual operating budget.
The role sat in a matrix: local operations on one side, corporate head office on the other.
What I did
- Shut it down in order, then restarted it in stages. I managed the shutdown and the staged restart of airport operations, as part of the broader group effort.
- Managed the stand-down. 1,200+ staff were stood down over 14 months.
- Negotiated through it. Across 2 unions and 3 Enterprise Bargaining Agreements.
- Delivered a major change to ground operations. I managed the local delivery of a major change to Melbourne Airport ground operations arising from a national review, overseeing change management and operational continuity.
- Kept improving the operation. Operational redesign and headcount optimisation delivered $3.2m in transformation benefits over three years. I also ran the Workforce Planning Centralisation project, which moved a distributed function to head office with $5m in associated benefits.
- Stepped up. I acted as Head of Melbourne Airport on two occasions, with full operational accountability for the hub.
Before this
I had spent the previous three and a half years as Customer Experience Manager at the same airport: 38,000 daily passengers, 200+ flights, and the sole senior operational leader on shift. That is where on-time performance rose by 5 points and NPS by 15 points, year on year.