Just a few months ago, on November 18, 2022, on the runway of the Jorge Chávez Airport in Lima, a fire truck was hit by a plane from Latam Peru, causing a serious accident that resulted in the unfortunate death of 2 firefighters, who were piloting the impacted truck. It is very difficult to explain how the fire truck crossed the runway just as the plane was preparing to take off. The whole incident revealed serious technological and coordination problems between Lima’s airport actors. Something like this cannot happen in a place like an International Airport that serves as a gateway for passengers and goods. However, we know well that it is very difficult and complex to achieve the high levels of coordination necessary to manage a device such as the Airport, which acts both as critical infrastructure and as a cultural icon of globalization and modernity.
Much of what was stated in the previous paragraph, although clearly in another horizon of intentionality, applies to the recent tragic incident that affected the Arturo Merino Benítez Airport in Santiago a couple of days ago. As is public knowledge, on Wednesday, March 8, at approximately 08:10 am, an armed commando burst into an operation to unload a Delta Airlines plane (from Miami), with the aim of appropriating a shipment of 32 million dollars destined for Chilean financial institutions. The millennium assault finally failed thanks to the active resistance provided by the agents of the General Directorate of Civil Aeronautics (DGAC). The criminals fled in disarray, leaving one of their own dead on the track. Also killed in the line of duty was Claudio Villar, one of the DGAC officials who repelled the attack. It is not the first time that Santiago Airport has experienced spectacular armed assaults. This time the criminal operation was thwarted, but other times in the past this has not been the case.
Once the first impression has passed, questions arise that allow us to reflect and improve, even if they are uncomfortable: how can 3 vans manned by at least 10 armed men access the runway where planes are being unloaded? Is it prudent to transport 32 million dollars in tickets on a commercial passenger plane?Does cargo transport receive a high standard of attention in an airport like Santiago, designed primarily for passenger transport?
Beyond the specific conditions associated with security issues, one of the many sources of complexity at airports, to answer the above questions we must focus on the way in which the multiple organizations that are interacting 24/7 relate to make Santiago airport a safe space. Modern, efficient and effective in the transport of passengers and air cargo. DGAC officials explain it very well, at the Santiago airport there are different units associated with security with control and supervision powers. All of them, for a high safety condition to emerge, must be finely coordinated with each other.
We can say that, together with its central mission (air transport), the main challenge of an inter-organizational space or system such as the airport is to optimize coordination between different and differentiated actors. In order for large numbers of passengers and significant volumes of cargo to leave and enter every day, multiple private and public organizations must be able to communicate in an agile and efficient way so that each process transits in the best possible way. The tragic events of last Wednesday 8 show the shortcomings and challenges, and must also be understood as an opportunity to optimize coordination instances that can be crystallized in specific and relevant governance models. In the particular case of Santiago airport, as there are public and private organizations with different interests that need to couple together to achieve their own objects, there is an opportunity to produce a type of governance based on dynamic collaboration, in addition to market mechanisms and centralized management of the State.
Coordination based on dynamic collaboration between organizations can be an important alternative to the challenges of Santiago airport. This dynamic collaboration can facilitate the adoption and adaptation of soluSpecific technology-based measures (especially the development of information technologies) to help optimise coordination between organisations. There is no doubt that today we have technology-based solutions that can make all airport operations traceable and transparent in real time, which increases the reflective capacity, anticipation and adaptation of airport operations to routine and contingent processes. The crystallization of collaborative governance for an inter-organizational system will be given by the ability of organizations to promote collaborative processes, the integration of universities and technology companies to accompany this process, and the belief of public actors that they can adapt to these collaborative solutions and their technological expressions. Together it is possible to transform the Santiago airport into an efficient and safe place, in one of our best business cards in front of the world.
Before ending this column we would like to assess the fact that coordination through dynamic collaboration, through a governance regime in an inter-organizational system, such as the airport, can emerge as a public good. That is, each organization could benefit from these goods and at the same time could strengthen them so that they are available to all. In the FONDEF ID19I10075* project we have carried out a pilot experience of this type and we think that the learning obtained can be extrapolated to optimize coordination at Santiago airport or in spaces with the same characteristics.
*CVN-Logistic: Intelligent and Negotiation Tools for the Generation of Port Community System (PCS).
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The content expressed in this opinion column is the sole responsibility of its author, and does not necessarily reflect the editorial line or position of El Mostrador.
