Inside the Qantas IOC: Managing major disruptions
Let's start with the basics – what constitutes a "major disruption" from an IOC perspective?
A major disruption occurs when we are unable to transport a considerable number of passengers to their destination within a reasonable time from their original plan.
Recently we had around 11,000 passengers disrupted across multiple international ports including Singapore, Sydney, Johannesburg and Los Angeles. This was due to a varying issues across the long haul fleets – two examples being an aerobridge making contact with one of our A380 aircraft in Sydney and causing damage to the engine, and another being a mechanical issue with an A380 in Singapore.
What is the difference between a major disruption and a crisis?
The key difference between a crisis and a major disruption is how they develop, but the two may overlap depending on the circumstances. A crisis typically starts with a clearly defined trigger event. Major disruptions on the other hand build over time and involve multiple passengers and multiple factors. The scale and consequences usually take longer to develop and cascade through the network. The major disruption process also assists with the internal communication flow through the crisis framework.
What happens in those critical first 30 minutes when a major disruption is identified?
The build up of disruption factors is observable over time. The IOC makes the call to activate a Major Disruption Team (MDT) when it's recognised that the situation is moving beyond what can be managed locally. Even though a disruption might start in one location like Singapore, we must think about the flow-on consequences across our entire network. The MDT brings together airport staff, engineering, crew scheduling, customer journey teams, flight dispatch, and corporate communications (to list a few) both onshore and offshore. It more covers logistics and operational issues, whereas as a Crisis Management Team is usually involved in a safety and/or security event. It also can further assist team members across the business units and throughout the network in developing a shared mental model of the situation, its scale, the plan and their interaction to achieve the optimum resolution. For us, successful resolution does not permit a 100% option, but rather a series of trade offs that minimise the overall disruption to the customer.
What are the immediate priorities once the MDT is activated?
The primary purpose is:
- Framing the issue
- Defining objectives and measures
- Inviting alternatives
- Estimating consequences
- Evaluating trade-offs
- Selecting the optimal path
- Assigning actions and implementation
- Monitoring – how are we tracking against the plan and what needs to be adjusted.
How do you approach decision-making during these high-pressure situations?
Experience plays a crucial role combined with robust, adaptable structures and processes.
The key considerations tend to be repetitive across different events. Within my team we have a Manager of IOC Operations and their responsibility is to chair these meetings, bringing everyone together, and creating that shared mental model I mentioned earlier. From there, we develop a plan in consultation with all the specialists we've brought together. Everyone's input is equally important, sometimes the smallest piece of information is the key, but certain timelines are absolutely critical – engineering timelines, crew availability. We have to distinguish these critical paths and key information in real-time.
Can you walk us through some of the tough decisions you face?
You must be comfortable that 'perfect' is utilising and refining the processes to achieve the optimum possible solution based on the circumstances presented. Rather than focusing on what we might wish for, what could be, or what was. One of the biggest decisions is the trade off between cancelling flights immediately and returning the network to a known state, or managing cascading delays and permitting the disruption to affect all front-line staff and operational performance for multiple days. The Customer team are essential in understanding the scope and consequence. We look at our capability to absorb the delayed customers across the remaining flights. If we don't have the capacity, what do we do with those affected – as making the customers journey as smooth as possible is all of our responsibility.
What about non-conventional solutions – how creative do you get?
We explore every option available. Can we inject spare aircraft, downgrade or upgrade services? Can we route customers via alternative services? Can we engage our partner airlines to move passengers, or is it possible for us to access one of their aircraft to run an ad hoc service on our behalf? For instance, once we had the A380 in Singapore back last week, we upgraded an A330 Sydney to Singapore service to an A380 to support an additional 100 staff and passengers to return home and the Freight team used the opportunity to shift 10,000 kg of freight on the A330 service that was repositioned to support network recovery. Every situation is unique, so we need to think laterally while always keeping the customer front of mind.
How do you keep teams calm and focused during these high-stress situations?
We always revert to our underlying structure and experience. The key is to methodically source the information we need, understand the decisions that need to be made, and recognise the trade-offs involved. Besides, disruption management is our job and we do this each day in varying degrees.
What did you learn from the recent A380 double disruption?
Every event is an opportunity to learn. We actually run monthly post-implementation reviews based on the previous month's customer feedback and operational events. The team gets together and we work through the event and our decision-making process to see how we can further refine our processes and decision making. These reviews are invaluable for continuous improvement as a team.
Anything else to add?
I just want to acknowledge and thank every single team member who stepped up during last week's disruptions. From our airport teams working around the clock to assist customers, to engineering working to get aircraft back in service, crew members adjusting their schedules, especially our customer service teams managing thousands of rebookings, and corporate communications for keeping everyone informed – everyone working together made all the difference. Major disruptions can test us as an organisation, but they also showcase what makes Qantas special: our people and their unwavering commitment to getting our customers on their way safely and efficiently.