A Cognitive Analysis of Airport Operations

This project uncovers and analyzes the important tasks of employees at an FBO, which is a smaller section of the airport that provides services like fueling, maintenance, and amenities. For the purposes of this project, interviews were conducted with the line service technicians and the customer service representatives. Through the interviewing process, “hidden” workarounds of the customer service representatives were discovered. Interviews are often a helpful method to uncover these “hidden” processes, that may otherwise lead them to believe that operations at the company are being conducted “by the book.” However, the workarounds that employees create for themselves are often very helpful additions more efficiently completing their tasks. The findings were presented in a Cognitive Task Analysis (CTA) diagram. Additionally, the findings from the interviews could have positive implications for future training and development of the employees.