The impact of COVID-19 related flight reductions on bird prevalence and behaviour at Manchester Airport, UK, and the implications for airport management
Lucy Budd , George Bloor , Stephen Ison , Mohammed Quddus
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Airport management is a complex and multifarious activity, involving many operators including airlines, retailers and ground handlers, and processes. The presence of wildlife at airports poses a safety risk to aircraft operations and as such managing wildlife hazards is a mandatory legal responsibility. This is important not only from a safety perspective but also from the fact that safety incidents can impact the operational efficiency and the reputation of an airport. Airport operators are required to devise and enact site-specific Wildlife Hazard Management Plans (WHMP) to reduce the risk of aircraft-wildlife interaction under normal airport operating conditions. The COVID-19 pandemic, however, led to an unprecedented reduction in commercial air traffic and the partial or total suspension of flights at some airports. The aim of this paper is to examine the impact of COVID-19 related flight reductions on bird prevalence and behaviour and the potential implications for airport management. Drawing on an empirical dataset of wildlife observations at Manchester Airport, UK, in 2019 and 2020, this paper details the airfield ornithology before and during the pandemic and examines the impact of COVID-19 related flight reductions on bird prevalence and behaviour. The findings reveal variations in the frequency and apparency of individual species as well as changes in the spatial location of bird sightings on the airfield. The paper concludes by discussing the implications of these findings for post-pandemic operations and for the formulation of future airport wildlife hazard management policies.
期刊介绍:
Research in Transportation Business & Management (RTBM) will publish research on international aspects of transport management such as business strategy, communication, sustainability, finance, human resource management, law, logistics, marketing, franchising, privatisation and commercialisation. Research in Transportation Business & Management welcomes proposals for themed volumes from scholars in management, in relation to all modes of transport. Issues should be cross-disciplinary for one mode or single-disciplinary for all modes. We are keen to receive proposals that combine and integrate theories and concepts that are taken from or can be traced to origins in different disciplines or lessons learned from different modes and approaches to the topic. By facilitating the development of interdisciplinary or intermodal concepts, theories and ideas, and by synthesizing these for the journal''s audience, we seek to contribute to both scholarly advancement of knowledge and the state of managerial practice. Potential volume themes include: -Sustainability and Transportation Management- Transport Management and the Reduction of Transport''s Carbon Footprint- Marketing Transport/Branding Transportation- Benchmarking, Performance Measurement and Best Practices in Transport Operations- Franchising, Concessions and Alternate Governance Mechanisms for Transport Organisations- Logistics and the Integration of Transportation into Freight Supply Chains- Risk Management (or Asset Management or Transportation Finance or ...): Lessons from Multiple Modes- Engaging the Stakeholder in Transportation Governance- Reliability in the Freight Sector