Alaistair has an extensive CV of interesting projects since graduating with a degree in Electronics and Microprocessor Engineering in 1986. A selection of projects are outlined below. Feel free to contact me for any detailed CV requests.
Multi-Airport Operational Database (Multi-AODB)
Alaistair led the solution development and bid management for a new country wide multi-airport operational database. This innovative approach centralises all of the core airport operational systems from across the country into a single IT environment.
The solution provides AODB, Stand Planning, Resource Management and FIDS in a next generation architecture shared across all the airports as part of one of the world’s largest shared AODB deployments.
The platform also provides the basis for innovative data sharing, A-CDM and shared situational awareness across the region.
Airport Security Screening SLA Consultancy
Alaistair has developed and delivered airport security queue measurement and SLA management solutions since 2008. In particular, some airports have stringent SLAs imposed by the various government regulators. The solutions delivered ensure that airports can demonstrate all security queue SLAs are being achieved, saving them €Millions per year. Alaistair has also worked closely with airports and their government regulators directly to ensure that measurement techniques were validated, verified and clearly demonstrated and provide substantially more reliable results that any other measurement techniques available.
Passenger Tracking and Passenger Experience
In response to growing regulation and SLA’s at airport security areas, Alaistair led the development and deployment of the world’s first passenger tracking and automated wait time measurement solutions in 2008.
These solutions tracked passenger’s mobile devices as they passed through the airport terminal, allowing the complete passenger journey, including walk times, dwell times and queue times to be measured 24×7.
Since then, the solutions have developed from early prototype technologies to mature solutions tracking up to 30% of passengers using WiFi, thermal image counters and video analytics. Projects have been installed at 30 major international airports worldwide.
In 2012, Alaistair led the deployment of the world’s first combined WiFi and Bluetooth based passenger tracking and automated wait time solution as part of a major North American airport’s guest experience programme.
Service Delivery Management
Following on from the deployment of passenger tracking solutions worldwide, Alaistair led the team developing a comprehensive service delivery measurement system for one of the world’s largest and fastest growing international hub airports. The solution saw up to 1000 sensors being deployed across over 100 key passenger processes throughout the airport.
The solution also integrated many additional data sources from metal detectors, X-ray machines, car parks, check-in and boarding systems to provide a complete analysis on the terminal operations.
Airport Separation Strategic Consultancy
The airport industry has seen a rise in the consolidation, sell-off and acquisition of a number of airports by various airport groups. These transactions also see a major upheaval in the airport’s operational IT systems.
During recent separations, an airport’s key AODB was already a local implementation. However, many of the associated interfaces and external solutions were closely integrated with systems across the airport group. The airport also took the opportunity to replace many of the legacy solutions in place during the separation.
Alaistair worked with the separation team to develop the separation strategy for key systems including the Airport Data Warehouse and BI, Aeronautical Billing, Human Resource Management and external operational interfaces. Alaistair also worked with the team to develop the requirements for a complete off-site implementation of the core Airport Operational Database and associated systems at remote data centres.
Airline Mobile Boarding
Alaistair demonstrated the world’s first airline boarding pass delivered to a mobile phone to IATA, the airline industry standards body, in 2007. He went on to work closely with the IATA Bar Code Working Group and industry representatives to develop the global standards for airline mobile boarding passes.
Alaistair then worked closely with a UK airline, airports and the UK Department for Transport to develop procedures, systems integration and airport readiness trials to launch Europe’s first production mobile boarding pass solution.
Reduced Aircraft Vertical Separation (RVSM)
Alaistair worked with European regulators and ANSPs to develop solutions and successfully demonstrate aircraft height keeping accuracy for the introduction of RVSM over the North Atlantic and European airspaces. Previous to the introduction of RVSM, aircraft flew at flight levels separated by 2,000 feet.
To increase capacity, ANSPs wished to reduce the vertical separation to 1,000 feet if it could be shown that modern avionics could maintain aircraft heights to sufficient accuracy.
The solution worked by passive multi-lateration radar of the aircraft Mode-S transponder responses to a number of GPS synchronised ground stations.
Up to 100 aircraft could be tracked simultaneously and their height keeping and altimeter accuracy determined against a real time mathematical model of the prevailing barometric height conditions. This allowed individual aircraft to be certified for operation within RVSM.
Read more about RVSM here.