Share this post

It takes more than experienced personnel and detailed project management to keep Alaska’s Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC) operating smoothly on a daily basis. Whether it involves coordinating shutdowns and reroutes during a decade-long capital improvement project, or maintaining taxiways and runways after a heavy Alaskan snowfall, the employees at ANC take pride in keeping this major international cargo hub operational no matter what obstacles industry regulations or Mother Nature put in its way. 

“We have a very positive culture here at the airport that never ceases to amaze me,” Airport Manager John Parrott says. “It’s not just a bunch of folks clocking in and clocking out. They do their jobs with a smile on their face. 

“It is a nice place to work not just because of management, but because of the culture from the top to the bottom,” Parrott adds. “We’re blessed with a team that operates that way, and I do whatever I can to keep that going.”

For more than 50 years, ANC has played a role in the growth of Anchorage and the state of Alaska. The airport’s location in Anchorage – less than 9.5 hours away from 90 percent of the industrial world – has made it the second-busiest landed cargo aircraft receiver in the United States and fifth in the world in cargo throughput. The airport served more than 5 million passengers in 2010, and it is responsible for more than 18,000 direct and indirect jobs throughout Anchorage.

Increasing Capacity

ANC just completed a 10-year capital improvement project that allows it to receive new, larger aircraft under the Design Group VI (DGVI) designation. This designation is required to accept the Boeing 747-8 and Airbus A380 models, which many courier companies have started using for their logistics services. 

To earn this designation, ANC had to widen and strengthen its runways and taxiways while staying open for business throughout the program. This required a decade-long phased plan that brought each runway and taxiway up to FAA standards when it came time for scheduled maintenance like resurfacing. It cost ANC $102 million to upgrade Runway 7R and taxiways K and Y for DGVI aircraft.

During the same 10-year period, ANC also rebuilt its terminal for $350 million in two phases and completed several other significant improvements.

Throughout the course of these projects, Parrott and his team had to maintain operations of the airport with no interruptions. ANC managed to stay open through road closures, terminal remodeling and construction reroutes that affected employees and passengers alike. 

“It was just an incredible coordination effort between the airport, contractors, regulatory agencies, airlines and passengers,” Parrott says. “We had to make sure we never allowed different contractors to put us in a position where we couldn’t get there from here.”

ANC managed to complete its capital improvements for the DGVI designation, but it almost proved to be a moot point. Parrott says Federal Express and UPS eventually decided not to use the Airbus A-380 aircraft. 

However, numerous other carriers added the Boeing 747-8 models to their fleets, the first of which arrived in mid-December 2011. “If we wanted to stay relevant as a cargo hub, we had no choice but to be Design Group VI compatible,” Parrott says. “It was a case of if we don’t, these aircraft will not land here.”

24/7 Operations

As the competition grows and profit margins dwindle, an airport must remain open and operational despite the worst of the weather elements. This is why the airfield maintenance crew takes great pride in its snow removal program, which has earned four Balchen/Post awards from the American Association of Airport Executives. 

“The airfield maintenance crew takes great pride that we don’t close for snow because they consider this their airport,” Parrott says. “They make it their responsibility to make sure their friends and family can get in and out of the state through this airport.”

ANC also benefits from a nearby sister airport that also is a part of the international airport system and that can receive diverted traffic when issues arise. With just a 10-degree change of heading and a 10-minute difference in flight time, ANC and Fairbanks International Airport work together to offers safe landings when there is a problem with one or the other location. Considering ANC and Fairbanks International never have been closed in 50 years, airlines sending their jets 9 hours across the Pacific Ocean can be certain their aircraft will arrive safely in Alaska.

“We’re separated by a mountain range, but we’re easily within the flight time,” Parrott says. “This provides a level of surety that airlines appreciate.”

This is just one of the ways Parrott works with the movers and shakers of the Alaskan aviation industry. He explains that he regularly collaborates with Marc Luiken, commissioner of the Alaskan Department of Transportation and Public Facilities; Steven Hatter, deputy commissioner of Aviation; and Jesse VanderZanden, airport manager of Fairbanks International Airport.

Despite operating a statewide government agency, these individuals bring an entrepreneurial attitude to Alaska’s international airport system, Parrott says. They work together to determine how to increase revenues at the airports to continue growing the state’s overall economy.

“Even though we are part of the state, we need to and must and want to look at ourselves as a business,” Parrott says. “We must find better ways to operate and more efficient ways to operate, as well as enable our tenants to operate more efficiently and more economically and contribute positively to their bottom line.”