Building a new Airport

Airport Proposal
Name
Institution
Airport Proposal
AIRPORT OPERATION
Background
The seriousness accorded to airport security can be traced to September 11, 2001 when the Al-Qaeda network of terrorists used four American commercial airlines to destroy the Pentagon and the World Trade Center. This attack on American soil led to an evolution on how aviation security is handled. This evolution was meant to mitigate the threats that were posed on airline and their passengers. The evolution was necessary especially considering the various threats on commercial aviation after September, 11. One of these was the “shoe bomber” conspiracy that took place in December 2001, in which efforts were made to bring down an Israel airline in Kenya the following year, as well as the cargo bomb plots in 2010 among others. In reaction to these events, the American government and numerous other nations have radically heightened airline security measures in an effort to bar or discourage other attacks. In most case, many of such measures are obvious to the public. This includes measures such as the strengthening of cockpit doors, federalizing the airport security screening employees, as well as the establishment of the Transport Security Administration (TSA). Other measures have also included the deployment of federal air marshals (FAMs) as well as the federal flight deck officers (FFDOs) on every flight as well as the introduction of novel detection equipment and ways (Adler, Ülkü, & Yazhemsky, 2013). These new measures have earned both praise and criticism from different quarters.
Operation
Over the years, the government has tried to offer security checkpoint guidelines for General Aviation (GA) passengers. Unlike the commercial airlines, the passengers in General Aviation are better known to the airport personnel, as well as the aircraft operators as opposed to the normal travelers. In most cases, recreational GA commuters are basically allies, family, or contemporaries to the pilot in charge. Charter/sightseeing travelers normally make contact with the pilot or a different flight department staff well before the scheduled flight (Federal Aviation Administration, 2009). During such meetings, any kind of suspicious behavior such as the use of cash for bookings or asking unsuitable questions is noted and alerted to the authorities. In the case of corporate operations, nearly all the people onboard the pilot are not strangers to the pilot (Federal Aviation Administration, 2013). Airport operators should come up with means through which all the people going into the airport can receive guidance into and out of aircraft faction and parking spaces. Before boarding the plane, the pilot on duty should ensure that all the identities of the occupants are verified and that everyone onboard is there by invitation (Transport Security Administration, 2004). Apart from this, the entire luggage onboard should be known to the occupants. This means that the pilot in charge of the plane has the biggest responsibility when it comes to ensuring that the passengers are not a security threat (Raffel, 2014).
Aviation Legislation
There exist different laws that have been enacted by the federal government in terms of security checkpoint in various plane categories. All the planes operating under Part 91 use the regulations outlined by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for operations of small planes with less than nine passengers. Under this category the pilot is the one tasked with designing the security checkpoints for the passengers and the luggage on board (Federal Aviation Administration, 2014). The case is slightly different for Part 121 where an airline is required to come up with screening measures to ensure that no weapons are hidden in cargo or on any passenger onboard. The security checks for Part 121 are therefore a little stringent as compared to those under Part 91 but they are not as stringent as those under Part 135. For Part 135, there are stringent regulations that guide this category. Ideally, Part 135 is comprised of big commercial planes that usually carry passengers. Under this category, there are strict checkpoints that must be adhered to by both the passengers and the passengers. Unlike in Part 91 where the pilot is in charge of overseeing the security, there are special federal bodies that are used to check for security under this category. There are also federal officials who are on board each plane that falls under Part 135 (Federal Aviation Administration, 2014). This is meant to ensure maximum security for the passengers and also to ensure that the planes are not used for terrorist activities such as it happened during the September 11 case.
HUMAN RESOURCE AT THE AIRPORT
Cultural Diversity
Multiculturalism is an appealing and convincing idea. It speaks of a person whose classifications and loyalties go beyond the boundaries of nationalism and whose dedications are pegged on a wider vision of the international community. To be an inhabitant of the world, a global person, has for long been an ideal on which many people strive to attain. However, this ideal does not always work as there are numerous examples in history of totalitarian individuals who try to mould everyone around them to fit their planetary vision (Transportation Research Board, 2009). Naturally, countries, culture, and the community exerts great influence on each person’s life, shaping our viewpoint of the world, and designing our responses to experience. It is hard for people to conduct themselves differently from their cultural experience. Despite this, the conditions in our modern history are designed in such a way that the world is on the threshold of a new kind of individual, an individual who is socially and psychologically a product of the interconnection of cultures in the twenty first century (Kaskel, 2010).
Multiculturalism has demonstrated endurance as a public policy in various nations for many years. Many supporters praise the related advantages and legacies of multiculturalism in the social, financial and cultural sectors of our society. There are also suggestions that multiculturalism is intricate and challenging to manage in a globalized world that has completing and varying agendas. For airports, measuring the impacts and advantages of multicultural guidelines and programs is critical to comprehending what works (Federal Aviation Administration, 2013). This realization led the federal government to adopt a multi-agency approach that is supposed to guide the management of all agencies. This has been crucial especially in the airline industry that draws its clientele across the cultural divide. This approach means that the human resource personnel at the airport are supposed to hire individuals from across the cultural divide to ensure that the loyalty of the workforce transcends their national borders (Kaskel, 2010).
Comprehending corporate multiculturalism offers a chance for organizations to increase productivity, exploit company margins, and develop efficiency. In most cases, organizations have a culture that they adhere to and understanding such a culture is critical as it determines the approach to communication as well as the general direction that the organization takes. There are numerous challenges that organizations face in trying to build multicultural awareness within the airline industry. Understanding these challenges is critical as it determines the airline’s chances of survival in a global environment (DOT, FAA., 1999).
Statistic in Workforce in the Pacific Northwest
According to the United States Census Bureau (2014), the Pacific Northwest region is mainly dominated by whites. The statistics show that this region that mainly covers the Oregon and Washington remained a white dominated society and the people of color are a minority. According to the 2014 estimates, Oregon had 3,970,239 with whites accounting for 88.1% of the population and the rest being non-natives. The same case was replicated in Washington where whites accounted for 81.2% and people of color taking the other percentage. According to these statistics, it would be natural to assume that the workforce in the major airports within this region would be mostly white. This presents a challenge especially considering that these are key travel destinations that are bound to receive travelers that are culturally diverse (United States Census Bureau, 2010).
Communication in Different Cultures
One of the problems that emerge in the various discussions on multiculturalism is that of communication. Ideally, communication across cultures poses various challenges. The major reason for this is because each culture has definite rules that its members do not take seriously. Very few individuals have knowledge about their cultural biases since cultural imprinting emerges from a very young age. While some of the cultural normal and customs are taught openly, the vast and most significant information gets absorbed in the subconscious. The challenge for transnational interaction or communication has never been bigger. Most airlines have realized that intercultural communication remains a significant subject-not just due to enhanced globalization, but also since their domestic workers tend to be more dissimilar, racially and culturally. The possibility of two people from the same culture responding in an identical manner to any issue is minimal. However, generalizations are acceptable to the level where they offer guidelines on what one is likely come across when dealing with people of a certain culture (Gittel, & Kochan, 2006).
For the human resource managers at the airports, this presents a challenge as they deal with clients from across different cultures. In high-context cultures, most of the message is left undetermined and the listeners are supposed to comprehend the message through context and non-verbal signals. This definitely poses challenges for societies from low-context cultures who expect messages to be plain and definite. Knowing how to manage the workforce from such a culturally diverse environment is crucial as it determines the success of the organization in communicating both externally and internally (Baker, Day, & Salas, 2009).
In the Pacific Northwest region time is thought of in a sequential manner, as a linear commodity that can be “saved” or “wasted”. However, there are other cultures that analyze time synchronically, as a steady flow that ought to be valued in the moment and as a force that does not have limitations. These differences in how time is viewed between the two cultures might have an impact on how executives in organizations within these two contexts view issues such as deadlines. Human resource managers should have this realization in mind as it determines that approach that is used when communicating about client concerns (Gittel, & Kochan, 2006).
While some cultures might attach their emotions in the communication process, others do not have this emotional attachment and as such they might fail to understand why individuals from other cultures show emotions during the communication process. It is therefore critical for the human resource manager to recruit staff that has a deep understanding of the cultural diversity of the other employees as well as that of the entire organization. Doing this is crucial as it determines the kind of relationship that the staff will have amongst themselves and the clients (Kaskel, 2010).
In order to tackle the communication issues that arise because of intercultural differences, it becomes crucial to study and analyze the history, religion, norms, traditions, and morals of the other regions. However, an understanding of how others differ from us is not just enough to understand how others differ as there is need for the individual to understand how he differs. The failure to pay attention to these norms tells why many organizations are undergoing challenges in terms of communication. The good thing about the GA airport management is that is comprised of a minimal workforce and for that reason it is easy for the staff and the clients to learn each other’s cultural norms as they interact on a regular basis. However, the problem is intense for a commercial airline as they handle people from diverse cultural backgrounds thus making communication difficult. The only way to beat this communication problem is to foster respect for all cultural differences and to understand that there is no any particular culture that is correct in as far as communication is concerned (Kaskel, 2010).
Ethnic Issues in different Cultures
For a long time, American business people placed their focus on the fundamentals. As long as these fundamentals were focused on, accomplishment in competitive markets was guaranteed. However, serious challenges can emerge in business practice between America and emerging markets if ethical concerns are not taken into consideration. With the shift from domestic-focused ...