Lessons from the opening of Terminal 3 at Delhi International Airport

Dr. Govindan Sridharan
Executive Director
Lessons from the Commissioning of Terminal 3, IGI Airport, New Delhi
GMR Airports is amongst the
Top 5 Private Airport Operators in the World
GMR Airports
Delhi
International
Airport
Hyderabad
International
Airport
Mactan Cebu
International
Airport
(54%)
(63%)
(40%)
 World’s 4th largest private airport company
‒ Invested in 3 airports. Brownfield airports in Delhi and Cebu and a
Greenfield airport in Hyderabad
At Delhi, India’s largest airport, we significantly enhanced
physical infrastructure and processes …

5th largest terminal in the world (T3) ~ 5,50,000 sq. meters and
capacity of 34 million passenger per annum

Highest number of aerobridges in the world in a single terminal
- 78 aerobridges

One of the longest travelators in Asia ~ 118 meters length

India’s only airport to have 3 runways

State-of-the-art, 5 level in-line baggage screening system

World-class security with over 3000 CCTVs used for monitoring

India’s first automated multi-level car park

Best-in-class
hydrant
fuelling
contamination and saves time

Airport transit hotel located within the airport terminal is a first of
its kind in the country

Delightful shopping experience at par with the best globally
system
that
reduces
The Terminal 3 project is the single largest infrastructure
building project in India since Independence.
… and completed the development well in time for the
Commonwealth Games (CWG 2010) in Delhi
Capacity
(mppa)
Floor Sqm
Construction
Months
London Heathrow T5
28
353,000
72
Madrid
42
757,000
70
Bangkok
45
563,000
60
Kuala Lumpur
25
479,000
54
Beijing
43
900,000
52
Delhi T3
34
552,000
37
Airport
Strict timelines
were a
significant
challenge..
…coupled with
several other
issues.

Involvement of more than 58 different stakeholders

No technical information regarding existing conditions

Encroachments on the airport land; presence of rare animal species

The airport was under-capacity and significantly constrained
IGI Airport handled ~39.75 mn passengers (CY2014) with ~34% international passengers
Not only has T3 created an opportunity for establishing an
airline hub in India, it is also rated as the best airport in the
world. (Source: ACI, for 25-40 mppa category for 2014)
Continuous improvement in ACI survey scores testify the
success of T3
When GMR took over the Delhi Airport in 2007, it was ranked 101 out of 125
airports globally (amongst the ten worst airports in the world). It is now the
1st Airport in the World in its Category (25-40 mppa)
Large airports have a complex eco-system of stakeholders
and aspects
ILLUSTRATIVE
Hence, we took a ‘holistic’ approach to ‘Project Success’
DRAFT
In our view, a structured ‘Program Management Office (PMO)’
needs to be set up to ensure complete ‘Project Success’
Our PMO approach was based on three key fundamentals:

We go beyond just the construction
schedule – there are construction
related challenges, but many more
beyond that

Factor-in un-controllable
dependencies like clearances,
government support etc.

Take all stakeholders in context –
plan to engage all of them

Take a commissioning view – not just
construction completion perspective

Integrates everything at one place – is a
‘One-stop-shop’

Central repository tracking all workstream, overall progress

Helps in effective decision making at
the right time
A
Develop an
integrated
schedule for
project
commissioning



Who reviews what and how often –
developing a review calendar with
detailed dash-boards and templates?
Raise red-flags at the right time –
don’t wait for the delay to occur, preempt it
B
Effective review
system …
Ensuring timely course-correction –
let not one delay impact further delays
C
… by setting up a
‘War Room’
C
… which was then implemented through a
‘War Room’ set up
ILLUSTRATIVE
‘What’ needs to be monitored?



Check-list, milestones
Inter-linkages – including those on
external factors
KPI charts – updated daily & weekly
‘When’ to take decisions?



Early warning signals
Inter-linkages highlight possible downstream delays & cost impact
Tracking external factors helps timely
decision making
‘Who’ would be responsible?


How important is the course-correction –
at what level should responsibility lie?
Responsibility matrix and tree for tasks
with inter-linkages
PMO ‘War Room’

Display the check-list of all key
initiatives

Highlight and track all
interdependencies and linkages

Dynamic update of the ‘war room’
through daily and weekly progress
charts

Record and display KPI (Key
Performance Indicators) for the
critical items

Visual aids that help identify ‘a red
flag’ well in time
What is the Purpose of Creating a ‘War Room’ ?
Driver
How the War Room Enables…

Management
Vision &
Directions

Leadership team use the war room to provide directions
and take quick collective decisions during the course
of execution

Issues are discussed based on Actual hard facts &
Data, thus Eliminating Ambiguity & Subjectivity

Issues get highlighted as & when they occur

Provides opportunities for stakeholders to “Negotiate”
& “Prioritize” completion of inter-dependent activities

Provides an Inclusive Model of work integrating all
stakeholders involved to make the initiative a success

People rally around with each other within a confined
physical space, with a high degree of focus on the job
on hand
Bridges “KnowDo” Gaps
Collaboration
among all
Stakeholders
Communication
Platform
Provides a platform to establish & reinforce Common
Vision, shared Objectives & Goals

Facilitates multiple channels of communication such as:
Direct face-to-face, data & facts and strong visual
controls (colour coding)
Impact
Aligns Leadership
Vision, Plans and
Directions with
Execution
Rapid Problem
Solving & drives
Innovation in
anticipation of future
issues
Promotes an
Inclusive &
Collaborative MindSet
Stakeholders
communicate freely
& share the joys and
pains together
Example: War Room Set-up for the T3 Project
Driver
DIAL
Management
Vision &
Directions
Bridges “KnowDo” Gaps
Collaboration
among all
Stakeholders
Communication
Platform
How the War Room Enables…

Create a truly world class national asset

Project completion in record 37 months

100% coverage of all aspects of the project (until
operational readiness & transition)

Integrated Lessons Learnt from glitches from other
airport projects

Simple but intuitive Visual Controls
(Red/Yellow/Green) to Uncover issues

Integrated view of all stakeholders with interdependencies

Daily department heads review meetings (daily 2-3
hours)

Daily PMO team update of status based on facts

Weekly BCM reviews (On fixed day-Tuesday, 2nd half)
Impact
Appreciation on
GMR’s “Deliver the
Promise” &
Adherence to Values
& Beliefs
Rapid Problem
Solving & drives
Innovation in
anticipation of future
issues
Aligning more than
1000+ stakeholders
and Agencies to a
common goal
Stakeholders
communicate freely
& share the joys and
pains together
‘War Room’ is an effective tool to manage complex Projects
Multi-Dimensional Project with
Inter-dependencies
Large Number of Stakeholders
Typical attributes of
a complex project
Critical Soft Issues & Invisibles
Rapid Completion / Tight Schedule
Who All are involved in the ‘War Room’?
Role
Top Management
Involvement
CxO’s &
Department Heads
Critical Success Factors at the DIAL War Room
Extensive involvement & drive from the Chairman to use the war
room – Scheduled weekly meetings at the floor
Daily CxO’s & Department heads meeting held at war room
Arrived at Common definition & understanding of Project
terminologies
Department
SPOC’s
Single point of contact related to status & information pertaining to
respective departments
PMO Team
PMO support team (2 members) taking responsibility to all status
updates, based on facts.
CxO/Department head confirmation of status on case-to-case basis
PMO War Room Photographs
Operations Wall
Stakeholders Wall
Commercial Wall
PMO War Room Photographs
Colour Coding on Floor Plan to mark Area-wise Handovers
PMO War Room Photographs
Detailed ORAT Plans & Status
Colour Coding
Post-It-Stick-On Notes
Detailed Work Break-Down Structures
PMO War Room Photographs
White board for dynamic Update items
Thank You!