The After Action Review summarizes Philadelphia International Airport's preparations and response to transportation needs for the 2015 World Meeting of Families and Papal Visit events. While attendance for the events was lower than projected, the airport leveraged relationships with partners to provide information and assistance. Areas for improvement included better knowledge sharing, staff planning, and communications. For future large events like the 2016 DNC, the document recommends appointing a project manager to coordinate efforts, capture lessons learned, and seek cost reimbursement.

1. PHILADELPHIA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
After Action Review
World Meeting of Families and Papal Visit 2015
Derrick Stokes
10/19/2015
The AfterActionReview(AAR)isa processtechnique thatusesareview of experiencetoavoid
recurrentmistakesandreproduce success.Asavehicle for capturingandlearningfromexperience,
the AAR providesaneffectivetool of continuous learningforanorganization.

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INTRODUCTION
The AfterActionReview (AAR) of the PhiladelphiaInternational Airport’scustomerservice initiativesfor
the World Meeting of Families (WMOF) and the Papal Visit is an informal examination of the Airport’s
preparation and execution of strategies to welcome travelers to Philadelphia; to disseminate
transportation information to travelers and to Division of Aviation (DOA) employees; to assist SEPTA in
the marketing and selling to rail passes and tickets; and to assist the Secret Service in monitoring social
media for threats and other disturbances during the Papal Visit.
The purpose of this informal AAR is to determine what happened,why it happened, and how to sustain
strengths and improve on weaknesses.
EVENT SUMMARY
The World Meeting of Families (WMOF) was held at the Pennsylvania Convention Center Sept. 22 – 25,
with the largest crowds expected for the Papal events on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway (Festival of
Families,Saturday,Sept.26;andPapal Mass, Sunday,Sept.27). The Papal Visitwasprojectedtobecome
the largest event in the city’s history, drawing up to 1.5 million people, which would have presented
extraordinary transportation challenges for our region, the airport and its employees.
WMOF organizers met regularly with city leaders and consulted with many agencies on safety and
transportation issues. WMOF organizers, city leaders, SEPTA officials and the Secret Service had
developed and executed plans to ensure security and manage crowd control and the transportation of
hundredsof thousandsof attendees. PHL expectedan influxof passengersatthe airportduring the week;
an impact comparable to Thanksgiving traffic.
Dozens of volunteers were staffed at “hospitality kiosks” in the Baggage Claim areas. They were joined
bydozensof DOA employeesand GuestServicesrepresentatives (Parkway)whowere taskedtoroamthe
airport to welcome and assist visitors.
“Welcome toPhiladelphia”pop-upbannersandfloordecalswere installedthroughoutthe airportandon
lightpoles alongDeparturesRoadinfrontof the airport terminals andalongArrivalsRoadinfront of the
airport’s Baggage Claim areas.
SEPTA salesstaff soldpassesand ticketsforthe AirportLine at five locationsinthe non-securedareasof
the airport. All passengerstravelingonthe AirportRail Line,includingseniors,those withdisabilitiesand
children over the age of 5, were required to purchase tickets prior to boarding the train.

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THE FINDINGS
More than 20,000 people attended the World Meeting of Families Congress, the largest ever; but the
Papal events drew considerably less than the projected 1.5 million.
American Airlines, Philadelphia's dominant carrier, did not experience a rise in bookings for the World
Meetingof Familiesorforthe papal weekend. Inmanyways,itwas considered “businessasusual”atthe
airport.
The bulkof SEPTA Papal Passes were not sold. A total of 8,866 passeswere soldduringthe weekendof
the Papal event (5,010 on Saturday, 3,856 on Sunday).
PHL tried to promote rail service to Center City from the airport weeks prior to the event. Despite late
advertisingsviasocial media tohighlightavailableparkingatthe airport,there were notmany “pilgrims”
who used PHL parking facilities as park-and-ride locations that weekend.
Best Practices
PHL was able to leverage its strong relationships with its stakeholders – American Airlines and the
Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau (PCVB); its vendors (Parkway) and the local transit agency
(SEPTA) to ensure that all concerns pertaining to transportation for visitorsand airport employeeswere
addressed. PCVB and Parkway both have experience in mobilizing personnel for significant events that
draw thousands to the city. These paid staffers and volunteers were provided training and marketing
collateral to welcome and assist visitors.
PHL Human Resources worked closely with the airport’s Public Affairs unit to draft and edit
correspondence,i.e.letters,emailsandflyers,toemployees toeducateandinformemployeesof all Papal
Visitpreparationsandthe potential effectontheirrespectivecommutestowork. The twounitsworked
closely to develop a staffing strategyfor DOA employees. Public Affairs also facilitateda briefing for all
employees selected to work special overtime assignments during the week of WMOF/Papal Visit.
PHL utilized the talents of its Curator and Special Events Coordinator to identify locations to place
“Welcome toPhiladelphia”pop-upbannersandfloordecals invariouslocationsintheairport. Directional
signs were also strategically placed to help guide visitors to the temporary SEPTA sales locations.
The institutional knowledge of PHL’s experienced staff enabled employees to quickly compare the
challenges posed by the WMOF/Papal Visit to other significant events, i.e. snow emergencies, transit
strikes, with staff to quickly respond to problems without having to resort to a playbook or written
guidelines. This “muscle memory” allows experienced staff to retain standard operating procedures
(SOPs) mentally. Of course, there are advantages and disadvantages with this practice.

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Areas for Improvement
Knowledge Sharing
ExperiencedPHL employees can be described as “knowledge workers” who continually learn and apply
learningtochangingsituations asstandardoperatingprocedure. Asageneral rule,all procedures should
be recordedanddocumented andmade visible andaccessibletoall employees. Since manyexperienced
PHL employeesmaybe retiringsoon,itis recommendedthat a strategy be developedandimplemented
to ensure that the knowledge that exists in one area of the company is captured, shared and used by
others.
Staff Allocation Planning
The duties of PHL’s Information Services unit and the Hospitality Program provided by PHL’s vendor,
Parkway, are similar in scope. Experienced PHL employees supervise both the unit and the vendor;
therefore, assigning additional customer service responsibilities and managing these employees was
seamless. However, there may be occasions when additional staff, i.e. other DOA employees, will be
needed. It is recommendedthatthe InformationServicesunitbe empoweredwiththe responsibilityof
selecting, training (briefings) and supervising of these DOA employees for the duration of their special
assignment.
Human Resources solicited volunteers for customer service duties for WMOF/Papal Visit and
accommodatedeveryrequesttoprovide eachemployee anopportunitytoearnovertime compensation.
This practice led to overstaffing which could stress budgets allocatedfor overtime. However, failure to
provide everyemployeewithanopportunitytoearnovertime couldhave anadverse effectonemployee
morale. The role of Human Resourcesshouldnotbe to award employeeswithadditional compensation
because it may lead to accusations of favoritism. Human Resources can solicit “volunteers” on behalf
anotherunit,butthe responsibilityof selecting,training(briefings)andsupervisingthosevolunteers must
not be Human Resources, which should remain impartial.
Employee Communications
One importantrole of Human Resourcesisto disseminateinformationtoemployees. HumanResources
staff draftscorrespondence;PublicAffairsstaff editscopy. ItisrecommendedthatPublicAffairsassume
responsibility of all employee communications, with direction provided by Human Resources. Since
communicationsprofessionalsinPublicAffairsare currentlywritingcorrespondenceonbehalfof the CEO
and COO; designing flyers and/or providing instructions to graphic designers, and updating the PHL
website, this transition should be seamless.
Disseminatinginformationtoemployeescontinuestobe achallenge. HumanResourcescurrentlyusese-
mail blasts and “paycheck stuffers,” correspondence placed in an employee's paycheck envelope. PHL
does not publish an employee newsletter nor does it have an Intranet site to post information about
citywide events (like WMOF/Papal Visit), employment opportunities and airport construction updates.
Not surprisingly, information sometimes does not trickle down to the rank and file employees.

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In the case of WMOF/Papal Visit, information regarding Airport Line regional rail service for airport
employeescouldnothavebeenpostedpubliclydueto anagreementnegotiatedwithSEPTA. Employees,
who received the email blasts or paycheck stuffers, contacted SEPTA customer service, which gave the
employee information that contradicted information that was sent by PHL Human Resources. There
should have been a central repository for all correspondence, flyers, maps and transit schedules that
pertainedtothe WMOF/Papal Visit. PHLcurrentlyhasthe toolstocreate anIntranetsitebefore the 2016
Democratic National Convention.
Project Management
Typically, a Project Manager would be responsible for maintaining the central repository. PHL’s
experienced staff was able to avoid any problems during WMOF/Papal Visit that a lack of organization
and structure wouldusuallycause. There were certaininefficienciesthatcouldhave beeneliminatedby
improved planning and organizing meetings and work assignments.
Multiple meetings with SEPTA regional rail managers were held at PHL to discuss Airport Line service
during WMOF/Papal Visit. Formal agendas should have been issued prior to the meetings to inform
attendees onwhatwasgoingto be addressedandbywhom. Minutesshouldhave beenrecorded,saved
(central repository) and forwarded to attendees. The project manager could have used the minutes
(transcripts) to ensure that issues and questions were addressed at future meetings and to hold
individuals accountable for work/duties/responsibilities.
Instead, SEPTA officials were able to avoid making any firm commitments of rail service for airport
employees until lessthana monthpriorto the WMOF/Papal Visit. Meetingswere notasproductive and
redundant.
The Project Manager would also have the responsibilityof determining the budget, and, when possible,
seek reimbursement for all costs, including but not limited to staffing (additional customer service
provided by vendor and overtime compensation for DOA employees) and the design and printing of
marketing collateral and special promotional signage.
Budget
As an important gateway to the city, the airport plays a vital role in shaping the perceptionof the city it
serves. While keepingthe facilitycleanandtidyisroutine maintenance,the airportmayincur costs that
are above and beyond its daily scope of operations whenthe city is preparing to host significant events
like the WMOF/Papal Visit. Itmustbe notedthatCityHall andthe city’stwotourism bureaus dependon
the airport’s role and responsibility to welcome visitors.
Itistypical forlawenforcementagencies,like thePhiladelphiaPolice Department,toseekreimbursement
for costs associated with security for special events. As a city agency, like the police department, the
airport can justify requests for reimbursement if the Mayor and event organizers agree that the airport
play an active role in promoting the special event.

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Unlike most city agencies, the airport generates its own revenue and is self-governing. There may be
expectationsthat the airport should cover all costs to promote special events. However, it is important
for the airport to avoid all unfunded mandates pertaining to promoting special events in the city.
For special events,like the WMOF/PapalVisitandthe DemocraticNational Convention2016,whichplace
Philadelphia in the international spotlight, it is beneficial for the event organizers to coordinate all
marketing and promotional activities with the airport. The coordination of marketing and promotional
activities should include costs and a negotiated reimbursable rate, if 100 percent reimbursement is not
possible.
Ultimately,the Mayorwill determine the processif,whenandhow the airportisreimbursedforitscosts.
It is recommended that the airport CEO make a case for reimbursement when costs are projected and
budgeted prior to the special event.

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RECOMMENDATIONS (In Preparation of DNC 2016)
1. Appoint Project Manager who will:
a) Obtain Best Practices from airports in Tampa (RNC 2012) and Charlotte (DNC 2012)
b) Appoint Project Leads in the following units: Airport Operations (Transportation), Human
Resources (Staffing), Public Affairs (PR/Marketing)
c) Facilitate meetings with Project Leads; all meetings be recorded via meeting minutes
d) Coordinate efforts with DNC
e) Serve as liaison betweenthe airport and the Secret Service or delegate responsibility to a
Project Lead
f) Develop budget and project timeline
g) Brief CEO and executive leadership
2. CEO briefs Mayor
3. Project Leads conduct employee briefings prior to special event
4. Project Leads compile costs post-event
5. Project Manager provides costs to CEO and executive leadership for reimbursement