This shift has changed the economics of airport FM. Instead of duplicating manpower across nearby locations, operators are optimising deployment against defined service levels, which also opens the door to smarter engineering and technology adoption.
Engineering complexity that passengers never see
Airports are not comparable to malls, hotels or commercial buildings. The systems that carry the passenger experience, from the Baggage Handling System, aerobridges, cooling, power backup, to the CUTE and CUSS platforms, are engineering ecosystems in their own right.
The move to aerobridges alone has reduced dependence on ramp buses and ground equipment, cutting emissions inside the aircraft movement area. Digital additions such as DigiYatra and Self Baggage Drop have improved throughput and added measurable time and behaviour data to the operation. When 15 airports run under a single integrated operating model, that data becomes central to performance. Fragmented multi-vendor delivery makes that centralised control almost impossible.
Where operators still get it wrong
Even after the move to outcome-based contracts, cost remains the deciding factor at the point of award. The lowest bidder route continues to dominate.
“There is still a concern. In my opinion the award should be based on a justified cost. If a vendor is quoting below the justified cost, they will either fail to perform or they will put the assets in distress.” – Sunil Parate
The second gap is mindset.
The technology available at Indian airports is already at par with the best in the world. What lags is the willingness to trust it. SCADA systems, for example, allow four powerhouses to be monitored from a single control room by a small team, yet many customers still ask for manual readings alongside, which routes trained manpower into non-productive tasks.
The people question
The third round of privatisation covers 11 more airports, and Navi Mumbai Phase 2 is moving forward. The scale of expansion will test the market on one specific point; the availability of qualified, experienced people.
Qualified engineers and technicians in India often move overseas for better prospects, widening the skills gap on the ground at exactly the moment when demand is growing.
“Providing skilled manpower will be the showstopper for growth. We need more training centres and ITIs training people on the assets that airports actually run.” – Sunil Parate
The answer is rebalancing people and technology rather than choosing one over the other.
From contractor to business partner
Perhaps the most important shift is cultural. Private operators are no longer treating FM providers as vendors. They are treating them as business partners, because the operator’s business runs on the assets the FM partner maintains.
“If the FM partner fails, the operator fails. That is why the relationship has shifted from contractor to business partner.” – Sunil Parate
