Yusuke Matsumura
Joined NRTAS in 1994
After joining NRTAS, I performed handling for a foreign cargo company and gained experience in a range of ramp work where cargo aircraft are loaded and unloaded. Then I worked in import and export cargo handling. There, I had to follow a manual that included strict procedures for how cargo was to be moved and placed with very high standards in every aspect, from handling cargo quickly and with care to creating detailed reports. It was a tough job but gave me firsthand experience in providing world-class service at the highest level. After this, I had higher expectations for what should be regarded as the standard level of quality as well.
To satisfy high-level demands, in addition to getting individuals to see things with higher-level awareness, you also have to create the organization, including coordinating the team’s roles and the systems. While enhancing the quality of service we are capable of, we also need to assess areas where we fall short and satisfy the requests made of us. I engaged in repeated rounds of negotiations to this end, which made me stronger as a person. Before I knew it, I had spent more than 20 years working with cargo. With helpful advice and guidance from my peers along the way, I took pride in being able to call myself a cargo expert.
I assumed I would continue my career in the world of cargo, but as it turns out, I was transferred to the Passenger Services Division. At the time, almost no one ever transferred from Ground Handling to Passenger Services, so the news was like a bolt from the blue. I used my management experience built up in cargo handling and worked in a management role during my five years in Passenger Services.
Knowing nothing about Passenger Services, at first I felt like a rookie employee all over again, but I gained insight into division challenges and identified tasks and other things we needed to do while purposefully engaging in communication with both senior and junior members of the division. I also focused on further raising the quality of our ANA hospitality and creating employee-friendly conditions, by doing things like adjusting individual employee workloads.
Then when I finally started to feel comfortable in my position at Passenger Services, I was transferred again. This time it was to the position of airport director at Yonago Airport. It was such a shock when I was told about the transfer that I can barely recall it. [laughs]
I went from Narita, one of the largest international airports in the world, to Yonago Airport, where ANA has only one employee outside of the mechanics and only six regularly scheduled flights per day. I was unfamiliar with working at a domestic airport as well as the position of airport director and spent many days battling my nerves and feelings of isolation.
The job of airport director mainly involves managing the airport’s operations. I engage in contract management, adjust the number of contracted flights accepted as the person responsible for contracted airline services and perform safety management for routine operations as the person responsible for outsourcing management.
Airport operations are basically handled by a local company under a sole agent agreement, so the role of the director involves creating conditions that allow its staff to do their work safely and with an ANA mindset.
In the area of safety and security, I have to manage situations where people and things threaten customer safety, including hijackings and hazardous articles. I also support activities to improve on-time performance and convenience while coordinating with the relevant teams.
While I received the standard education and training before my appointment to director, the real learning came on the job, from having to deal with the questions and situations that arise when something happens. Even though I came in not knowing anything, someone was always there to fill in the gaps and help out when I asked. The staff working in ANA Group departments and at Yonago Airport are all really nice and have been a lifeline for me.
About six months after assuming the position of Yonago airport director, I was notified of a safety threat at the airport after I had finished work and gone home for the day.
I rushed back to the airport but was shaken up for a while at this first-time situation. I had to make all the decisions and take action, including contacting the police and others in the reporting line. This was what I was thinking when I contacted the Operations Director at Haneda Airport, who oversees flight operations. Reassuring me and offering their help, they presented a clear course of action for how to handle the incident. With their full support, I safely handled the incident.
This experience reinforced for me the idea that I don’t have to take on everything by myself when I am up against a serious problem I haven’t encountered before, and that it’s okay to solve problems while asking others for help, including local operations staff and people in the ANA Group.
Airport directors interact with a wide range of people, from staff in internal departments, local government officials and people working in the airport building to officials in the Civil Aviation Bureau of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism and members of the Japan Self-Defense Forces. Starting from zero, it took me two years to learn the names of who I needed to contact for different types of situations, but now I have a good grasp of the overall picture of the director’s role. I also had a difficult time communicating when I first assumed the position, but now I feel like I can clearly communicate my thoughts and ideas, negotiate, make adjustments and do what needs to be done to keep daily operations moving. I have also developed relationships with different people where I am not afraid to speak my mind, which makes my job easier and more fun. My honest wish now is to finish out my career here in Yonago. [laughs]
Some of you reading this may want to become an airport director as well. There is no one way to ensure you attain this goal. There are a lot of possible occupations and career paths. Conversely, I think all types of experience are helpful. I had never planned to become an airport director, but if my career had unfolded exactly as I had planned it would, I would not be working with all the different people I work with now and I would not have gained such a diverse range of experience. There may be times when things don’t work out as you had wanted, but I hope that you absorb everything you can and that your days at NRTAS are fulfilling.
Arrive at work, first flight departs (7:25)
I check the day’s weather and aircraft flight statuses as well as the day’s customer and VIP reservations.
Go to the security checkpoint
I collect information on safety and the status of safety equipment from staff at the inspection company.
Go to the cargo terminal
I go out to the facilities where cargo is held and check that nothing is amiss.
Daily meeting
Representatives from each department and the security inspection company meet and share information on the day’s topics.
Briefing about the passenger system
I attend a briefing for domestic airport directors via video conference.
Lunch
Airport Safety Meeting
I discuss airport safety matters once a month with mechanics, the sole agent and the security inspection company.
Briefing for domestic airport directors
I attend a briefing for domestic airport directors via video conference.
Finish work
Leading ANA’s international flight operations, NRTAS is aiming for new heights.
NRTAS will create the new era.