How A Project Manager Stayed on Track : London Heathrow Airport

Unforeseen problems can derail even the most carefully planned projects. Just ask this project manager. Then ask them how he managed to snatch success from the jaws of project politics, unforeseen setbacks, and way too little time.

Terminal 1, London’s Heathrow Airport

The goal: Refurbish Terminal 1 at London’s Heathrow Airport. David Buisson led the high-profile, $93.8 million project, which started in January 2006 and wrapped up in April 2009, to redevelop the arrival area and construct new check-in desks, retail facilities, baggage equipment, and business-class lounges.

The problem: The terminal had to continue to function at all times and not inconvenience the 20 million passengers who use it annually. Buisson’s construction team had a very limited window of time each night, normally between 11 p.m. and 3:30 a.m. The crew worked in an area of the terminal used by a number of airlines, including BMI, the second-largest airline at Heathrow. The team had about 21 weeks to renovate BMI’s part of the terminal. When they set to work on BMI’s tiled flooring, the construction crew ran into a big, unexpected problem: a completely degraded concrete floor and metal infrastructure underneath. There was no money or time budgeted to fix it. Buisson initially estimated it would take 20 extra weeks of work to fix it, on top of the 21 weeks the project required.

What happened: Buisson immediately brought all of the stakeholders to the project site, where they could better understand the size of the problem, the constraints the team faced, and the cost and equipment required to finish. Getting everyone together eliminated weeks of going back and forth via phone and e-mail to describe the problems, decide who would fix them, and obtain separate work approvals — the kind of piecemeal steps that can bring a project to a standstill. The team finished the project only one day later than originally scheduled.