HR Corner Talented students cleared for take-off by Priscilla Chong Comprehensive programme trains leaders for airport management Recognising the importance of developing future executives, the Airport Authority Hong Kong (AA) has put in place a comprehensive SkyLeaders programme to give young people an ideal start in the industry. Details of the programme were unveiled earlier this year by the AA's chief executive officer Dr David Pang in a series of visits to seven universities in Hong Kong and two on the mainland. The full scope of the initiative features on-campus seminars, scholarships, summer internships, a management trainee scheme, and mentoring in leadership skills. "The initial aim of the programme is to nurture a pool of young talent to meet the needs of the rapidly growing aviation industry," says Anthony Tan, the AA's corporate services director. This year, a total of 30 undergraduates received scholarships and 20 of them spent around two months as summer interns at Hong Kong International Airport. They were assigned to different teams and given the opportunity to apply theoretical knowledge in a practical environment, so as to sharpen their problem-solving and leadership skills. Jerry Chen and Fanny Yeung, who are students from Zhejiang University and Sun Yat-sen University respectively, were among the group of interns. They were assigned to roles as airport ambassadors at Hong Kong International Airport and both thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Mr Chen found the job offered many opportunities to interact with people from around the world and, as a psychology major, he also took the opportunity to observe human behaviour in different situations. The initial aim of the programme is to nurture a pool of young talent Different cultures He soon realised that an airport terminal is the perfect place to meet people from almost every country and cultural background. This also makes it somewhere to learn everything you need to about patience and seeing things from an alternative point of view. "I once offered help to a Japanese traveller and was a bit surprised when he refused," says Mr Chen. "However, after stepping back and thinking about it, I offered a second time, and then he accepted. It reminded me that people are conditioned to act differently, even when they clearly need assistance and appreciate it." As an intern, Ms Yeung was surprised by how different things appear at the airport when you are a member of staff rather than a passenger. She gained a far better understanding of the operation and felt that her own communication skills greatly improved. The assignment given to Sandy Kwan, a policy and public administration student at the City University of Hong Kong, was to help organise a safety workshop. She was immediately impressed by the importance attached to airport safety and the efforts made by staff to avoid any accidents. "I once saw a colleague reminding passengers not to let children sit on a baggage trolley and was surprised that they even attend to such tiny details," Ms Kwan recalls. Mr Tan emphasises that the airport provides everything from food and accommodation to general shopping, and is geared to meet all of a passenger's needs. He hopes that the internship programme will inspire students to work in the industry once they have seen the challenges involved in maintaining the flow of travellers, coordinating with airlines, managing amenities, and minimising day-to-day problems. Two-year programme This year, a group of 15 management trainees was selected from more than 2,000 applicants in Hong Kong and the mainland to join the two-year development programme. They will have a series of two-month job rotations before discussing a preferred career path, which will depend to a certain extent on their personality, abilities and performance to date. Each trainee will also take in-house training courses in such things as communication skills and strategic thinking to help their general development. The AA also runs an airport academy to provide training for professionals in the region. "Every year, we organise courses in airport operations," says Mr Tan "The attendees are local students, local and mainland airport staff, and people from mainland airlines, government bodies like the Civil Aviation Administration of China, and aviation-related organisations." In different sessions, they may cover topics such as dealing with congestion after a typhoon, the procedures for handling bomb scares, and precautions taken against the spread of disease — all of which require specialist knowledge and can add considerably to the workload of airport staff. Noting the projections for strong growth in the air travel sector in China, the AA foresees steady demand for well-trained professionals in airport management. By creating the necessary expertise, it hopes to reinforce Hong Kong's status as an international transport hub and the gateway to China. Salient points - SkyLeaders development programme targets both local and mainland students - Scheme includes internships, scholarships and a management trainee programme - Job rotations give an understanding of the overall complexity of the operation - Plan to capitalise on opportunities offered by growth in the mainland's aviation sector Taken from Career Times 27 October 2006, p. 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