The management of environmental services in Brazilian public airports: The challenges in searching for efficiency

Abstract

This study discusses the implementation of the Environmental Services Management System (ESMS) in the Brazilian Airport Infrastructure Company, otherwise known as Infraero. Infraero is a state company responsible for 54 public airports in Brazil; in 2017, it conducted more than 1.5 million operations (landings and takeoffs), and transported 108 million passengers, corresponding to 66% of the transportations in Latin America and the Caribbean. The ESMS adopted the concept of management by results, an innovation in Brazilian public companies. The basic premises are the definition of the service flow, the standardization of technical documents, rigorous deadline control and continuous improvement. The system was implemented in April 2017, and evaluated until December of the same year. Throughout the assessment period, a total of 764 environmental demands were registered, with a mean service rate of 3.7 for each workday, presenting a high index for the public sector. Overall, the adoption of the system resulted in an efficiency rate of 95% in the assessed period; moreover, the average monthly delay index was low, ranging from 5.1% in the first month to 0.9% in the last. These results demonstrate that the ESMS is an important tool in improving the efficiency of environmental services in public companies, proven by the high efficiency achieved by Infraero and the high potential for adapting the system to different sectors.