Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority

Business Challenge

Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority (LNAA) oversees a multi-airport system in Pennsylvania, including Lehigh Valley International Airport (ABE), serving as a vital hub for passenger, freight, and commercial aviation.

LNAA faced significant operational challenges due to fragmented data sources, manual processes, and limited visibility across key business functions. Previous efforts to address these issues included partnering with a large consulting firm. However, that firm’s approach was to dive straight into implementation—without first understanding what was truly important to LNAA. Despite significant investment, LNAA saw little tangible value, as the solutions delivered did not align with their operational priorities or business goals.

Why LNAA Chose Weidenhammer

LNAA turned to Weidenhammer because of a long-standing relationship with our marketing team and a reputation for client-focused delivery. Unlike the previous firm, Weidenhammer invests substantial time upfront to understand each client’s unique needs, challenges, and strategic objectives. Our consultative approach ensures that every recommendation and roadmap is tailored to what matters most to the client—driving alignment, buy-in, and measurable business impact.

LNAA has been extremely happy with the results of our assessment, citing our deep engagement and focus on their priorities as a key differentiator.

Assessment Approach

Weidenhammer conducted a comprehensive assessment focused on business cases, operational improvements, and areas with the greatest potential for revenue improvement including:

Gap Analysis: Identified manual processes, data fragmentation, and reporting limitations across traffic, parking, finance, fuel, deicing, property management, and grants.
Business Case Development: Quantified potential gains from automation, centralization, and advanced analytics, including areas where revenue improvement is supported by documentation.
Roadmap Creation: Proposed a phased implementation plan targeting high-impact areas for modernization.

“The journey to modernize LNAA’s data estate needed strong foundational knowledge, creative ideas, and a practical roadmap for achieving our desired outcome. Weidenhammer took the time to understand our business, documented our data requirements, and delivered a clear strategy for unifying and leveraging our data. This project is not just about technology; it’s about transforming how LNAA operates, makes decisions, and delivers value for years to come. We now have a solid plan to build a data-driven culture and unlock new opportunities for growth, efficiency, and maximizing revenue. Due to their detailed approach and early success, the LNAA has decided to move forward with Weidenhammer for implementation, and we look forward to this next phase in our journey.”

— Thomas R. Stoudt, Executive Director, Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority

Key Findings & Potential Benefits

Traffic Data Collection Automation

Current State: Manual data collection from air carriers via fax/email, entered into spreadsheets by multiple staff, prone to errors and delays.
Potential Benefit: Automated ingestion using AI and APIs will reduce manual effort, improve data accuracy, and decrease reporting time. Labor for monthly traffic reporting is expected to drop from 5 staff to 1, with an estimated 80% reduction in effort and a 60–70% drop in data discrepancies.

Parking Data Accuracy & Reporting

Current State: Manual car counts twice daily due to mistrust in system data.
Potential Benefit: Power BI dashboards and potential computer vision integration will eliminate manual counts, improve accuracy, and support more reliable billing and forecasting.

Fuel & Deicing Fluid Inventory Management

Current State: Manual spreadsheet tracking with limited visibility and delayed updates.
Potential Benefit: Real-time monitoring via Total Control Systems (TCS) will provide proactive alerts, reduce risk of shortages, and improve operational efficiency by ~50%.

Financial Reporting & ERP Transition

Current State: Manual reconciliation and reporting via Great Plains, with delays due to airline data inconsistencies.
Potential Benefit: Transition to NetSuite with Suite Analytics and automated data feeds will reduce reporting cycle time from 20 days to ~10 days, improve data accuracy, and reduce manual reconciliation effort by 40–60%.

Operational Dashboard & Scheduling Automation

Current State: Manual scheduling via spreadsheets for volatile flight schedules.
Potential Benefit: AI-driven scheduling tools and integrated dashboards will reduce manual scheduling effort by ~70%, enable better shift planning, and ensure compliance with union and FAA staffing rules.

Weather Monitoring & Safety Automation

Current State: Manual monitoring of weather conditions using disparate systems.
Potential Benefit: Integration of Earth Networks and Inws for automated lightning strike warnings and real-time alerts will improve response time and safety compliance, reducing weather-related operational delays by 30–50%.

Emergency Dispatch & Incident Reporting

Current State: Manual logging and reporting of emergency dispatch calls.
Potential Benefit: Implementation of Tyler Technologies CAD system with GIS mapping will reduce reporting time from hours to minutes and provide real-time dashboards for incident tracking.

Customer Experience & Service Request Tracking

Current State: Manual tracking of wheelchair requests, shuttle services, and complaints.
Potential Benefit: Use of Kipsu for real-time customer interaction and monthly reporting dashboards will reduce service response time by 40–60% and improve customer satisfaction.

Grant & Project Tracking

Current State: Manual updates to Excel spreadsheets for over 20 projects and FAA grant drawdowns.
Potential Benefit: Proposed integration with SharePoint and Microsoft Planner for automated alerts and dashboards will save ~50% in manual updates and improve deadline compliance.

Fuel & Deicing Fluid Sales & Inventory

Current State: Monthly manual updates via spreadsheets; limited visibility into usage trends.
Potential Benefit: Real-time tracking via TCS with alerts and drill-down by truck and employee will improve inventory accuracy by 70–80% and enable margin optimization by customer type.

“The assessment with Weidenhammer gave us a clear, actionable roadmap to modernize how our team manages and uses data every day…. For my team, this means less time spent tracking down data and reconciling reports, and more time focused on analysis and supporting the airport’s operations. I’m excited for my team to spend less time chasing data and more time using it to drive results for LNAA. I look forward to seeing these benefits realized as we move into the implementation phase.”
— Glenn Kurcon, Director of Information Systems & Technology

Proposed Roadmap

The assessment recommends a phased approach, starting with foundational data architecture and traffic data integration, followed by parking, finance, commercial services, and property management. Each phase is designed to deliver measurable operational improvements and potentially revenue gains.

Next Steps

LNAA and Weidenhammer have begun the implementation phase, starting with the highest-impact areas identified in the assessment. As the project progresses, LNAA will be positioned to realize significant efficiency gains, improved data accuracy, enhanced decision-making capabilities, and revenue gains.