Aviation’s new horizons
Our technical excellence is helping the global aviation sector to deliver a robust and rapid transformation.
A series of major opportunities and challenges – evolving passenger expectations, decarbonisation and climate change impacts, and achieving positive impact for places and people – will shape the sector’s future prospects.
Our Moving series explores how trusted partnerships, underpinned by technical excellence, help iconic airports and aviation clients navigate sweeping changes. We combine deep aviation expertise with integrated engineering, design and consultancy excellence to make this possible.
Outstanding solutions for aviation’s changing needs
Major airports are 24/7 environments that serve millions each year, for a sector where standards for safety and security are always paramount.
They’re the gateway to the most important journeys many people will take, whether that’s reconnecting with distant families, taking new career opportunities, or a treasured holiday. They’re resilient hubs for global trade that enable businesses and economies to meet their potential.
However, transformative changes – rising passenger demand, evolving customer needs, decarbonisation efforts on the ground at airports and through solutions like sustainable aviation fuels in the skies, and climate risk - are reshaping aviation, influencing its performance and future growth.
Delivering successful aviation projects hinges on achieving meaningful outcomes – and seeing how different infrastructure assets, services and operations come together to achieve them.
We bring a proven track record in the aviation sector, built on technical excellence, an enduring commitment to developing brilliant people, consistently exceptional project delivery, and intelligent and well-implemented innovation.
Better collaboration for industry-leading aviation outcomes
The concept of trusted partnership underlines our work with leading airports around the world, and the ability to achieve the technical excellence that moves the dial forward.
Based in New York, Matt Gwinn, a principal project manager with extensive experience in aviation, reflects on how trusted partnerships enable our teams to work at their very best.
“[Trusted partnership] opens the door for the client to ask us what we think, rather than telling us here's what we want you to do. That's a big difference. When they ask us what we think, they want to pick our brains and our experience,” says Matt.
When it comes to delivering technical excellence for aviation, Graham Bolton, who as global aviation lead drives our focus on clients and service delivery, agrees that to achieve the most meaningful outcomes, deeper thinking is required about clients and their value chains, the sector, and the places they’re part of.
“It’s not just thinking about the immediate problem that's being posed by our immediate client. What is their customer and their customer's customer trying to do? Trying to get back to the root driver of what we're trying to do, that allows us to frame what is the problem we're really trying to solve. That for me is doing the right thing,” says Graham.
By establishing relationships with a shared commitment to outstanding outcomes, and underpinned by decades of aviation experience, we work with world-class aviation clients to find and make real ideas, advancements and improvements that truly push the sector forward. Making holidays memorable and business travel seamless, while enabling airport environments to be more accessible, and efficient, effective and fast cargo services.
In his role, Graham fosters our aviation industry networks, knowledge-building and professional development, and advances the quality and consistency of Mott MacDonald’s aviation activities across the globe. He believes Mott MacDonald’s culture of technical excellence is vital for building the status as the partner of choice for major clients.
“We have to be on our game every day - we become a trusted partner because we deliver. Having an organisational culture that is collegiate within ourselves, our partners and with our clients helps build a level of trust. The bank of experience that we've built up as Mott MacDonald is critical to the work we do,” says Graham.
Technical excellence means we are what we repeatedly do. It's not just about excellence for a sole task or a deliverable. It's consistent.
Elizabeth Thompson, who works alongside Matt Gwinn in New York as a senior principal planner specialising in transport, adds that shared commitment translates to reliably high standards. “Technical excellence means we are what we repeatedly do. It's not just about excellence for a sole task or a deliverable. It's consistent. It's a habit that we do every day to meet our clients’ needs in terms of our excellence,“ says Elizabeth.
Based in London, Conor McCone, a decarbonisation discipline lead, sees technical excellence and the ability to collaborate across the sector playing an essential role in tackling aviation’s climate challenge.
“By 2040, the Climate Change Committee think aviation is going to be around 27% of the UK's emissions, and one of largest emitting sectors in the UK. So, there is a huge challenge ahead of us. Being part of the decarbonisation of the aviation sector is a really exciting space to be in - it's going to take a lot of innovation,” Conor says.
He adds: “There are huge challenges that will need to be overcome between now and 2040, and 2050. But I think we can rise to the challenge. The client organisations are ambitious. Our value chain is ambitious.“
To achieve this sense of shared mission, Graham concludes that this shared commitment to quality, innovation and development can help the sector to deliver on its potential.
“One of things we can bring as Mott MacDonald is that ability to bring the pieces together. Being able to act as the integrator, to act as the conductor of the orchestra, and be able to say how do we bring all of these different component parts together in harmony to really delight the customer, to delight the audience.”
