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Flight diversions are rare events, and the main reason they happen is bad weather. This can be something as simple as snow or low cloud, or sometimes it can be because of a severe tropical storm or hurricane.

In the summer of 2021, Hurricane Elsa approached Florida, became Tropical Storm Elsa, unleashed rain and flooding, and cut off power to thousands. It forced many airports in Florida to close to inbound flights, forcing them to divert elsewhere. When this happens, it can be a real operational challenge for those managing the airport. They need to know they can rely on the systems and processes they use to deal with the situation.

> “Initially, we did not anticipate much impact for our airport and did not plan on closing to aircraft operations,” said [Lionel Guilbert](https://www.linkedin.com/in/lionel-guilbert-749a3a90/), Senior Vice President of Operations & Public Safety at [Sarasota Bradenton International Airport (SRQ)](https://srq-airport.com/). “But as the storm progressed quickly, we decided to close after the last commercial operation. Doing this helps our tenants close up shop and prepare for the storm’s impact.”

Air carriers began canceling their flights in and out of SRQ throughout the day, which was visible in AeroCloud’s Gate Management module.

> “This made it so much easier for our staff to answer passengers’ inquiries about flight status. This is usually one of the most challenging pre-storm issues we encounter,” added Guilbert.

> “We were able to work efficiently and complete storm preparations for Common Use equipment at Ticket Counters and Gates as they were taken out of service,” added [Evan Knighting](https://www.linkedin.com/in/evan-knighting-396a665/), Senior VP and Chief Information Officer. “SRQ uses Aerocloud’s FIDS system, meaning any changes that were happening within Gate Management were immediately displayed on the FIDS screens throughout the airport, on the website widget, and the mobile app.”

> “Timely and accurate information is critical during events like this, and having the systems integrated meant all of these updates displayed in real-time. In addition, my staff used the AeroCloud SRQ App throughout the day to monitor any changes or updates,” said Knighting.

By letting carriers who hadn’t yet canceled their flights know the real-time situation, local station managers could see others take precautionary actions ahead of the storm. In the end, SRQ suffered no damage from the storm and restarted operations the morning after closing.

> “Compared to last time something like this happened, communication was so much better, and we saved so much wasted time,” added Knighting. “People didn’t need to chase down information, and we didn’t have passengers and tenants waiting around for any updates.”

Guilbert summed up SRQ’s relationship with AeroCloud.

> “We are glad to have partnered with AeroCloud for our airport operations needs when we did, especially during this challenging past year. Our airport life and the service to our passengers is better thanks to the AeroCloud platform!”

To find out more about how we're helping airports like Sarasota Bradenton, [get in touch](/get-in-touch/).


Customer Story - Sarasota Bradenton International Airport (SRQ) and Tropical Storm Elsa

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**Airports are always looking to improve operations and passenger experience. This can be a challenge in a typical year. But when a global pandemic leads to an instant 96 percent drop in traffic, it focuses minds on improving efficiency and enabling better service.**

At AeroCloud, we pride ourselves on our focus on helping airports overcome their operational challenges. Our platform was built and continues to be developed based on real requests from our users. It’s built to be modular, so airports only need to pay for the parts they want.

One airport that considered AeroCloud’s platform to support them was [Tampa International Airport (TPA)](https://www.tampaairport.com/) in Florida, who have since become a customer.

> “We didn’t necessarily want a big, all-in-one solution, as they can be overkill. You only end up using about 10 percent of the features,” says [Marcus Session](https://tampaairport.com/employee-spotlight-marcus-session), Vice President, Information Technology Services at Hillsborough County Aviation Authority (HCAA), which runs TPA.

> “The AeroCloud team was responsive and helped address our issues,” adds [Adam Bouchard](https://tampaairport.com/employee-spotlight-adam-bouchard), Director of Operations at HCAA. “They worked with us as a partner, giving us access to the parts of the platform and making changes as we needed.”

> “Flexibility was one of the key factors that made us choose AeroCloud,” Session comments.

TPA has been utilizing the modular, cloud-native platform that can run on any device and that gives access to other stakeholders around the airport since 2019.

> “Our tenants and ground operations teams have access to the relevant parts of AeroCloud, and we can send them alerts when there are irregular operations and diversions. Previously they had to look at FIDS to know about changes. The platform is easy to use and supports the whole airport,” adds Session.

**To find out more about how we're helping airports like Tampa, [get in touch](/get-in-touch/).**


Customer Story - Tampa International Airport (TPA)

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**Sarasota–Bradenton International Airport (SRQ) opened in 1942 near the west coast of Florida. It handles over 1.5m passengers a year and over 100,000 aircraft operations.**

[Lionel Guilbert](https://www.linkedin.com/in/lionel-guilbert-749a3a90/) is Senior Vice President of Operations & Public Safety at SRQ and is responsible for ensuring passengers and aircraft get where they need to go. In 2019 he and the airport’s procurement team opened a tender to look for a new airport operations management platform.

> “We got four proposals, and AeroCloud immediately stood out as they were by far the cheapest. We didn’t think one of the big legacy systems would work for us, as you end up paying a lot for features you don’t use. But with AeroCloud, we could choose which parts of the platform we needed. We then invited all four suppliers to demonstrate their platforms, and we thought AeroCloud did the best demo,”

It was when Lionel met up with [AeroCloud CEO George Richardson](https://www.linkedin.com/in/george-richardson-a7520615a/) at a conference that he became truly convinced.

> “They had our live data in the platform, and I could immediately see how it could make our lives easier. Our old method used a lot of paper in the process, and moving to the cloud got rid of all that,”

So, what’s it like working with AeroCloud?

> “The implementation was really fast, and everyone at AeroCloud understood what we were trying to do. The team always put themselves out to help solve any problems we have. They’re more like a partner - they involved us in the development of their [FIDS mobile app](https://apps.apple.com/app/aerocloud/id1495662107), for example, which is now something we use at the airport.”

Lionel was keen to explain how easy the platform is to use.

> “AeroCloud is intuitive - we have tenants who use it occasionally, and they never struggle to remember how. Because I’m ultimately responsible for all operations, I check AeroCloud when I’m at home - I can do it on my phone. And my son likes to check in on it too - he’s ten and thinks he can manage an airport better than his dad. With AeroCloud, maybe he could. But I won’t let him find out.”

**To find out more about how we're helping airports like Sarasota-Bradenton, [get in touch](/get-in-touch/).**


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Customer Story - Sarasota Bradenton International Airport (SRQ) and Tropical Storm Elsa

Customer Story - Tampa International Airport (TPA)

Customer Story - Sarasota Bradenton International Airport (SRQ)

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