With the rapid development of China's economy and civil aviation industry, the scale and business volume of airports are expanding day by day. How to ensure the safe, normal and efficient implementation of systematic management in the process of flight ground support, do a good job of coordination between the airport itself and the airport-based units, and ensure the rational and optimal utilization of various airport resources is an important issue for the normal operation of the airport. Airport Operation Command is the nerve center of airport operation, and is responsible for the organization, command, coordination, control and emergency rescue command of airport operation.

The profession of airport operation commander in airport operation command department came into being in the development of civil aviation production and operation. In the early days of civil aviation development, there was no clear name and unified operation form for on-site command in civil aviation industry and airport. In the middle and late 1980s, after the civil aviation system reform, the airport, as an enterprise, operated independently, requiring a department to conduct unified, coordinated, commanding and comprehensive management of various production support departments and production processes within the airport. As a result, the airport operation headquarters gradually emerged, and the commanders who specifically undertook the task of on-site command and coordination came into being. 1995, CAAC made special regulations on site management, requiring civil airports to establish corresponding site command institutions, whose main tasks are to play the role of command hub, staff assistant and external coordination. Therefore, it is an objective need for the development of airport production and operation to establish and standardize the profession of airport operation commander.

In recent ten years, with the rapid development of the civil aviation industry, the operation tasks undertaken by airports have become more and more arduous, and the role of airport operation headquarters in airport operation has become more and more prominent, which is the key for airports to strengthen their own construction and overall management. The command and coordination ability of the airport operation headquarters directly reflects the level of airport operation management. Therefore, standardizing the professional requirements and abilities of airport operation commanders plays a very important role in promoting airport management and even the development of the entire civil aviation industry.

By 20 14, there will be more than 4000 people engaged in airport operation command or related work at airports in China. Most of these employees are transferred from air traffic control, maintenance, transportation and other major business departments, and in recent years, they are also graduates from similar majors in civil aviation colleges. Due to the long-term lack of systematic and professional training and guidance, domestic civil aviation colleges and universities lack corresponding disciplines and research institutions, and the professional knowledge of employees basically comes from the accumulation of usual work experience and self-learning. Therefore, the problem of single knowledge structure and lack of systematicness of employees is widespread, which is gradually becoming a bottleneck problem affecting the overall professional level of airport operation command.

With the development and construction of civil aviation airport, it is expected that there will be a great demand for high-quality talents in this major in the next decade. However, due to the particularity of the airport operation commander's work, it is required that the airport operation commander should not only have the theoretical basis of airport operation, but also be familiar with the operation rules and processes of airport departments, including airlines and resident units. To be competent for this important position requires extremely professional training and some practical experience. At present, there is an extreme shortage of such professionals in the labor market, and it is impossible to provide human resources qualified for this position.

However, only a few civil aviation colleges in China have majors corresponding to the profession of airport operation commander. Therefore, most airport operation commanders still need to be trained and taught by the airport itself, which brings great difficulties to enterprises and often takes years to train an airport operation commander who can perform his duties independently. At present, domestic institutions offering related majors in this field include Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics Airport Operation and Management, China Transportation Engineering Civil Aviation Flight College and China Civil Aviation Jiaotong University. But these three universities add up to only 100 graduates every year.

In foreign countries, especially in Europe and America, there are also institutions equivalent to airport operation command centers and airport operation commanders. For example, Frankfurt Airport, one of the busiest airports in Europe, has a passenger throughput of more than 50 million passengers. Its airport operation command center has more than 900 employees, and is responsible for the command and coordination of the airport. It is the core department of Frankfurt Airport operation.

With the deepening of the civil aviation system reform in China, it is imperative to adjust and update the operation mode of China Airport, and the direction of the reform will be to align with the internationally common and mature European and American modes. In this mode, the airport operation command will be fully responsible for the management of airport operation control on behalf of the airport authorities. On the other hand, after China's accession to the WTO, China's air transport market has been continuously opened, and the number of airlines operating in China has been increasing. How to provide efficient and high-quality services for many airlines will become a common problem faced by domestic airports. Undoubtedly, only by continuously improving the service quality and standards can we attract more airlines to settle down or fly to these airports. As a functional department that controls and coordinates the operation service process and provides emergency rescue services, the service level of the airport field operation headquarters will directly affect the market competitiveness and efficiency of the airport.

At present, there are 144 civil airports in China, and it is estimated that there will be 187 in 20 10 and 223 in 2020. It is predicted that civil aviation airports need 1500 people to engage in this profession every year. To sum up, the development prospect of this profession is very broad, and a high-quality airport operation commander will play a very important role in improving the airport operation management ability. Establishing and standardizing the profession of airport operation commander is not only an inevitable requirement for efficient and safe operation of airports, but also an urgent need for China's growing aviation demand, which has very important practical significance and far-reaching influence on the further development of China's aviation industry.