What if your most qualified staff are stuck in the wrong roles?
Misplaced talent is one of the most persistent problems in airport operations, and it costs far more than a few minutes of efficiency. From operational delays and compliance risks to demotivated teams and high turnover, the cost of misplaced talent in airports can be significant.
In this article, we’ll pinpoint what misplaced talent looks like in airports and outline how you can prevent it from undermining your operations.
Misplaced talent is often so usual in the day-to-day running of airports that it goes unnoticed. It might look like overqualified staff spending their shifts on low-priority tasks while critical duties are overlooked. Or team members filling in for roles they’re not certified for, inevitably exposing the airport to compliance and safety risks.
The root cause often stems from rigid rostering systems and legacy tools which fail to consider the strengths, skills, and certifications of individual staff. Turnaround times slow, workflows break down, and supervisors are stretched thin trying to manage teams working outside their strengths. Morale suffers, frustration builds, and valuable people start looking elsewhere, taking their skills and experience with them.
The risks don’t stop there: when roles and responsibilities don’t match up, compliance can slip through the cracks and safety standards may be compromised. It’s a clear signal that traditional workforce management isn’t keeping up.
Airports need smarter, more adaptive solutions that put the right people in the right roles before small gaps turn into big problems.
In the fast-paced airport environment, outdated or generic tools just can’t keep up. Most were never designed to consider a full employee profile, and many haven’t evolved to prioritize the skills and certifications that are essential today.
Critically, these legacy tools separate staffing from the very attributes that should inform it. There’s no built-in logic to match people to the roles they’re most qualified for. This critical oversight creates a major blind spot that isn’t just inefficient, but nearly impossible to fix on a large scale.
The answer isn't just better planning. It's smarter planning, supported by the right system.
Klayo is the only workforce capability management tool built specifically for airports. It brings together the skills and qualifications of your workers and helps you match them to a role suited perfectly to them.
Managers no longer have to worry about expired certifications or outdated training. Klayo validates and tracks the expiry dates of all qualifications and provides full visibility into each person’s training status. With this level of insight, you can roster with confidence and eliminate misplaced talent altogether.
Your people are your most valuable asset. But if they are in the wrong roles, you're missing out on their full potential. Get the right people in the right roles, every time. Explore how Klayo helps airports optimize every shift.