After the new terminal at Tbilisi Airport opened in 2007, the decorative cladding on the roof was blown away twice due to strong winds. When this happened, our CEO, Mr. Sani Şener, immediately flew to Tbilisi along with the representative of the German company that manufactured the material, the British engineer appointed by the insurance company, and a structural expert we had engaged from Istanbul Technical University (ITU). The fact that the issue had repeated twice was a clear sign of a serious problem.
Mr. Şener wanted to go up on the roof himself to observe the situation firsthand. We accompanied him. The wind was hitting the side façade of the terminal, rushing upward, and then meeting the wind coming from above, together lifting the roof cladding off the structure. Turning to the ITU expert, he said: “You should consult the aerospace engineering department, because what we’re dealing with here is an aerodynamic phenomenon caused by the roof’s structure.” After further studies, it was decided that the entire roof cladding would be replaced.
Instead of monitoring events from afar, our CEO had come to the field, made his own observations, and only after diagnosing the problem returned back. Mr. Şener often used to say: “I manage a forest. You cannot manage a forest if you don’t know its trees. Know the trees, but don’t try to manage them.” With this, he underlined the importance of not only macro management but also, when needed, micro management and knowing the work we do inside out.
Meanwhile, the roof issue had earned us harsh criticism in the press, with sarcastic headlines calling it a “convertible airport.” More importantly, in the tenders we joined afterwards, the incident was often brought up, sometimes half-jokingly. But thanks to the timely precautions taken and the lessons learned, we never faced a similar problem again.