Anna Burton

Understanding Airport Dynamics and Division Interconnectedness

Anna Burton works for Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) as the Emergency Management Coordinator II. LAWA is the governing body for the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and Van Nuys Airports. LAX is the main international airport serving Los Angeles, California and is the world’s fifth busiest and the United States’ second busiest airport. Van Nuys Airports is a public airport in Van Nuys in the San Fernando Valley section of Los Angeles, California.

As the Emergency Management Coordinator II for LAWA Anna Burton’s primary responsibility is to support the emergency planning, training and exercise program for LAX and Van Nuys General Aviation Airports. She is also the assigned Chief Resilience Officer supporting the City of Los Angeles Resilient Los Angeles Strategy (100 Resilient Cities Program).

In 2017 Anna enrolled in the Online Learning Centre’s Certificate in Terminal and Landside Operations. As a new employee of LAWA she undertook this certificate to gain a better understanding of how different airport divisions operate and support each other. This was especially relevant as the City of Los Angeles has a large number of interconnected departments.

Anna found that the Certificate provided valuable awareness and education of the functions and layout of an airport, as well as airport terminology and acronyms. It also helped her to fully understand the interconnectedness of all the airport functions and how they operate ‘as one’.

In terms of the overall eLearning experience, Anna commented that the certificate “was well paced and clearly designed as a progressive learning opportunity”.  She recommends that the certificate is undertaken by any new airport employee to acclimatise to an airports’ functions and operations.

Congratulations to Anna Burton for completing the Certificate in Terminal and Landside Operations!