Airport Experience® News - Conference 2023

It’s not exactly a “one step forward, two steps back” sort of scenario in the airport concessions sector; in fact, flip-flopping that well-worn phrase may be a more apt description. Passenger counts continue to rise in the U.S., reaching or exceeding 2019 numbers at many airports, but inflation is significant and could still lead to a recession. Supply chains seem to be smoothing out but building costs have risen dramatically. Finding labor has gotten a bit easier for both airports and concessionaires, but companies generally still need more employees and the costs associated with paying and retaining them remain up significantly. And despite reasons for optimism, as 2023 commences, operators still must pay down significant debt loads accumulated while waiting out COVID-19. There’s a lot of cautious optimismheading into the new year but also a realization that many things could still go wrong to make an already difficult recovery even harder.

“I think we all kind of have a new attitude, like, let’s prepare for the worst, hope for the best,” says Sarah Imberman, owner of Sarah’s Foods. “There’s so much erratic activity that one minute you think ‘OK, we’ve gotten over this’ and then something else happens. I think we all just want to be a little more conservative.” Supply Chain Struggles One post-pandemic challenge that has settled, at least a bit, is the supply chain. The general consensus among a range of industry players is that things are not yet back to normal, especially for anyone with larger equipment needs. But with respect to the day-to-day acquisition of products, it has normalized considerably. “Food is much better,” says Kevin Westlye, president of High Flying Foods. “Liquor, beer and wine are much better. Compostables are still a major problem and a lot of us prefer to use all compostables.”

Opposite Page, Above: Food and alcohol has gotten easier to source for High Flying Foods, but compostables are still a challenge. The company has diversified its supply chain where possible and increased inventory.