Airport Experience® News - Conference Issue 2025

“It’s funny, looking back now, [Nashir, Benton and Ross] are some of the greats of the industry,” says Conner Harris. “Derryl asked me: ‘What can you bring to complement this team of professionals?’ And I remember saying, ‘You definitely have the technical side covered with Cheryl’s finance and analytical skills and Sylvia’s legal skills. I thought that with my marketing background, I could bring creativity to the mix.’” Offered the position, “I fell in love with concessions and never left,” says Conner Harris. “It allowed me to combine the things I loved most, being able to research and analyze issues and then work creatively to solve them and interact with people and develop relationships.” Working with mentors like Nashir and industry consultant Ann Ferraguto of AirProjects helped Conner Harris

grow, too. “Cheryl and Ann are my go-to concessions gurus,” says Conner Harris. “They’ve taught me so much, from what makes a good concessions program – the concept mix, the adjacencies, down to the space that you should allow for each [concept], leasing strategies, all of it.” Her years of working with the department and GOAA leadership have reinforced her belief that concessions are integral to any airport’s success, she adds. “We’ve just completed our most recent strategic plan, and the four pillars are: people, community, connection and innovation. I believe that concessions really touches all those four pillars,” says Conner Harris. “It’s such an exciting industry,” she contiues. “Where else can you go and really impact the experience of 60 million people? Working with all the different departments within the aviation authority has been

incredible, whether it’s construction with build-outs, facilities with maintenance items or our planning group with space needs and how we accommodate what’s expected in the future.” Those connections have greatly influenced Conner Harris’ management style, which she describes as collaborative. “I work with a really talented group of professionals, and I want them to feel valued, empowered, and inspired,” says Conner Harris. “I view my role as setting clear expectations and collaborating with each of those team members to help them succeed, whether that’s ensuring that they have the necessary tools and the training to complete their tasks or, in some cases, just running interference, removing obstacles from their path, or helping them navigate a tricky issue. “Sometimes it’s just being a cheerleader or chocolate supplier,” she adds. “I would never ask my team to do anything that I wouldn’t do.” Working with more than 50 different prime, independent and local concessionaires, including HMSHost, SSP America , OTG Concessions Management , Master ConcessionAir , Villa Enterprises , Areas USA , Paradies Lagardère and Hudson, on MCO’s more than 200 concepts, Conner Harris and her team “really view them as partners,” she says. “I think sometimes it would be easy to fall back on the ‘Well, you’re in our airport, you have to do what we say’ [ethos] and that really is not, in my opinion, a great philosophy.” Conner Harris and her team instead strive to create “a mutually beneficial relationship based on respect and support,” she adds. “If I walk into a coffee shop and the condiment counter needs a wipe down, I’m going to wipe it down. I’m not going to look to the operator and say, ‘Hey, get somebody out here.’ “We want each other to succeed.” she adds. “We all spend long hours at the airport, we have important jobs to do, and the airport can be stressful, but it can also be a really fun environment.”

Left: Conner Harris (right) accepts the award for the Airport With The Best Overall Concessions Program – Large Airports Division at the 2024 Airport Experience Conference. The award acknowledged excellence in concessions at Orlando International Airport’s Terminal C.

34

AX NEWS MARCH 2025