Airport Experience® News - Conference Issue 2025

ONE-ON-ONE

Right: Pat Murray (second from left), is flanked by Nick Crews (left) and Rob Crews (second from right), both of Crews Hospitality. On the right is Milan Patel of OHM Concession Group.

businesses that [perform] at the level that we do, so that puts us in a unique position and provides unique opportunities. I certainly would expect 2025 to be a good year for us around the world. WARD: I know you’ve appointed a deputy CEO, George Maboya. What will his role entail? MURRAY: George came to work for SSP America about eight years ago. He has been a critical cog in the business. He built his career into being a big-league CFO (chief financial officer) for a billion-dollar plus company. [The deputy CEO role] provides an opportunity for him to provide leadership in other ways. It provides him an avenue to branch his career into both operations and development. WARD: Looking ahead, do you anticipate any significant changes in how you approach the airport restaurant – perhaps new technologies or different ways to offer a stellar passenger experience? MURRAY: First of all, there are always going to be new [approaches]. Throughout Covid, not just the aviation restaurant business but the world’s restaurant business was trying to come to grips with what we should do with digital technologies. We worked on so many different forms of technology during Covid, a lot of it got better and a lot of it translated to business, while some of it reeled back. My

focus in this next year or so is going to be more about pragmatic service. Many great restaurateurs and restaurant companies have evolved – there are so many solutions that are not complicated, you just have to do them right. At least for the next little while, I’m going to take what we have and continue to drive that through the business. Hopefully that’s felt not just by the consumers but also by our employees, providing everybody clear direction. I think there’s a there’s still an opportunity in our channel to be better at all those things. WARD: Wrapping up, is there anything else you’d like to share? MURRAY: In the channel, we need more people talking about and thinking about what we are going to look like in 10 years. How is the business going to evolve and change, and what do we want it to look like in 10 years? What do consumers want from us? You asked about new approaches to service. A lot of changes have occurred in America, with more work rules, higher wages, etcetera. How does that pan into the experience? It’s not just affecting us, it’s affecting the restaurants outside of the airport too. I’m looking forward to the AX Conference, where we can continue the conversation.

Above: Pat Murray (right), a consummate networker who has been a fixture in the North American airport concessions industry for two decades, at the 2024 Airport Experience Conference. Also pictured are Dawn Hunter (right), also of SSP America, and Huy Pham of Innovative Retail Group.

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AX NEWS MARCH 2025