Airport Experience® News - Customer Service Issue 2024

DIRECTOR’S CHAIR

SJC’S NEW LEADERSHIP Mookie Patel Is Putting His Vision Into Play At The Challenging Bay Area Airport

BY CAROL WARD

ditor’s Note: San Jose Mineta International Airport (SJC) hasn’t had the post pandemic bounce-back that many of its airport peers have experienced. With direct competition coming from two other major California Bay Area airports, and with a business traveler base, SJC has struggled to recover from the pandemic. Add to that the outward migration that California, and the Bay Area in particular, is experiencing, and the result is that growth has been largely elusive. Mukesh (Mookie) Patel was selected as the new airport director for SJC in March 2024. Patel has been a key player on the properties and revenue side of airports, having held key roles at several airports including San Antonio International Airport (SAT), Denver International Airport (DEN) and, most recently, Austin Bergstrom International Airport (AUS). Now, in his first airport director role, Patel is taking on the challenge of overseeing SJC at a challenging and critical time. AXN’s Carol Ward spoke with Patel about his vision for the airport going forward. E

WARD: It’s been eight months or so since you were named director of SJC. Can you give me an overview of how it’s gone so far? PATEL: For 24 years, if you look back at the growth trend from 1999 to 2024, we’ve only seen about a .5% growth. Silicon Valley goes through dips and booms and busts, just like the tech economy does. With that, the culture here – especially among those that have been here more than five or 10 years – is resiliency. When you work with a team of folks that are very resilient and are dedicated to their profession, you want to bring humility and a personality to the table. I’ve known (former director) John Aiken for most of my career. Through my career on the airport side I know Kim Becker and before her, Bill Sherry (both former SJC directors). I know this airport – I know its ebbs and flows. Bringing my own personality to the table helped my leadership team gel closely with me. It’s foundational relationship building within the leadership level. I also made a strong effort with a personal e-mail to all 225 employees. They knew who I was and where I was coming from, they knew my family. That resulted in about 50 individual, one-on one e-mail conversations with employees.

Ward: Beyond building the relationship with the team, what has been your focus thus far? PATEL: I would say that my biggest accomplishment in my first six months here was growing the trust from my team. That was pillar number one. Pillar number two was understanding the governance of this airport. I can comfortably say I work for a very competent city leadership group here that trusts the enterprise. It’s a check and-go kind of mentality where I reach out to my leadership at City Hall, but [the expectation is] that I just do what I need to do, basically staying within the gutter guards at the bowling alley. You want your bowl to hit a strike every time, so I’m very cognizant of who I work for and how that relationship is built. I’m doing what I need to do for the best outcome for the airport. The last piece, which is the most uncontrollable pillar, is the economy of the Bay Area in general and the fact that I work in an airport that competes against two other commercial service airports within a 40-minute drive.

Above: Mukesh (Mookie) Patel, director of aviation, San José Mineta International Airport (SJC).

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AX NEWS OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2024