Airport Experience® News -Customer Service Issue 2026

ONE-ON-ONE

DEPARTURE GATE After Nearly 13 Years At The Helm of ACI-NA, Kevin Burke Retires

BY CAROL WARD

ditor’s Note: For more than 12 years, Kevin Burke served as president and CEO of Airports Council International–North America (ACI-NA), advocating for North American airports both domestically and on the global stage. During his tenure, he earned the industry’s respect for his deep subject-matter expertise, as well as his ability to collaborate, communicate and build consensus. Burke retired from his position on October 4, turning his attention to a retirement filled with travel, time with family, guest lecturing, volunteering and, of course, a bit of golf. At the 2026 ACI-NA annual conference in September, AXN’s Carol Ward sat down with Burke to discuss his impact on the industry, the future of airports and his retirement plans. E

WARD: Let’s look back a bit. Tell me about your first impressions of the airport industry and how it evolved over the years. BURKE: When I was offered the position [of president and CEO], I asked Dave Edwards [former president and CEO of Greenville Spartanburg International Airport ], why they wanted to hire me. I didn’t know anything about airports. His response was, “That’s exactly why we’re hiring you. We want somebody who knows how to run a trade association, then we can teach about the airport industry.” He was absolutely correct. I was told early on – if you’re willing to learn, we’re willing to teach you. I learned by getting on the road and visiting airports to see how they work, so I could understand what we were advocating for. I wanted to speak with a level of authority. I would go to airports and they would show me their new terminals or their new baggage systems, or I’d learned more about how runways are [constructed]. I’ve been up in many air traffic control towers watching flight patterns in all types of airports, but more importantly, I’ve been to all levels of airports, not just the big hubs. I’ve had 220 or so airport visits in 13 years. The airport industry has evolved in many ways. I think we’ve become stronger in our messaging about our needs for infrastructure funding. I think what we’ve

done as a team is shown the airport industry that ACI is a powerhouse for not only the advocacy side, but on the communication side, on the regulatory side, on the meeting side. We bring the industry together. I think we’ve gone from being an okay trade association to a five-star trade association. It wasn’t me that did this – it’s our team. I just happened to be the president. Chris [Rocheleau] is inheriting an all-star cast. WARD: What do you consider to be your biggest achievement? BURKE: I think growing the relevance of the association with members. When I came in and when Todd [Hauptli, president and CEO of the American Association of Airport Executives ] came in, we were told by our respective leaders to find a way to work together, and we have. On the legislative matters, we’ve had two FAA bills in my tenure that we sent to the Hill. We were 100% in agreement even though the negotiations to get to 100% were not always easy. We were told early on by Bill Shuster, the then chairman of the T&I (Transportation and Infrastructure) Committee, that we needed … to present them with a unified bill. We’ve done that, and we’ve gotten results out of it. During the pandemic, when we were trying to get billions of dollars, we a couple of members of Congress questioned why airports needed help since they bring in

Above: Kevin Burke, former president and CEO of Airports Council International–North America (ACI-NA).

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AX NEWS OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2026