Airport Experience® News -Customer Service Issue 2026

ONE-ON-ONE

Left: Each year, AXN hosts a CEO roundtable with leaders of North America’s leading concessionaires. Pictured from the 2026 roundtable (l-r) are Matt King of OTG, Toby Keir of WHSmith North America, George Mboya of SSP America, Melissa K. Montes of AXN, Carlos Bernal of Areas USA, Steve Johnson of Avolta and Gregg Paradies of Paradies Lagardère. Below : The AX Team, which Montes led from June 2019 to June 2026, gathers each year for the Airport Experience Conference .

taught me that relationships and trust are everything. You can have the best sales deck, the smartest strategy and all the data in the world, but at some point, business comes down to people. Do you listen? Do you understand what someone’s trying to accomplish? Do you do what you say you’re going to do? And do you show up when things aren’t easy? Personally, this industry taught me to stay curious. I’ve had the privilege of sitting across the table from airport directors, entrepreneurs, ACDBE owners, CEOs, and people just beginning their careers. I’ve learned something from all of them. The minute you think you know everything about this business, you probably need to go have another conversation. WARD: Looking forward, in addition to accepting a role in the financial technology sector, you’ve created a consulting firm called 22 North. What will you focus on through that firm? MONTES: For me, it’s always been about the connections. Some of my favorite memories from the time with AXN aren’t necessarily the big moments on stage. They’re the relationships and partnerships that started because of a conversation at one of our shows. That’s really where the idea of 22 North came from. In a previous chapter of my career, I worked with small businesses, and I think my heart will always be with them. As I started to think about what

those conversations during the other 360-some days of the year? That’s where I see 22 North helping. It’s about event strategy, market positioning and intelligence, experiential ideas, and what I call connection architecture. That means helping companies determine where to invest, how to tell their story, who they need to reach, and how to create meaningful engagement before, during, and after an event. I want to help companies move beyond simply showing up and instead be intentional about why they’re there and what they want to accomplish.

I wanted to do next, I kept coming back to the companies trying to break into industries and how hard that can be, particularly in the airport concessions space. You can have an incredible product, a great story to tell and really good consultants advising you, but the questions remain: How do I actually show up? What events should I invest in? How should I position myself at AXC, ACI, or AMAC? Who should I be trying to meet? What should my presence look like and feel like? Most importantly, how do I stay relevant and continue

44

AX NEWS OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2026