Airport Experience® News - Leadership 2022

Proudly Supporting Women in Leadership

As an industry we have some way to go before we achieve a better position when it comes to gender balance. I was shocked that, at a fairly recent aviation investment event I was one of only a handful of women attendees, with almost all the speakers being men. But this is not, unfortunately, an isolated example. Here at Airport Dimensions, we are well placed in several but not all areas — with strong female representation both at a global leadership level and also in largest market, the US, but we need to replicate this in other regions. We also have women heading less traditionally female-dominated business areas, such as our global design and construction function. There’s no room for complacency, and we need to continue to work hard to ensure that there are women growing through the company by providing strong role models, accurately monitoring how remunerations and promotions compare, as well as ensuring that men and women are rewarded equally when they are promoted. We don’t always have the opportunity to wait for a suitable woman to fill a role— particularly in business areas that traditionally employ a large percentage of men, such as tech or finance. This makes it all the more important to nurture and develop the talent we do have internally and increase the pipeline at early stages. Looking forward, if we’ve all agreed that having a representative industry matters, we must understand what good looks like, set goals, and stand accountable for progress. I’ve been fortunate to have been very well supported throughout my own career, and I believe it’s important that we understand what future generations will need from their working environments — whether that’s on a practical or emotional level — and provide this.

Mignon Buckingham

Airport Dimensions CEO