Airport Experience® News - Leadership 2022

Q & A

FUTURE PLANNING AAAE Zeros In Leadership Development, Gears Up For Reauthorization Fight

BY C AROL WARD

WARD: I know there are still structural issues from the pandemic, and traffic isn’t at 100%, but generally, recovery is well underway. As we’re looking ahead to 2023 and beyond, what is the feeling in the industry? Is your membership generally optimistic? HAUPTLI: Aviation has come back very strong. At some facilities there’s still a lag from pre-pandemic levels, but those are primarily airports that rely heavily on international traffic and more specifically, international Asian traffic. Places like San Francisco and Los Angeles are still a bit behind, [ John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK)] is a little behind, but airports generally are very close to their pre-pandemic levels and an increasing number of airports are over their 2019 level. Business travel is coming back faster than some people had said it would, and slower than some people had predicted. International is coming back but is still lagging. That’s picking up. I think airports are pretty optimistic about what the future looks like absent another pandemic-like event. Another cautionary note would be a recession. In previous business cycles, a recession tends to put downward pressure on air travel and companies tend to pull back on corporate travel. We’ll have to see what impact a possible/probable recession in 2023 has on traffic. This fall, we saw that in the months of September and October, traffic was significantly higher than pre-pandemic fall travel. There wasn’t the normal dip that you see in the fourth quarter. That’s an interesting development that we’re watching and preparing for. Whether it’s in this precise moment in time or any period of time really, the challenge airport directors face is they have to plan for what their facilities need in three years, in five years, in seven years, in 10 years, not what needs to happen in 30 days or 60 days or 90 days. It’s one of the inherent tension points in an airport-airline relationship. The airlines, they look to the future, but they have to think in 90-day, quarterly bites.

Editor’s Note: The American Association of Airport Executives serves as a professional organization for airport employees, providing professional development, training, airport management best practices and representation in Washington D.C. The organization is gearing up for another round of advocacy ahead of the expected 2023 FAA reauthorization, while at the same time it is tracking various regulatory issues and challenges faced by airports in the United States. Also front and center are the ongoing professional development efforts and services offered by AAAE to help ensure excellence among airport executives. Todd Hauptli, who serves as president and CEO of AAAE, recently spoke with AXN’s Carol Ward. He discussed his key goals for the organization as the industry looks to 2023 for continuing rebound and growth.

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