Airport Experience® News - Leadership & Culture Issue 2023

The Sacramento County Airport System, by multiple accounts, was in a bit of disarray when Cindy Nichol joined the organization in 2018. Nichol’s colleagues remark on her ability to gain consensus from all stakeholders on direction for the four airports in the system, her management through the pandemic and her forward vision today. Now that SMF is embarking on a $1.3 billion expansion, those same colleagues and friends are confident the project is in excellent hands. Moreover, they applaud Nichol’s quiet confidence, her thoughtfulness and her willingness to support the broader airport industry. A DELIBERATIVE LEADER 2023 DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR MEDIUM AIRPORTS Nichol’s Financial Prowess And Thoughtful Approach To Problem Solving Impress Colleagues BY CAROL WARD

DAVID DEFANTI Deputy County Executive, Sacramento County I have a lot of expe rience relative to the majority of depart ments I oversee, but airports is frankly a new department for me. Right out of the gates, Cindy proved herself to be just a consum mate professional. She knows the ins and outs

KIM BECKER President/CEO, San Diego International Airport

Because Cindy [leads] a California airport, we have a lot of common issues and themes. She’s one of those people that, if an issue comes up, I can pick up the phone and talk through it with her. She’s become a go-to for me for sharing information and just running issues by

of the airport business better than anybody I have ever met. That gives somebody like me, who is not an expert in all things airports, great comfort to know that somebody of Cindy’s caliber is overseeing our airports. She is extremely technically proficient, but also just a great person. She is a fantastic human, treats everybody with respect, is incredibly kind and thoughtful and has been a great teacher for me in trying to help bring me up to speed as to the airport’s business, so I can be of better service to her.

each other. She has calming effect. She’s thoughtful. She won’t just dive into an answer. She’ll take a step back think - you can see her mind going, and then she’ll share what she’s thinking. She’s a quiet leader, but she is willing to jump in when needed. And her financial brain is phenomenal. I actually knew of her before I knew her because [of her reputation on financial issues]. From a staff perspective, she’s not afraid to go to her staff and use them as the resources that they should be. I really liked that about her, because I rely heavily on my staff at times as well. We don’t know it all.

MARK McCLARDY Director, Airports Division, Western Pacific Region, Federal Aviation Administration

I thoroughly enjoy working with Cindy. I really appreciate the fact that she is very positive, a true aviation professional. When she took on the job, I knew she had a big task of trying to figure the appropriate direction of the airport system, including the international airport. It’s about projects, but it’s more about leadership, communication, partnership…. She manages a system of airports. There have always been questions and thoughts as to how that system should be run, and what each airport’s role should be. When she arrived, Cindy took the time to analyze it, get the input, build the alliances…. I think a responsible airport director has to kind of look at both the needs and the costs, to ensure that the people who come in after her are not burdened unnecessarily. There’s a balancing act to trying to find the right projects or the right set of projects or development at the right price at the right time. And she’s nailed that. That’s really more of an art than a science, and she’s got it.

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AX NEWS LEADERSHIP ISSUE 2023