Airport Experience® News - Post-Conference Issue 2025

Right: Gallant, CEO of Fredericton International Airport, expressed the importance of ensuring “a seat at the table” for women as they build their careers.

she saw me crunching through one quickly and she told me, ‘Slow down’,” said Schafer. “And as I evolved in my career, I came back to this – savoring the moment, and being patient, because especially in this industry, things can take a long time to evolve.” “The best piece of advice I’ve received is: if you get a seat at the table, it is your responsibility to bring others along with you,” said Johanne Gallant, CEO of Fredericton International Airport (YFC), emphasizing the importance of paving the way for other women to rise up in the ranks. And for Karen Ellis, assistant airport general manager and chief customer experience officer at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL), “my best advice came from my mother: don’t be afraid to speak your mind — don’t be afraid to say what you need to say,” to impart change and advocate for your ideas, she said. In advocating for change, the panel noted, it’s paramount to value collaboration over competition. “It’s about being involved in spaces where women are involved, and creating that space for everybody else,” said Gallant, noting that her board at YFC is 50% women. Gallant also suggested that volunteering makes for opportunities to discover new relationships and collaborations with other women: “Everywhere you volunteer is your community,” she added. Harland emphasized that in the airport industry, “it’s not a competition, but we are very competitive.” Yet, despite the high stakes nature of competing with other airport professionals, “we should all want everyone to win – we should make space for each other,” said Harland. And as Ellis put it: “the competition ends when we don’t think of it as, ‘we’re fighting against each other – we’re fighting for each other.’”

One of the biggest challenges of the industry, the panel noted, is a need to fight the biases and generalizations about how women work. “We are emotional — and you know what? We can turn that into a superpower,” said Schafer, recalling a meeting where her emotions actually ended up being a catalyst for positive change. Others like Ellis and Gallant spoke of combatting fear and projecting confidence in the workplace. Harland added that projecting confidence doesn’t have to

Above: Ellis, assistant airport general manager and chief customer experience officer at Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport, advised women to speak their minds and not shy away from difficult or intimidating conversations.

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AX NEWS MAY 2025