Airport Experience® News - Post-Conference Issue 2026

VIEW FROM THE HELM In AXN’s CEO Roundtable, Concessions Leaders Discuss Challenges Amidst Unpredictable Environment

Above: Six CEOs of leading concessions companies gathered in February for AXN’s annual CEO Roundtable discussion. Picture left to right are: Matt King of OTG; Huw Crwys-Williams of WHSmith North America; George Mboya of SSP America; Melissa K. Montes of Airport Experience News; Carlos Bernal of Areas USA; Steve Johnson of Avolta North America; and Gregg Paradies of Paradies Lagardère.

BY CAROL WARD AND MELISSA K. MONTES

Editor’s Note: Each year at the Airport Experience Conference, AXN Editor-in Chief Carol Ward and Vice President & Publisher Melissa K. Montes hold a closed-door, roundtable discussion with CEOs from leading concessions companies. The goal is to have a thorough and candid discussion about the challenges they face as they seek to provide extraordinary retail and F&B experiences to travelers. This year, at the 2026 Airport Experience Conference in February, the six executives discussed everything from ongoing wage and labor challenges, to the encroachment of public-use lounges on what has traditionally been F&B and retail concessions territory, to the future of their small business partnerships as the ACDBE program evolves. Participating in the conversation were Carlos Bernal, CEO of Areas USA; Huw Crwys-Williams, CEO of WHSmith North America; Steve Johnson, president and CEO, North America, Avolta; Matt King, CEO of OTG; George Mboya, CEO of SSP America; and Gregg Paradies, president and CEO of Paradies Lagardère. The following is an edited version of the conversation. WARD: I’d like to start with an overview of the latest broad-based industry developments. What has shifted over the past year, and what’s top of mind as we head into the summer travel season? BERNAL: Business has gotten tougher. Unions have gotten much more aggressive. They’ve always been well organized, and now it’s, I’d say, at a completely new level of organization. The numbers are staggering, in terms of the wage rates that we’re paying. It’s tough to make money in the business now.

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AX NEWS APRIL/MAY 2026