Airport Experience® News - Post-Conference Issue 2026

Left: The annual Women In Leadership Breakfast at the 2026 AX Conference was a hot ticket. The sold-out event attracted more than 330 people.

RESILIENCE IN ACTION AXN’s Women In Leadership Panel Kicked Off The 2026 AX Conference

“Our industry isn’t navigating just one disruption – we’re operating in constant change, from economic volatility and workforce dynamics to evolving traveler expectations and global events, everything converges at once and often in real time,” said Women in Leadership panel moderator and AXN publisher Melissa Montes to open a discussion on personal and professional

resilience for airport operators and concessionaires alike. “Resilience today isn’t about simply pushing through,” said Montes. “It’s about how quickly we’re all able to adapt, how thoughtfully we make decisions and how intentionally we build leadership that is sustainable, not reactive.” Reflecting on their definitions of resilience, panelists agreed that personal and professional resilience indisputably intersect in their working lives. “Professionally, I think that resilience depends on leaning on your peers, leaning on the people who were there before you [and] leaning on your coworkers – it’s about developing contingency plans, it’s about developing flexibility,” said Isabella Rhawie, vice president and commercial revenue officer for the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC), operator of Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport (MSP). “Personally, it’s [about] being kind to yourself,” added Rhawie. “I think that we tend to be really rough on ourselves and want to do the best job possible, not just for our coworkers, but our families. We need to practice empathy for not only the people around us, but for ourselves.”

BY SARAH BELING

Right: This year’s panelists were (from left to right): Alea LaRocque of WHSmith North America, Isabella Rhawie of the Metropolitan Airports Commission, Laura FitzRandolph of Avolta and Cynthia Guidry of Long Beach Airport. The panel was moderated by AXN’s Melissa K. Montes.

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AX NEWS APRIL/MAY 2026