Remebering Bobbi Passavanti

Our industry is filled with many wonderful people and personalities. I’ve written about lots of them, usually airport directors, corporate CEOs etc. But what really makes this industry special is that there are so many others who don’t get written about as much but whose energy and passion makes every day, every event, something to look forward to.

Our industry lost one such person this week, Bobbi Passavanti of The Paradies Shops. 

Bobbi Passavanti in Dubai as posted in the blog, Stuckattheairport.com

I met Bobbi not long after I took this job and she made an immediate impression. Not just because of the odd coincidence of her sharing a first name with my mother-in-law and a last name with the hospital where my wife was born (Passavant Hospital in Jacksonville, Illinois). The impression she made would have been just as lasting if her name had been Jane Smith. 

Bobbi was one of those people who made it their job to make sure everything was just right. While her title was director of communications, I don’t know what her formal job description said, but it might well have included this phrase:  “make everything you work on successful…..and fun!” There are never enough people like that. 

Amy Peters, our VP for Business Development, worked closely with Bobbi. I can’t improve on what she said when she learned of Bobbi’s passing, so I will leave it to Amy to sum up how we who worked with Bobbi at ACI-NA felt about her: 

“Bobbi was the embodiment of the customer service spirit of The Paradies Shops. She was unfailingly upbeat, always professional, a passionate advocate of her company and her industry, and a long time friend to, and partner with, ACI-NA.” 

Bobbi Passavanti. RIP

Reflecting on ACI World meeting

A few final thoughts from Kuala Lumpur as I wait for my flight: 

Jim Cherry, CEO of Aéroports de Montréal, who chaired ACI World these past two years with unusual distinction, will give way to Max Moore-Wilton from Sydney, Australia.

Max Moore-Wilton

Max is a worthy successor to Jim, both men of energy, vision, and (Jim’s favorite word) passion. Max has been vice chair these past two years and I look forward to working with him and with Angela Gittens to strengthen ACI World even further. Succeeding Max as Vice Chair is Yiannis Piraschis of Athens, Greece. Yiannis has been chair of ACI Europe the past two years and is another person who has done much to strengthen the global airport industry. 

The final day featured a panel on the uses of technology to improve customer service. Randy Walker, our former chair, is a pioneer in this area and gave a presentation. Other presenters included Catherine Mayer of SITA (someone with more energy than any two other people), Ad Rutten of Amsterdam and also the CEO of Abu Dhabi Airport, John Stent. 

Technology will one day mean a truly seamless trip through the airport (think about the benefit home check-in has already provided). I suppose security will be the final hurdle for technology to conquer for the truly seamless experience. 

I was on the final panel talking about airport sustainability and environmental initiatives. I reviewed ACI-NA’s environmental goals, climate change position and the results of the Sustainable Airport Guidance Alliance. I was literally the final speaker of the conference so tried to make my remarks as concise as possible. My main point:  aviation is the most environmentally responsible means for transporting people and goods ever devised, airports have a good story to tell but even so are always looking to improve even without government dictates, and this is one area in which we have a choice of either shaping the future or being shaped by it. 

Overall it has been a remarkable experience here. Tan Sri Bashir Ahmad and his team at Kuala Lumpur Airport did a fabulous job, as did Angela and her team. It is always so inspiring to be among the leaders of the world’s airport industry.

Defining the airport-airline relationship

Another day in the books in Kuala Lumpur and a big theme was the airport-airline relationship. 

A couple highlights: 

The CEO of Malaysia Airlines, Tengku Dato’ Azmil Zahruddin, says they will not respond to the downturn by “nickel and diming” their customers. Hard to imagine a U.S. airline CEO saying that. 

Malaysian entertainment at dinner in Kuala Lumpur.

Tan Sri Bashir Ahmad, CEO of Kuala Lumpur Airport makes the point that airlines miss the mark by focusing on airport charges (which are only about 4 percent of airline costs) rather than working with airports to reduce the airlines’ cost of operations, which would be much more important. We have had the same conversation with airlines in the U.S. Airport charges are more easily quantifiable, I guess; an easier way to keep score. But airlines miss out on improving and reducing the cost of their operations by focusing on the wrong things. 

Ad Rutten from Amsterdam talked about how they built a terminal to meet the stated needs of a specific low cost carrier. But passengers hated it and started booking away; it was also increasing costs in other less visible ways. The airline missed the forest for the trees. 

Jim Cherry, CEO of Aéroports de Montréal, chair of ACI World and one of the smartest people I ever met talked about the airport airline relationship. He reached back to a quote from President Kennedy’s first trip to Canada in 1961 about how geography had made the countries neighbors, necessity had made them allies. 

Kennedy said: “Geography has made us neighbors, History has made us friends, Economics has made us partners, And necessity has made us allies. Those who nature has so joined together, Let no man put asunder. What unites us is far greater than what divides us.” 

Cherry said it was an apt description of the airport-airline relationship — though airlines are less willing to see airports as partners. As Jim put it about the relationship:  “Cooperation, Not Capitulation.” That about sums it up. 

The day finished with another awesome display of local culture in song and dance — and food!

Tourism transfers wealth to the have nots

Spent Monday morning at Batu Caves. It is an incredible site, enormous caves in a large cliff. Two hundred seventy-two steps to the top, with more after you get there. Lots of bats flying around and lots and lots of monkeys. 

Monkeys at Batu Caves.

Once you climb to the top you find Hindu temples inside. It is an impressive site and impressive experience. 

The Lord Murugan statue at Batu Caves.

The actual conference began last night with an opening ceremony and the opening of the exhibit floor (40 booths, companies from the U.S., Canada, Europe and, of course, all through the Asia-Pacific region. 

The conference sessions are officially underway today (the weekend was spent in ACI World board meetings). I’m listening now to Greg Duffell, President and CEO of PATA (Pacific Asia Tourism Association). It is an excellent presentation; and he has a lot to talk about given that this region is the world’s only economic hot spot.

Of all his points, two stand out for me. One, tourism is a major generator of wealth transfer from “haves” to “have nots”. Think about it, tourists have disposable income and spend it in places that flow to many folks who have much less income; people who work in hotels and restaurants, at tourist attractions and at stores and businesses.  These are people with much less income and they rely on the economic impact of tourism to support their families.  That’s why the inclination of some to denigrate tourism and travel in tough times really rankles, the ones who pay the biggest price are those who least can afford it. 

The other is that tourism, in tough times, relies on a cut rate model to stimulate traffic and business. Duffell said that this works fine if the recovery comes quickly and you can move away from cut rates before they put you out of business. But in slower recoveries, the cut rate model is dangerous. 

The overall mood here is good, but cautious. Much like we found at our North American conference three weeks ago in Austin 

More soon…

On the road to Kuala Lumpur

A few notes from the road through Canada and Dubai to Kuala Lumpur. 

The trip on the Emirates A380…..Wow!  Never have 12 1/2 hrs of travel gone by so fast. 

The Petronas Towers are right next to our hotel.

The Dubai Airport….Wow!  An enormous Duty Free Area. Our departing flight was at 3 a.m.  As we were walking to our gate at about 2 a.m. we walked through enormous crowds of people. Dubai at 2 a.m. It is one of the busiest airports I’ve ever seen. We had dinner with our son who works in Dubai and who we hadn’t seen in 4 months, which was very special. 

The welcome here in Malaysia….Wow!  Tan Sri Bashir Ahmad runs a terrific airport and he and his team have welcomed all of us with open arms. 

We are staying and working right next to the Petronas Towers, the world’s second largest building.  There has been a fair amount of rain which explains all the greenery and humidity. 

Just finished two days of ACI World Governing Board-related meetings. Jim Cherry, who runs the Montreal Airport, has done a terrific job as chair of ACI World and Angela Gittens has done the same as ACI World Director General. 

ACI World’s membership includes 1,679 airports in 177 countries. While ownership models and political challenges may vary, many of the issues, regulatory requirements and economic pressures are similar across national and regional lines. 

Having the opportunity to get to know and work so closely with airport leaders from every corner of the world in our effort to amplify the voice of the world’s airports is a real honor and privilege. I will write about many of the goings on here in the days ahead.

Winging out of Toronto on a A380

I’m sitting in the lounge at Toronto Pearson Airport on the way to the ACI World annual conference in Kuala Lumpur. Just had some great chicken noodle soup! 

Ann Principato in our "suite" on the Emirates A380.

We will travel on Emirates Airlines, connecting in Dubai and flying the A380 on the Toronto-Dubai leg. I’ve never flown on the A380 so I’m really looking forward to it. I’ll let you know what I think. 

Before leaving, I attended the semi-annual board meeting of the Canadian Airports Council. A doctor from what they call “Quarantine Services” spoke about H1N1. There was talk about the rent airports up here must inexplicably pay the federal government, about security, safety and a number of other issues. There was also a great deal of talk about the need to examine the cumulative regulatory burden placed by government, a burden felt especially by smaller airports. 

We also talked about ways ACI-NA’s U.S. and Canadian members can work more closely with one another. 

Before I came up here, I spoke to a meeting of the Airline Services Council of the National Air Transport Association (NATA). These are people who provide ground handling and other services at our airports. We don’t agree on every single issue but we have worked together on security, working to pass FAA Reauthorization and on beating back attempts to impose onerous new firefighting regulations. I truly believe that various interests within aviation have much more in common than not, and it is important to work together and communicate. We had a great exchange and will be following up on several issues. 

I’m going to get a little more to eat and get ready to board that A380. I’ll report back!

Sometimes I think I have the best job in the world

Less than two weeks ago I was in Austin, Texas at our annual conference with more than 1,700 airport professionals from all over the North America. The men and women who run and staff our airports posses a rare combination of political, economic, technical and business skills. They run the institutions that connect their communities to the world and they directly serve, in the U.S .and Canada, well over 700 million passengers per year. And, as I have written many times before, airports are on the front lines serving our passengers at a time when airlines have abdicated many of the responsibilities they once shouldered. 

On Tuesday, I will leave for Toronto to attend the board meeting of the Canadian Airports Council. One of the real joys of this job is the ability to work with our Canadian members. The ownership model is different there, and airport leaders have a few more options than do their U.S. counterparts. Some of my favorite folks in this business run Canadian airports. There is an energy there that you can feel when you visit, as I do several times a year. 

When that meeting is over I will leave for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to attend the ACI World annual meeting. (Flying on an A-380 operated by Emirates Airlines — that should be quite something). That conference will include airport leaders from every corner of the world, including several from developing world airports whose participation is made possible by contributions from airports in the developed world. I will be on a panel about environmental issues. 

So, within just three weeks I will be spending time around airport leaders from literally every corner of the world. I expect to come back energized, inspired and renewed in my confidence that the airport is where the action is in today’s aviation industry.

Remembering a Warm and Trusting Person

This entry has little, if anything to do with aviation but it’s called Greg’s Blog so I guess I can write about something else. 

I’m on a train headed back home from a day in New Jersey visiting my family. My younger sister, Carol Anne, passed away this morning after fighting diabetes, congestive heart failure and at least a dozen other serious physical and psychological ailments for the last decade or two. 

Carol Anne had 8 kids and 3 grandkids, and since we are all made in the image and likeness of God that’s quite an accomplishment. She wasn’t well known or even all that well traveled (though she did enjoy Atlantic City and also her couple of trips to the Bahamas). She did enjoy hearing about all the different places I go to; I remember calling her from Regina, Saskatchewan when she was getting ready for her heart bypass a few years ago and she enjoyed saying “Saskatchewan” over and over. I looked forward to telling her about my recent trip to Jerusalem, and an upcoming trip to Dubai and Kuala Lampur but didn’t have a chance. 

She was someone who saw the good in everyone and wanted to like and trust everyone; a rare and wonderful quality (and one she shared with my wife). In her life she came across a few folks who, unfortunately, took advantage of that quality. Some might jump to the conclusion that we should withhold affection and trust, but I would say the moral of her story is that we should all strive to justify whatever affection and trust others place in us because those are great gifts indeed. And, we should all try to find the best in one another even when we might strenuously disagree. 

Carol Anne Principato. RIP

Airlines Trying Out New Line to Oppose PFCs

I’m now back home from Austin after an exhausting and exhilarating week in Austin with 1,800 airport professionals — the largest airport gathering in the world. 

The Texas White House at the LBJ Ranch near Austin.

Before we left Texas we visited the LBJ Ranch and had a great tour thanks to Ranger Reese. I was a kid during LBJ’s presidency (turned 13 the year he left) and so it brought back some memories. We also saw his gravesite — brings to 21 (out of 38) presidential gravesites I’ve visited. 

Over the past few days I’ve heard airline industry officials repeat the same line:  now is “not the time” to increase the limit on the passenger facility charge. This seems to be the new talking point in a coordinated attempt to keep airports from being able to meet passenger needs by building and refurbishing aviation infrastructure. 

I will have a lot more to say about this in coming weeks. It is clear airlines think this is a wonderful time to charge you $100 to take a couple of bags with you on a roundtrip ($400 for a family of 4 — how much goes to airline executive bonuses?). But it is “not the time” to pay an extra $5 to $10 roundtrip (all of which goes to projects) in order to put more and better runways, taxiways and terminals in place. I wonder if this is why airlines don’t really want to see an FAA reauthorization bill passed?  Or is it because the bill will include consumer protections for passengers? 

I will have more to say in the coming weeks on this.

Great Time in Austin

We just finished the final sessions of our annual meeting in Austin, Texas. 

The last session I attended included presentations by three of the sharpest minds in our industry, Jeff Fegan, director at Dallas-Fort Worth, Jeff Hamiel, director at Minneapolis and Kim Day, director at Denver. They talk about customer service, about the importance of a strong workforce and about the business of running an airport. I wish all our passengers could hear airport directors like those three, and hear first hand their commitment to their passengers. 

DFW's Jeff Fegan, Denver's Kim Day and Jeff Hamiel, of Minneapolis-St. Paul.

I also had a chance to meet today with a number of key officials at TSA who came down to meet with airport professionals in a continuing effort on the part of TSA and the airport industry to improve our ability to work together to serve passengers and keep them safely moving through the system. 

We gave our highest award, the William Downes Award, to Paul Gaines. Paul was director of both the Houston and Salt Lake City airports. Paul was also a former chair of ACI-NA and of ACI World. His legacy of hard work, innovative thinking, a willingness to take on tough projects and his passion for the industry is an example for us all. The fact that several students from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University were there to hear his talk was an added bonus. 

We also gave our highest marketing/communications award (the Peggy G. Hereford Award) to the Edmonton, Alberta airport and our highest environmental awards to the airports at Burbank, Dallas-Ft Worth, Reno-Tahoe and Toronto. 

We also named our new chairman today, G. Hardy Acree, the airport director in Sacramento, California. Hardy will do a great job leading our industry into the year ahead. 

The Austin-Bergstrom Airport, its director, Jim Smith, VP of Marketing Jamy Kazenoff and their staffs did a great job of making us all feel welcome, and the airport they run is a great example of a commitment to their community and their passengers. 

The ACI-NA annual meeting involves a lot of hard work, but it is such an energizing experience and a great chance for the terrific professionals in the airport industry to meet and share experiences and prepare for the future.