As someone who has had the good fortune to visit Christchurch, New Zealand, the images of the destruction coming out of that beautiful city are just heartbreaking. I see areas I toured, ate and walked, reduced to rubble. It is even harder knowing that some are still buried under all that debris, perhaps some of the people who were so nice when I was there.
Jim Boult, the airport director there, tells me that the downtown business district is about 60 percent destroyed, just obliterated. More than 80 percent of the hotel rooms in the city are gone. And, you have seen the pictures of the iconic church that is there and other sites.
Street scene near a destroyed cathedral in Christchurch, New Zealand on Feb. 22. (© Asher Trafford
The airport’s employees have lost much, in some cases, everything. They continue to work to keep the airport running; knowing the importance of that infrastructure to the recovery effort – a lesson we learned to great effect here after Hurricane Katrina. Those employees need our help.
ACI-NA, AAAE, ACI World and ACI Asia-Pacific have come together to establish a relief fund for the airport’s employees, similar to what we did after Katrina and after the Haiti earthquake. You can find a link on our web page or by clicking here. I urge you to consider a contribution; as this fund is established as a 501©(3) your contributions are tax deductible.
When the chips are down, few industries come together to help their own like the airport industry does. I thank you in advance for your contribution; I will finish writing now so I can make mine.
