Airport Experience News - Conference Issue 2021

CONFERENCE ISSUE 2021 / V19 N236

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Leadership IN A TUMULTUOUS TIME

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6 Letter from the Publisher 8

Standing Strong

The pandemic tested leaders across all industries. In airports and concessions, finding footing as business ground to a near halt was crucial. Key executives share how they navigated the tricky terrain.

16 Hindsight

Airport and concessions executives weigh in on the last year for business, morale, labor and more while staying positive about what’s to come.

28 2021 Conference Agenda & Experience Hall Map Take a look at the layout of this year’s dynamic Experience Hall and familiarize yourself with the exciting schedule of sessions and events available to you this week.

40 Sponsor Profiles

Take a moment and let our wonderful event sponsors introduce themselves to you!

46 Exhibitor Profiles

REPRISE:

AXN’s Directors of the Year

Enjoy a quick look at the diverse array of this year’s Experience Hall exhibitors and find out who’s here!

The 2020 winners will be honored at the closing event of the AX Conference. We’ve updated their original profiles, which appeared in the November/December 2020 issue of Airport Experience News, to reflect developments since then.

52 Speaker Profiles

56 Bill Wyatt,

With the industry in transition, prominent airport, concessions and aviation professionals will share their expertise and debate the best path forward for the industry, in a series of sessions throughout the threeday conference.

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executive director of Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC) and drector of the year in the large airports division.

60 Kevin Dolliole,

director of aviation at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY) and director of the year in the medium airports division.

64 Paul Bradbury,

Portland International Jetport’s (PWM) airport director and AXN’s director of the year in the small airports division.

THANK YOU

We searched for the right words to say thank you for your contributions and patience. We genuinely appreciate our airport, ACDBE, and brand partners and are working to get on the other side of this—together.

HMSHost.com For more information, contact Derryl Benton at Derryl.Benton@HMSHost.com

TEAM Desiree Hanson

Executive Vice President

Melissa Montes Publisher

Carol Ward

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Jen Juul

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Andrew Tellijohn

Senior Reporter

Shafer Ross

Copy Editor and Writer

Sally Kral

Contributing Writer

David Ward

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Barbara Moreno

Portfolio Coordinator

Chad Wimmer

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Group Marketing Director

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Marketing Coordinator

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President and Chief Executive Officer

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Chief Financial Officer

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LETTER FROM THE PUBLISHER Dear Valued Readers, Thank you for being with us and welcome to the 2021 Airport Experience Conference and the conference issue of Airport Experience News. We’re glad to be back! We may be a bit smaller than in previous years, but we are excited that you are sharing this much-anticipated moment with us.

You have looked to AXN for the last 20 years as the industry resource for networking, education and communication. Our team has worked extremely hard since March 2020, when we were all last together, to advance knowledgesharing, ideation and, above all else, connection. We hope you found value in our new media formats: AXiNsights, AXiNterviews, AXiNsider and AXiNfoLive.

Over the next few days, you will have the opportunity to reconnect, learn and advance the important conversations needed to pave the way to renewed prosperity. Our robust agenda is focused on industry trends in this new landscape, emerging programs and healthy discourse on the best way forward. Our Experience Hall features many brands that you have seen at the AX Conference for many years, as well as new entrants eager to test the waters. Also new this year, an AXiNnovation Theater has been added for further engagement.

I’d like to connect with you during the conference, hear about your experiences and learn how AXN can contribute to your success.

We thank each of our sponsors, exhibitors, airport partners and you, our valued readers for your continued support. Together we will emerge stronger.

Warmest,

Melissa K. Montes Publisher

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Industry Leaders Share Pandemic Survival Strategies

BY CAROL WARD

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In the early days of the pandemic, many in the aviation industry were comparing the impact to

that of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. COVID-19 unfolded more gradually than the attacks but the sharp downturn in passenger traffic was similar. As the months wore on, however, it was clear that the pandemic would be an even bigger hurdle for the industry to overcome. The past 15 months will definitely leave a scar.

As of this writing in late July, business travel recovery remains a wild card, but summer leisure travel is buoyant and airports and concessionaires are beginning to express hope for a full recovery. However, there are still major challenges.

At airports, capital projects have been derailed and monetary reserves weakened. For concessionaires, profitability remains elusive and debt levels are high. AXN’s Carol Ward spoke with eight industry executives about their leadership strategies during one of the most difficult periods in North American aviation.

CANDACE MCGRAW, CEO, CINCINNATI/NORTHERN KENTUCKY INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (CVG)

Building a Puzzle, Piece by Piece Collaboration and constant communication were instrumental in keeping Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG) viable throughout the pandemic, says CEO Candace McGraw. In fact, she credits airport CFO Dil Gruffydd with likening the situation to a complex puzzle.

“I think that visual really stuck with me,” McGraw says. “We could say we know what we’re doing. We have good fundamentals. We’ll take the information we have, and we’ll just put it together in the best way we know how moving forward.

“And if we have to rearrange some of the puzzle pieces, we will try something and see if it fits. And if not, we’ll try it again a different way,” she continues.

“That’s how we manage through it, with calm deliberation and thought, with the notion we would pivot quickly if we had to.”

Given that CVG had already experienced previous financial shocks – notably the downsizing from its former hub status – McGraw felt the business was reasonably diversified and as “recession-proof” as possible. One key challenge for her was managing the workforce, many of whom were needed on-site as front-line workers. Others were sent home to comply with state and federal guidelines.

When things began improving earlier this year, McGraw sought change. “The biggest struggle for me personally was figuring out how and when to bring people back into the office, because I could sense that there was a division happening between our frontline

folks and our people in the office.” she says. “I didn’t like that. I thought it was injurious to our corporate culture.

“I wanted to bring people back in the office, so when we were saying ‘we’re all in this together’ we literally were going to be all in this together,” she continues.

“But how to do it and be respectful of the health concerns, the environmental concerns, people’s personal lives, was challenging. I struggled with that for a long while, but we finally made the decision to go back to pre-COVID operating procedures and work environment with everybody on site.”

Summer passenger numbers at CVG are expected to be at about 80 percent of pre-COVID levels, and McGraw says business travel is expected to perk up later this year. Surveys of local firms show a strong propensity to return to pre-COVID travel habits, with the barrier being the fact that firms in other parts of the country might not be as far along. “They don’t have a place to travel to, to sell their goods, do their thing,” she says. “They anticipate that’ll change.

And they anticipate their 2022 travel budgets to be very similar to their 2019 travel budgets. I’m hopeful business travel will come back maybe quicker than we anticipate, as well.”

That level of recovery would be a welcome change for the industry after a dismal 2020 and early 2021.

McGraw says her leadership style has remained constant throughout. “My leadership style was very participatory and very much in tune with communicating with all of our stakeholders here, both employees and our business partner stakeholders,” she says. “I think I’ve just leaned into that even more.”

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GREGG PARADIES, PRESIDENT AND CEO, PARADIES LAGARDÈRE

MICHAEL SVAGDIS, CEO, SSP AMERICA

Trust “On Steroids”

Communicating and Over-Communicating

Gregg Paradies is no stranger in the airports in which Paradies Lagardère operates, nor in the company’s home office in Atlanta. Before COVID-19, and now again as the crisis eases, Paradies wants to be visible to his entire team. He feels that’s the best way to get an accurate read on what’s truly going on in the company.

Of course, during the height of the pandemic, travel was minimized, forcing Paradies to adapt.

“I’ve had to change how I interact with our teams,” says Paradies, noting that bi-weekly videos and “old-school phone calls” replaced some of the face-to-face interaction, particularly during the height of the pandemic. “I have to do it a little differently now, work harder. A big part is making sure my communication is very clear, very honest, very transparent,” he says.

The goal was to continue to build trust in his organization during the most difficult period it had ever had to face. “One of our core values has always been trust,” he says. “Trust is everything, but it becomes everything on steroids during a pandemic.”

“I was transparent,” Paradies explains. “I was timely on sharing news – and it wasn’t good news – in almost real time. I did a weekly video, which I’d never done before. Every week on Thursday it was released, an update for the team as to where we were, what we were doing and what I needed them to do.

That worked very well. I’ve continued that throughout the pandemic, and I will continue that post-pandemic as well.”

Paradies also points to quick reactions in a rapidly changing environment. “I can’t say we were a hundred percent right on everything, but I would say we were right on most things,” he says. “We moved quickly because time was everything. That agility of decisionmaking was critical.”

Wit h s a l e s plu m m e t i n g, Pa r a d i e s Lagardère furloughed about three-quarters of its employees relatively early in the pandemic.

Many that remained took significant pay cuts. It was heart-wrenching at the time but, at the other end of the emotional spectrum, now it is gratifying being able to bring them back. “One of the most rewarding parts during the [early recovery] is reconnecting with those individuals who were furloughed and are back. Their excitement of being back – it gives me chills because... that’s infectious to our entire team.”

Paradies also is gratified by the cooperation shown in the industry. Like most concessions operators, Paradies Lagardère looked to airports for help when passenger traffic slowed to a trickle.

“We work very collaboratively with our airport partners and brand partners,” Paradies says. “[We were assessing] what we can do together to survive this pandemic while still offering the traveler first-class experience. It wasn’t easy because we were all in a survival mode and those are some hard conversations, but we did it collaboratively and we did it the right way.”

“We moved quickly because time was everything. That agility of decisionmaking was critical.”

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Michael Svagdis remembers when the enormity of the COVID-19 crisis really became clear to him. It was mid-March, Svagdis was in New Orleans when he saw on television that the Utah Jazz versus Oklahoma City Thunder NBA game was canceled due to COVID-19 infections.

“When I saw that on TV, I knew things are really going to change across the United States,” recalls Svagdis, CEO of SSP America. “And they dramatically did each day. I was trying to get back to the office, [meet with] my executive team and really grab the bull by the horns. It was absolutely a team effort – it has been constant communication [with the SSP America team, brands and partners].

“It was communication and overcommunicating as much as possible,” Svagdis says. “I thought that was the best thing because there was so much going on that was changing every day.”

Svagdis says the confusion around changing regulations – especially with each state having different approaches and also different approaches in the U.S. and Canada – became overwhelming quickly. Information discipline was crucial.

“No one was allowed to send any mass email out to the organization unless it was filtered through me and the executive team,” he says. “That way, again, we didn’t have any departments cross-referencing one another or giving mixed messages.

There was a consistent message coming out from my office and the executive team about what we were doing in the business related to safety and all other aspects of the business. That email communication,

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getting it down to the one person, was super critical.”

The next several months were spent navigating how to return to business amidst constant shifts in rules and expectations. “I don’t think it really got to a steady state on what the actual rules were with COVID until about six months ago, as it related to operating restaurants,” Svagdis says.

Personnel issues also weighed heavy.

“We had to make some tough decisions on terminating a majority of our employees, as well as furloughing them. And a big challenge was, how do you stay in contact with them? We all thought maybe this would be going on for three to six months,

and here we are nearly 18 months later.”

Svagdis laments not only the heartwrenching decisions he was forced to make when business was at its lowest, but also the inability to rehire people now that business is coming back.

Moving forward, Svagdis says the crisis has underscored the need for constant communication with his team, something that was always part of his leadership style. Moving up the ladder of importance is a focus on the health and well-being of team members. He says individual experiences relayed to him have reinforced “how important it is to really stay connected with your direct reports and to your team to ensure that

“I don’t think it really got to a steady state on what the actual rules were with COVID until about six months ago, as it related to operating restaurants,” their health and well-being is always [at the forefront].”

“It was always part of my priorities as a leader,” he says, “but I absolutely put it on the top right now.”

Focusing On “Today” In Height Of Downturn

STEVE JOHNSON, PRESIDENT AND CEO, HMSHOST

“If it was going to take six months or three years, we were going to keep the company alive and strong.”

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In the early days of the pandemic, when uncertainty was very much the norm, the “north star” for HMSHost became keeping the entire team safe. “All else was secondary to that goal,” Steve Johnson says.

The executive team was meeting daily in the early part of the pandemic when the situation was fluid, and weekly companywide meetings became the norm. “We didn’t come into the office for four months, yet we’re able to stay in touch with our teams at each of our airports, our motorway locations, and truly support them as the business changed,” says Johnson, who is president and CEO. “The passenger numbers dropped to, really, almost nothing. We held weekly company-wide meetings during most of the pandemic to answer questions, to clarify changing safety guidelines, to show progress and open connections. We couldn’t travel to our locations, but we could provide hope through virtual connections.”

Johnson also had to focus on the moment at hand. “As leaders, we’re all trained to plan and to look to the future,” he says. “But one of my mantras to my team during the early days of the pandemic was, ‘let’s worry about today only.’ Let’s not look at a month out or two months out or even recovery. It sounds so simple, but it is so counter to what executives normally do. It took a while for people to truly focus on making that happen.”

The move to furlough about 90percent of staff was an “unfathomable decision,” but

one that was necessary. “It was an extremely emotional day for the team, for our associates and certainly for me,” recalls Johnson. “I vowed on that day: we’re not going to fail.

My team’s complete focus was to save the company, so the people who relied on our company and our industry would have a place to return to. If it was going to take six months or three years, we were going to keep the company alive and strong.”

HMSHost opted to sell its U.S. motorway business earlier this year for $375 million, a move which Johnson says marked a turning point for the company.

The heavy debt load taken on during the pandemic “was going to leave us in this situation where we were sitting on this mountain of debt that would have to be retired over the next three or four years, without really being able to invest back in the business,” he says. The sale, coupled with the summer rebound in passenger traffic, has put the company in a better, though still not fully recovered, position.

Now, like many, HMSHost is struggling to attract back its furloughed employees or find new ones to take their place. Noting the early decision to shed staff, Johnson says, “Sometimes you’re forced to make short-term decisions for survival that may not be the best decisions long-term. But I go back to what I promised the employees we were furloughing, which was, we’ll be here for you, to welcome you home.”

CARLOS BERNAL, CEO, AREAS USA

Every Day, Adapting The Plan Carlos Bernal was at his first AX Conference as the head of Areas USA when things “started unraveling” for the company.

He recalls conversations among colleagues, with the general takeaway being that the industry would likely suffer a downturn, but the impact would be concentrated in Asia and, to a lesser extent, in Europe.

“It was almost overnight, the switch got flipped and it was almost like going back to September 11th – maybe not quite to that magnitude, but things just started stopping,” he recalls. “We started making changes because we saw what was happening. We could get our daily sales from each of the restaurants and stores that we operate and we knew right away what was happening.”

Bernal says he took quick action to reduce expenses. “We went through a layoff process,” he says. “At that point in time, we didn’t know if it was permanent

“Here we are 15, 16 months later, I think we’re starting to see some light, but it’s dim.” or temporary, but we just started laying off staff – hourly staff as well as management staff, in the field and corporately. We just weren’t seeing any light at the end of the tunnel. And here we are 15, 16 months later, I think we’re starting to see some light, but it’s dim.”

At the same time as staffing was being reduced, communication was ramping up.

“We really stepped up our game in terms of communicating to the team and keeping everyone abreast of what was happening,” he says. “We had daily meetings… Every

day, we were just adapting our plan and what we were dealing with.” Along with that came heightened transparency and a new level of accessibility as the team banded together to try to save the business.

Bernal says Areas sustained “significant losses” in the fiscal year ending September 30, 2020, and is forecasting further losses in 2021, although better than the previous year. “The only reason it’s lower is because of our airport partners – most of them have been absolutely fantastic in terms of helping us stay in business, with MAG waivers and other modifications that they’ve allowed us to do,” he says. “The worst is behind, but we still need some help because I don’t think we’re out of the woods just yet.”

Like virtually every airport concessions company, Areas is faced with significant challenges in attracting workers to build the business back. Some locations remain closed or at reduced hours because of a lack of front-line workers. Those who have come back have been welcomed with open arms. Early on, “the people side” – meaning having to furlough or lay off so many employees – was one of most challenging aspects of leadership for Bernal. Now, he says, “On the flip side as we come out of this thing, it’s been one of the more rewarding sides.

Folks that are back are happy to be back and grateful that we’re still in business.

They’re grateful they still have a job and we are too.”

DEBORAH FLINT, PRESIDENT AND CEO, GREATER TORONTO AIRPORTS AUTHORITY

Never Let A Good Crisis Go To Waste Deborah Flint had a plan. In her first 90 days leading Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ), she would learn about the organization, connect with the Board and craft a vision for the way forward. She saw her new role as “the opportunity to take Pearson Airport to the next era and solidify it as a mega hub and as the new epicenter of travel in North America.”

The problem was, she joined GTAA in February 2020. Five to six weeks into her new role, the pandemic took hold and the best-laid plans went haywire.

“When the pandemic hit, obviously those plans went to the side,” Flint says. “In retrospect, one of the positive outcomes is that it really did give me an opportunity to understand the organization and its capabilities – how the team could be very nimble and how we could pivot and adjust course. You really get to see who your strong team members and leaders are in the heart of a crisis.”

Flint says she and the Board were adamant that they would craft a plan forward, even though basic predictability was elusive. They developed several different scenarios, trying to anticipate and prepare for what might lie ahead.

“Some people I would argue [with]: how can you develop a strategic plan in the midst of this storm, where the winds are swirling from every direction and you don’t know what the storm is even going to end up being?” she notes. “But we developed both a north star statement to help guide the organization as well as four key goals. That’s really critical in this era for airports and other businesses that are facing incredible disruption and need to transform, so our north star became to create the airport of the future in a smart, healthy and profitable way.”

As the North American and global aviation industries navigate their rebound, Flint says it’s important that they “never let a good crisis go to waste.”

“We need to ensure that we come out better from this crisis,” she says, suggesting that airports need to focus on long-term health and safety protocols that will resonate far beyond this current pandemic. “Case studies abound of industries and companies that did not adjust to a change and to disruption sufficiently. You have two paths, a fork in the road. There are the companies that adjusted very well, and they are more competitive than ever. Then, there are those that didn’t face that disruption and they no longer exist, the disruption has taken over. We could indeed be very much smaller if we don’t retool in a radical way.”

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DAVID CHARLES, PRESIDENT AND COO, MARSHALL RETAIL GROUP

Managing Without A Playbook The industry knew about COVID-19 before it hit the United States, but realization of the potential devastation came quite suddenly to many.

“The scale and the speed caught a lot of people by surprise,” recalls David Charles, president and COO of Marshall Retail Group, who has spent more than 30 years in the travel retail industry. “It’s almost like there’s a playbook for a typhoon, a coup, a currency crisis. We were in Asia when SARS hit and we kind of knew what to do with that, but this was unprecedented.”

Charles recalls ending a personal ski trip early and heading back to his office on a Sunday in March of 2020, in an attempt to get ahead of the crisis. “We put a pretty aggressive action plan in place – worst-case scenario. The plan was to basically shut everything down, preserve cash. We thought we could ride through this maybe two months, three at the worst. And that’s where we thought we were.

“Of course, that wasn’t the case; it got worse and worse,” he adds.

“At one point we had three stores open across the entire organization.”

Communication within the sharply reduced team took on new meaning, with senior executives taking on multiple positions within the company just to ensure it remained viable. “We communicated strongly

… and I think that’s what kind of carried us through – the camaraderie and connectivity,” he says. That sense of connection carried over into the broader industry, he says, praising the airport partner support that helped carry the company through the worst of the pandemic.

Of course, like virtually all airport businesses, MRG was forced to shrink its workforce. Initially, there were furloughs with the expectation that employees would be coming back within a few months. But in September, Charles said he more fully severed the relationships because there were no signs of improvement. “We got to that point where we thought we can’t keep dribbling this out…,” he says. “It was a hard message, but it was a clear message.”

“It’s kind of interesting because today, the tables are flipped completely and we can’t hire enough,” he adds.

Now, 16 months after the pandemic decimated business, Charles says MRG has “hit that turning point” where recovery is in sight. “We’re not out of the woods in a number of locations but the signs are there that we are… on an up spiral,” he says. “It’s not across the board, but we’ve got a number of locations in the network that are beating 2019 [numbers].”

He notes that many of those are resort, not airport, locations.

Getting to this point, Charles says, was almost like navigating the stages of grief. “I think adaptability was probably the word I’d use there to be able to flex through this,” he says. “We had to be really clear, decisive and upfront, deliver the action plan and boom, get it done.”

TOM RUTH, PRESIDENT AND CEO, EDMONTON AIRPORTS

Focusing On Safety, Communication and Cost Controls Edmonton International Airport (YEG) was thriving at the start of 2020. “Things were going well, and it appeared like it would continue going forward,” says Tom Ruth, president and CEO. “We were pretty happy with where things were going.”

Then in March, “all of our worlds turned upside down.”

Safety and security were top of mind initially. By the end of March, about two-thirds of airport staff were working from home. At the same time, communication ramped up. “We made it a priority that we were communicating with our employees in real time on anything that was coming up,” recalls Ruth.

With ‘business as usual’ a fleeting thought of the past, Ruth says he and his team began concentrating on things they could control and influence. “We couldn’t influence government regulations and we couldn’t influence COVID itself, but there were a lot of things we could control and influence.

“We worked on our cargo operations,” he says as an example. “We’re a bit of a cargo hub in Canada, so we realized that we had a major responsibility to bring in the PPE and other medical equipment that would be distributed through Canada and other parts of the world.

We ramped up our freighter activity – our all-cargo flights were up 214% last year.”

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The cargo boom wasn’t enough to offset massive losses in passenger traffic. Unlike their U.S. counterparts, privately managed Canadian airports received little federal government assistance in the early months of the pandemic, forcing most to shed staff.

“We were in a crisis mode,” Ruth says. “Our passenger traffic was down more than 90 percent for many months last year. Clearly, we had to downsize our workforce. We tried to hang on as long as we could, but by the middle of summer it was clear to us that with the downturn in traffic – and with 90 percent of our revenues [coming from] passenger traffic – we had to downsize our employees by 30 percent. That was gut wrenching to do.

“I’ve been in aviation all my life, about 40 years, and I’ve always been a job creator,” Ruth adds. “This was the first time I’ve ever had to downsize.

It was necessary to do. This is a fact of life anywhere you go in aviation, but it doesn’t ease the pain of affecting people’s livelihood.”

Ruth says his leadership style has changed with the pandemic. It’s made him more flexible with work styles – he calls working from home “a huge success” for YEG. Relationships took on new importance, with in-person interactions now more valuable due to their relative scarcity.

“Those are things that have changed and that we want to keep doing as we come out of COVID.” Empathy and transparency have also increased.

In recovery, Ruth says he’s focused on enhancing the airport culture and taking a global leadership role on sustainability. “People might think that airports have been treading water during COVID, but I think we’re a bit like a coiled spring,” he says. “We’re ready as soon as passengers come back, and we’re eager to grow.”

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Airports, Operators Share Perspectives On Getting Through Pandemic

BY ANDREW TELLIJOHN AND CAROL WARD

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Roddy McOwan lives in Las Vegas. He’s used to the hustle and bustle of gamblers hoping to get lucky at the tables and friends gathering to see a show.

But as the chief development officer for Marshall Retail Group, McOwan saw a different strip last March and April as the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic started to spread.

“We could ride down the strip and there was nobody there,” he says. “It was like one of these scary sci-fi movies where human beings had disappeared but the buildings are all still standing.”

That same scenario was playing out at Las Vegas McCarran International Airport (LAS) and all other airports across America as traffic plummeted by more than 90 percent across the country. A typical traffic day at St. Louis Lambert International Airport (STL) sends maybe 20,000 passengers through Transportation Security Administration checkpoints. By the first week of April, those counts dropped to 4,500…per week.

Above: Social distancing signage and hand sanitizer stations popped up at airports all over the country as COVID-19 spread across the U.S.

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Above: Airport executives at STL pored over daily and weekly Transportation Safety Administration data to analyze declines in passenger traffic during the pandemic.

“We had a chart we kept every day with TSA checkpoint volume,” says Rhonda Hamm-Niebruegge, airport director.

“The whole month of March and April and the first two weeks of May 2020 were devastating. Along with the drop in passengers comes the drop in revenues.”

COVID-19 reared its ugly head in myriad ways throughout the bulk of 2020 and well into 2021. Airport Experience News sought the thoughts of several industry executives on what they remember and how they fought through the carnage.

Early Days Brought Tough Decisions Discussions about the likely impact of COVID were widely underway during the AX Conference in Denver last March.

Nobody knew what was coming. Some already were recommending fist and elbow bumps over handshakes, but nobody was masking and nobody really knew how serious the pandemic would get.

But within days of the 2020 event, airports and operators around the country were shutting down restaurants and shops, trying to figure out how to keep their frontline workers, as well as the few travelers that were flying, safe and their companies intact.

“We were literally in the mode of saving the industry as we knew it and our company

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as we knew it,” says Derryl Benton, vice president of business development at HMSHost Corp. “If you look at March to June, sales were just plummeting.”

HMSHost and others ended up laying off thousands of associates. At SSP America, it was 80 percent of staff.

“I’m sure every company just had to get better and better at things, because we needed to keep the lights on,” says Patrick Murray, senior vice president of business development at SSP and the inaugural chair of the Airport Restaurant & Retail Association (ARRA), which formed to represent operators just a few months before the pandemic.

Those first days after the AX Conference, officials at Marshall Retail Group met.

They began reaching out to Airport Concessions Disadvantaged Business Enterprise partners to see how they were doing and what they were hearing. MRG also made the decision to close all but three of its locations and furlough 97 percent of its associates.

“Cities were closing down, states were closing down, the airport system was closing down,” says McOwan. “That was a really tough decision. People got it, people understood it. We continued to pay benefits and help people protect where they were for a significant period of time.”

BRINGING FLAVOR TO AIRPORT LIFE

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Above: While traffic was minimal during the worst of the pandemic, Marshall Retail Group and others still had RFPs to answer and new concepts to open, such as The Arts District Market at BNA, DepARTures at SFO or District Market at BWI.

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Partner Collaboration “Saved The Industry” As that realization became clear, the industry made several moves. In addition to furloughs and closing stores, airports across the country began negotiating relief deals with operators, and those partners, along with airlines, began working together as they had never done before.

“We were at the mercy of our landlords and all hands were on deck,” HMSHost’s Benton says. “Airports contributed to saving this industry by not enforcing [minimum annual guarantees]. I think we stand today because partnership became real.”

Murray agrees. “Before this, when was the last time airlines and airports cooperated?” he says. “And forget about [concessionaires].

Generally speaking, not only have airlines and airports not been working together, they’ve been fighting about the PFC for gosh knows how long. During COVID, beginning around May, everyone really started to work together to figure out how to get things done.”

Discussions covered rent, store hours and closings, shifting flights to maximize the efficiency of having stores and restaurants open in the right spots, and anything else that might serve the public and allow survival.

“Our way of pivoting was to look at the needs of the traveling public,” says Paul McGinn, president of developer Marketplace Development, adding that in locations where Marketplace operates, airports were great partners.

“In all cases it really has been a great example of cooperation, of partnership, and working very hard to find a way forward,” he says. “That was at the outset when we shut down and as we’ve looked for ways to ramp up, we have been able to do it in a way that I think is continuing to respect those same goals.”

Roger Schwandtner, vice president of business development for Creative Food Group, sold 32 restaurants to Delaware North in 2019, which ended up being fortuitous timing, he notes.

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Left: Airports implemented increased cleaning measures to ensure the safety of travelers and employees during COVID.

If not for the industry’s ability to raise capital to weather the pandemic-induced damage, there would certainly be more collateral damage than has been suffered thus far.

– Bill Swelbar, chief industry analyst with Swelbar-Zhong Consultancy

The company still has some operations at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI), all of which are open, and at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), most of which have reopened.

He was struck, in particular, by the flexibility of the Maryland Aviation Administration for its willingness to allow its restaurants to close, re-open and close again based on radical changes in passenger traffic.

The agency, he says, also provided immediate rent relief and “worked with their tenants to minimize the business effects of the pandemic,” Schwandtner says, which included offering lease extensions early on, as well.

Federal Funding Vital For Recovery Hamm-Niebruegge and others cited three relief packages that came from the federal government as vital. Some used it for continuing with projects, others for operations and safety measures.

Much of it was set aside for rent relief to concessionaires and making sure people could keep working.

“We didn’t lay people off at the airport,” she says.

Those relief packages, coupled with the strong financial positions airlines had achieved heading into the pandemic, have significantly helped the industry recover, says Bill Swelbar, chief industry analyst with Swelbar-Zhong Consultancy.

“If not for the industry’s ability to raise capital to weather the pandemic-induced damage, there would certainly be more collateral damage than has been suffered thus far,” he says. “And the government weighing in with financial support was important to stakeholders along the supply chain other than airlines.”

While there are encouraging signs, Swelbar says he’s neither bullish nor bearish on the recovery, which won’t be full-scale until business and international travel return. Employment growth is slowing, there is a labor and wage crisis and “the U.S. government cannot get out of its own way and provide programs and fiscal stimulus to jumpstart all parts of the economy, not just some,” he notes.

And yet, airlines are ordering aircraft and businesses are starting to plan for returns to the office in the foreseeable future. “It feels better today,” Swelbar adds. “I want this to be over just like everyone else.”

Eclipsed 9/11, Downturns In Scope As the pandemic was just making itself known in the U.S., McGinn took some personal time before the AX Conference to go skiing with friends in Utah. The group had to leave with one of them hospitalized in the state due to an injury.

“He was reporting that he was progressing, but the fear within the hospital was that it was dealing with its first COVID case,” McGinn says. “That seemed like a huge thing at the time and it was literally one COVID case. You think of that in terms of the scale and magnitude of the weeks and months ahead, it almost seems silly it was a concern, but that was the beginning of it.”

What he remembers most is the speed with which the pandemic shut everything down. “You think about how quickly this came across the country, how quickly we went into shutdown mode,” he says.

McGinn and others in the industry survived Sept. 11 and economic downturns in the late 2000s, but they realized early on that as far as impact on the business, COVID-19 well eclipsed even the terrorist attacks propagated with the use of airplanes in 2001.

A X N E W S C O N F E RE N C E I S S U E 2 0 2 1

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“You began to see that even that was not the right comparison,” he says. “It started to feel like it was going to be much longer and the impacts were going to be quite severe.”

Show Must Go On Recently retired Airports Council International (ACI) World Director General Angela Gittens, in mid-2020, told AXN a better comparison for COVID might be World War II for the scope of the pandemic and the uncertainty over when it would end.

And yet, throughout COVID, the industry kept evolving, looking for ways to keep airport workers and travelers safe and business up and running.

Companies like XpresSpa Group and Collinson stepped up with onsite COVID testing, while services like Servy and AtYourGate expanded hold room service.

Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) temporarily stalled but restarted a terminal overhaul aimed at right-sizing its facilities to fit the market’s non-hub status, introduced the industry to self-driving robots with names and personalities who cleaned with ultraviolet lights and, most recently,

finalized its efforts to live off its own natural resources by establishing its own microgrid.

Kansas City International Airport (MCI) continued work on its own new terminal, becoming one of the first airports to put out a request for proposals for concessions since the pandemic hit.

Several others have followed.

MRG’s McOwan talked of how strange it was to be bidding on projects while there were so few employees actually working in the company’s stores. “We felt we were unbelievably busy, but perversely, there was nobody in our business,” he says.

Upswing…With A Catch The turnaround began at STL in around December when vaccines began coming out. Then, a few months later, another turning point came when Spirit Airlines announced plans to establish service to and from STL as a new market.

“In the height of the pandemic they were going to start service to five markets a day,” says Hamm-Niebruegge. “That, for us, was a turning point where we could say we were through the worst.

“Within three weeks of that, we started getting calls on additional service in new markets,” she says, adding that American Airlines and United Airlines both started adding service to leisure markets.

“We started seeing some growth,” she says.

But even with recovery, there’s risk.

Andrew Weddig, who re-started his consulting firm AWeddigConsulting during the pandemic, notes that in airports where traffic has returned to around 60 percent of 2019 levels, the improvement still isn’t enough to create profitability for most operators, especially while international and business travel remain down.

And business travel, he adds, could stay that way for a long time. Even within the airport industry, for example, will companies that previously sent six or seven people to a pre-proposal meeting resume that strategy? Or, he asks, will they send only two or three people?

“It’s not unreasonable in my mind to see a 20 to 30 percent drop in business travel from where we would have been,” he says.

Left: XpresSpa Group opened several XpresCheck COVID testing locations at airports across the U.S.

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Above: In the early days of the pandemic, airports kept open at least some food and retail options, but there weren’t always many passengers there to utilize them.

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Focusing Forward Still, the growth, while stronger in some markets than others, has come a bit faster than many initially projected. Schwandtner still has concerns for Airport Concessions Disadvantages Business Enterprise companies that sustained a severe pounding when travel plummeted. Those small companies typically have fewer resources, which are essential to recovery. But, he adds that between extensions and rent relief, he suspects most businesses will make it through.

“It’s nice to see the light,” he says.

Cautious optimism seems to be abounding. McGinn is glad to be, he thinks, past the worst. “It’s been an extraordinary year,” he says. “I’m pleased to be at a point where we are seeing recovery.”

SSP’s Murray says it’s possible things will never go back to how they were. “Things are better, but there are still a lot of barriers before we can be completely comfortable,” he says. “Maybe it will just be a new reality and we’ll figure out how to adapt to that. I do know there is still a lot of shifting sands underneath everybody’s feet.”

Battle scarred from the past 15 months, many executives are now looking forward with renewed hope.

Pady Regnier, CEO and founder of ACDBE operator Airport Retail Group LLC, is staying optimistic that surviving the brutal effects of COVID-19 can bring the industry together and make it stronger in the future.

She cited her father saying “you can always tell the quality of a relationship when you have a problem” in looking forward to seeing how the industry responds to COVID. She says partnerships deepened during the crisis but acknowledges those partners need to do some hard work, when COVID ends, on the model going forward.

“Do we have to all be smarter and more focused on delivering strong, profitable programs? More than ever,” she says. “If we can be disciplined and work together on what we have learned, I believe we are poised to grow and thrive in this new concessions world. We can’t wait and are so excited to restart smart.”

VISIT BOOTH #828

AGENDA

AIRPORT EXPERIENCE® CONFERENCE AUGUST 15-18, 2021 Gaylord Texan, Dallas TX Illustrative Agenda - Not Final - Subject To Change

DAY 1 SUNDAY, AUGUST 15 11:00am - 1:00pm Registration Desks Open Tate Pre-Function

Registration Desk & Lanyards Sponsored by Delaware North Hotel Key Cards Sponsored by Paradies Lagardère Germicidal Irradiation Sponsored by IP Programs Digital Signage Sponsored by Grab + AtYourGate Registration Bags Sponsored by Hudson Conference Wifi Sponsored by REEF Kitchens Pocket Agenda Sponsored by WHSmith - InMotion - Marshall Retail Group

12:45pm - 5:30pm Airport Tours Tate Pre-Function

Space is limited. Must add this event to your registration to participate. Confirmation required.

Join us for tours of Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and Dallas Love Field.

Buses will leave the Gaylord Texan at 12:45 PM for Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW). The DFW tour will run until approximately 2:30 PM, at which point buses will transport attendees from DFW to Dallas Love Field (DAL) for the second leg of this two-airport tour*.

The DAL tour will run from 3:15 PM - 5:30 PM, after which buses will transport attendees back to the Gaylord. *A single bus will run from DFW back to the Gaylord for those opting out of the DAL tour.

Sponsored by Dallas Fort Worth International Airport Sponsored by Dallas Love Field

DAY 2 MONDAY, AUGUST 16 7:30am - 3:30pm Registration Desks Open Tate Pre-Function & Longhorn EF

Registration Desk & Lanyards Sponsored by Delaware North Hotel Key Cards Sponsored by Paradies Lagardère Germicidal Irradiation Sponsored by IP Programs Digital Signage Sponsored by Grab + AtYourGate Registration Bags Sponsored by Hudson Conference Wifi Sponsored by REEF Kitchens Pocket Agenda Sponsored by WHSmith - InMotion - Marshall Retail Group

8:00am - 9:30am Women in Leadership Breakfast Session 1 High Plains 1

AXN’s first-ever women-centric event focused on the strides and achievements made by women in the airports and concessions fields. Join Team AXN and our valued sponsors as we spotlight the current leaders in our industry and assess the pathways to expanded influence for the next generation of female executives in our industry.

Space is limited. Must add this event to your registration to participate. Confirmation required.

Moderator: Panelists

Melissa K. Montes, Publisher and Portfolio Director, Airport Experience News Zenola Campbell, Vice President of Concessions, Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport Pilar Guzman Zavala, CEO, Half Moon Empanadas Rhonda Hamm-Niebruegge, Executive Director, St. Louis Lambert International Airport

8:30am - 9:30am Registration Breakfast Tate Pre-Function

Sponsored by The Grove

9:30am - 10:00am Networking Break Tate Pre-Function

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DAY 2 MONDAY, AUGUST 16 (CONTINUED) 10:00am - 11:00am Diversity and Inclusion For a Better Workforce Session 2 Tate B

Moderator: Panelists:

Fostering diversity and inclusion in the workforce takes more than simply compliance with the law. Learn how airports and companies are building a more inclusive culture and improving team engagement in the process. Our panelists will discuss their organization’s approach to combatting bias in decision-making, hiring, promotions and retention, and will share strategies for ensuring that all employees see a clear growth path within the organization.

Melissa K. Montes, Publisher and Portfolio Director, Airport Experience News Jamie Rhee, Commissioner, Chicago Department of Aviation Joe Thornton, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, HMSHost Floria Washington, Program Manager, Learning/Development, Diversity & Inclusion, Columbus Regional Airports Authority General Session Room Sponsored by Inspire Brands

11:00am - 12:00pm ACDBE Program Challenges Session 3 Tate B

Moderator: Panelists:

The pandemic hit hard across our industry but none were more impacted than the ACDBE companies operating concessions in airports. The lack of physical assets, the inability to borrow money and other factors are making mere survival a massive challenge. This panel will bring experts together to assess which broad-based program changes are needed to move the program forward post-pandemic.

Warner Session, Founder, Session Law Firm Pady Regnier, CEO & Founder, Airport Retail Group LLC Nicholas Crews, President, CEO and Managing Partner, Crews Hospitality; and President and CEO of Nicholas & Associates Adrian Beard, President, Whitman May Enterprises Inc. General Session Room Sponsored by Inspire Brands

12:00pm - 2:00pm Property Managers’ Luncheon High Plains 1

Airports Only

Sponsored by HMSHost

2:00pm - 3:00pm Airport Opportunities

Session 4 Airport terminal construction and renovation has slowed considerably due to the pandemic and resulting downturn in Tate B passenger traffic, but there are still major projects pushing ahead throughout North America. In this session airport representatives will discuss their upcoming opportunities in concessions and other revenue-generating areas.

Participating Airports:

Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport San Diego International Airport Oakland International Airport Los Angeles International Airport (presented by URW) Salt Lake City International Airports Session Sponsored by Mission Yogurt General Session Room Sponsored by Inspire Brands

3:00pm - 3:30pm Refreshment And Networking Break Tate Pre-Function

Sponsored by PepsiCo

3:30pm - 4:30pm Business Pitch Showcase Session 5 Tate B

Witness a handpicked group of participants present their concepts before a panel of industry professionals for an assessment of their companies’ viability in the airport environment.

Session to be followed by invite-only cocktail party for participants and judges.

Sponsored by Mission Yogurt General Session Room Sponsored by Inspire Brands Cocktail Party Sponsored by Canteen Spirits

6:30pm - 8:00pm Opening Night Reception In Experience Hall Longhorn EF

Open to All-Access Badge Holders

Experience Hall Sponsored by The Barber Shop Marketing & Promotions Experience Hall Grand Opening Sponsored by Fraport USA

A X N E W S C O N F E RE N C E I S S U E 2 0 2 1

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DAY 3 TUESDAY, AUGUST 17 7:30am - 3:30pm Registration Desks Open Tate Pre-Function & Longhorn EF

Registration Desk & Lanyards Sponsored by Delaware North Hotel Key Cards Sponsored by Paradies Lagardère VIP Shoeshine Station Sponsored by The Classic Shine Company Germicidal Irradiation Sponsored by IP Programs Digital Signage Sponsored by Grab + AtYourGate Registration Bags Sponsored by Hudson Conference Wifi Sponsored by REEF Kitchens Pocket Agenda Sponsored by WHSmith - InMotion - Marshall Retail Group

7:30am - 6:00pm Experience Hall Open Longhorn EF

Experience Hall sponsored by The Barber Shop Marketing & Promotions

7:30am - 8:30am Breakfast And Networking In The Experience Hall Longhorn EF

Sponsored by Areas USA

8:45am - 9:00am Opening Remarks Tate B

Melissa K. Montes, Publisher and Portfolio Director, Airport Experience News Ken Buchanan, Executive Vice President, Revenue Management and Customer Experience, Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport General Session Room Sponsored by Inspire Brands

9:00am - 10:00am Keynote Address Session 6 Escape Velocity: Reimagination in a Time of Change Tate B

Speaker:

Talk of an eventual “return” to the way things were is unrealistic. Instead of preserving our tried-and-true ways of doing things, we must adapt and innovate quickly, and in real time to what will be an entirely new world. Erica Orange will put these changes within a broader context and discuss several emerging trends that are shaping and impacting the future. Using macro technological, sociocultural, and economic trends as a catalyst, she will talk about how the major growth areas will uncover both the short- and long-term opportunities of tomorrow, and how all will transform the current landscape.

Erica Orange, Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer, The Future Hunters Sponsored by Mission Yogurt General Session Room Sponsored by Inspire Brands

10:00am - 11:00am Refreshment And Networking Break In The Experience Hall Longhorn EF

10:15am - 10:35am EXPERIENCE HALL EVENT Longhorn EF AXiNnovation Theater Transforming Today’s Restaurant Delivery Business Model

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Sponsored by REEF Kitchens

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DAY 3 TUESDAY, AUGUST 17 (CONTINUED) 10:40am - 10:55am EXPERIENCE HALL EVENT Longhorn EF Attract & Retain by Boosting Employee Engagement & Sparking Customer Delight!

AXiNnovation Theater

We’ve seen the headlines and felt the effects the pandemic has had on the shrinking workforce. Take proactive measures to engage your employees by creating effective retention plans. Join Lise D’Andrea, President & CEO of CXE, Inc., as she shares best practices of appreciation, coaching, and training to boost employee engagement and spark customer delight!

Sponsored by CXE, Inc.

11:00am - 12:15pm EXPERIENCE HALL EVENT Longhorn EF Changing Consumer Landscape: The Future Of The Airport Guest Experience AXiNnovation Theater Digital Innovation + A Commitment To Restoring Confidence In Travel The past year was a year like no other, significantly impacting the airport industry and traveler experience across the globe. 2020 demanded a paradigm shift with increased safety measures, changing traveler behaviors and the need for technology solutions. This paradigm shift accelerated the speed at which consumers adopt both existing and new digital offerings, created new consumer travel expectations and new opportunities to enhance the airport guest experience. Hear from this unique group of innovative thought leaders about unique digital solutions implemented, key learnings, new trends, and what the future holds. They will share how they see the evolution of technology through the travel experience and how the entire ecosystem can work together to strengthen the travel experience, rebuild confidence and adapt to a changing landscape.

Speakers:

Chris Gwilliam, Vice President of Business Development, Airport Dimensions Jeff Livney, Chief Experience Officer, Servy Chris Hartman, Chief Experience Officer, AtYourGate Eileen Hanson, Senior Vice President, Commercial Strategy, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield Zenola Campbell, Vice President, Concessions, Dallas Fort Worth International Airport Dana Pouwels, Lounge General Manager, JPMorgan Chase Sponsored by Airport Dimensions + Servy

12:15pm - 1:30pm Lunch In The Experience Hall Longhorn EF

Sponsored by Qdoba

12:30pm - 2:00pm 2022 Experience Hall Sales Office Hours Longhorn EF

Get a jump on 2022! Meet with AXN Biz Dev Team to select your 2022 Experience Hall exhibit space and view sponsorship offerings.

Sales Office Styled by Ideation Design Group

1:30pm - 4:30pm PANEL SERIES: Creating a New Airport-Concessionaire Relationship Paradigm Sessions 7 - 9 Tate B

General Session Room Sponsored by Inspire Brands Refreshments Sponsored by PepsiCo

1:30pm - 2:20pm Labor and the Cost of Operating in Airports Session 7 Tate B

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The nascent recovery of air travel and airport concessions has brought an unexpected challenge in the form of labor shortages. Working in an airport requires an extra level of commitment, and increasingly workers are choosing street locations instead. Concessionaires must pay a premium to the street and that fact, coupled with rising minimum wages in many cities and states, makes labor a monumental challenge. What incentives will lure workers back? And in this environment, are street pricing policies realistic?

Moderator:

Ken Buckner, Concessions Planning Consultant, Unison Consulting

Speakers:

Jim DeCock, Director, Revenue Generation & Partnership Development (Interim), San Diego International Airport Dawn Hunter, Director of Aviation Commercial, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport Brian Quinn, Deputy CEO, Hudson Richard Schneider, COO, Areas USA

A X N E W S C O N F E RE N C E I S S U E 2 0 2 1

2:30pm - 3:20pm Capital Conundrum Session 8 Tate B

The pain points that have long been a part of operating as a concessionaire in an airport have been exacerbated in recent months due to the pandemic and resulting downturn in traffic. Concessionaires say they are tapped out.

Should the typical capital requirements – build-out costs, mid-term refurbishments, base building investments – be adjusted? Should lease terms be adjusted?

Moderator:

Andy Weddig

Speakers:

David Charles, President and COO, Marshall Retail Group John Cugasi, Vice President of Marketing, Paradies Lagardère Charlene Reynolds, Assistant Aviation Director, Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport Robert Salarano, Airport Properties Manager, St. Louis Lambert International Airport

3:30pm - 4:30pm Lease Agreements and the Future of the MAG Session 9 Tate B

Moderator: Speakers:

Most in the industry would agree that the pandemic has exposed some serious flaws in the lease agreements governing partnerships between airports and concessionaires. Most notably, the inclusion of a minimum annual guarantee, or MAG, has come under scrutiny. Airports and concessionaires generally agree that a new approach is in order but thus far there is no agreement on the best way forward.

Alan Gluck Zenola Campbell, Vice President of Concessions, Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport Marlene Coleman, Concessions Director, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport Bryan Loden, Vice President of Business Development, HMSHost Patrick Murray, Senior Vice President, Business Development, SSP America

4:30pm - 6:00pm Experience Hall Happy Hour Longhorn EF

Happy Hour Sponsored by Jackmont Hospitality

6:00pm Experience Hall Closing

Longhorn EF

Experience Hall sponsored by The Barber Shop Marketing & Promotions

7:00pm Speakers’ Dinner (Invitation Only) Sponsored by SSP America

DAY 4 WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 18 7:30am - 12:00pm Registration Desks Open Tate Pre-Function & Longhorn EF

Registration Desk & Lanyards Sponsored by Delaware North Hotel Key Cards Sponsored by Paradies Lagardère VIP Shoeshine Station Sponsored by The Classic Shine Company Germicidal Irradiation Sponsored by IP Programs Digital Signage Sponsored by Grab + AtYourGate Registration Bags Sponsored by Hudson Conference Wifi Sponsored by REEF Kitchens Pocket Agenda Sponsored by WHSmith - InMotion - Marshall Retail Group

8:00am - 2:00pm Experience Hall Open Longhorn EF

Experience Hall sponsored by The Barber Shop Marketing & Promotions

8:00am - 9:00am Breakfast And Networking In The Experience Hall Longhorn EF

Sponsored By VRH Construction

8:15am - 9:45am 2022 Experience Hall Sales Office Hours Longhorn EF

Get a jump on 2022! Meet with AXN Biz Dev Team to select your 2022 Experience Hall exhibit space and view sponsorship offerings.

Sales Office Styled by Ideation Design Group

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CBURR@INSPIREBRANDS.COM The information in this ad is not an offer of a franchise. A franchise offer can only be made upon the receipt of an individual brand’s franchise disclosure document. © 2021 Inspire Brands, Inc. All trademarks and service marks are the property of their respective owners. All rights reserved.

DAY 4 WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 18 (CONTINUED) 9:00am - 10:15am Directors Panel Session 10 Tate B

AXN’s annual panel of airport directors brings together some of the industry’s most dynamic leaders for a discussion on key challenges and opportunities. This year’s group will discuss the latest on pandemic recovery, infrastructure financing, revenue generation, customer service strategies, technology and more.

Moderator: Speakers:

Carol Ward, Editor-In-Chief, Airport Experience News Mark Gale, CEO and Director of Aviation, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport Jamie Rhee, Commissioner, Chicago Department of Aviation Tom Ruth, President and CEO, Edmonton Airports Cathryn Stephens, Acting Airport Director, Eugene Airport Sponsored By HMSHost General Session Room Sponsored by Inspire Brands

10:15am - 1:00pm Refreshment And Networking In The Experience Hall Longhorn EF

Sponsored by PepsiCo

11:00am - 11:30pm Airline One-On-One

Longhorn EF Not unlike airports and concessionaires, airlines have had to pivot in the wake of the pandemic. Route AXiNnovation Theater structures have changed dramatically as carriers seek to capitalize on pent-up demand from leisure travelers

while business and international travel remain soft. Andrea Goodpasture, Airport Affairs Director for Southwest Airlines, will offer her views in a one-on-one conversation with AXN’s Andrew Tellijohn.

12:15pm - 1:00pm EXPERIENCE HALL EVENT Longhorn EF Content Driving Commerce AXiNnovation Theater

Television is an integral element of the airport environment. A consolidated airport television network ensures consistent, high-quality, uplifting programming that engages and relaxes passengers, drives additional airport revenue, and invites travelers to explore everything each city has to offer. Premium content is just the beginning, too – with innovation in tech + data, and unique digital and experiential opportunities, today’s airport television is so much more than just a screen. Join airport authorities and the operators of the biggest airport television network as they discuss the multi-faceted value of airport television in developing airport business and ensuring the best possible airport experience.

Sponsored by ReachTV

1:00pm - 2:00pm Lunch In The Experience Hall Longhorn EF

Sponsored by LaTrelle’s Management

2:00pm Experience Hall Closing

Longhorn EF

Experience Hall Sponsored by The Barber Shop Marketing & Promotions

2:30pm - 3:30pm Schmooze Time For Airports And Concessionaires, Part 1 Session 11A High Plains 1

Airports and concessionaires meet at scheduled times for one-on-one discussions, speed-dating style.

Sponsored by MAG USA

3:30pm - 3:45pm Refreshment And Networking Break High Plains 1

Sponsored by PepsiCo

3:45pm - 4:30pm Schmooze Time For Airports And Concessionaires, Part 2 Sessioan 11B High Plains 1

Airports and concessionaires meet at scheduled times for one-on-one discussions, speed-dating style.

Sponsored by MAG USA

6:15pm - 7:30pm AX Closing Event Tate B

Join us for cocktails to celebrate the wrap-up of the 2021 AX Conference! In this year’s program, we will honor AXN’s 2020 Directors of the Year, plus the 2021 Property Manager of the Year and a special new recognition to be revealed at the event.

Sponsored by ReachTV

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THANK YOU SPONSORS DIAMOND

The Barber Shop Marketing & Promotions Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport Delaware North Fraport USA HMSHost Inspire Brands Mission Yogurt

PLATINUM

GOLD

BRONZE

Dallas Love Field

Canteen Spirits

CXE

FuelRod

Concessions International, LLC

Daily Crunch

Crews

Holt Construction

Airport Dimensions

Jackmont Hospitality LaTrelle’s Management MAG USA Paradies Lagardère ReachTV SAMBAZON Servy

Areas USA

Grab + AtYourGate The Grove, Inc. Hudson IP Program OHM Concession Group

SSP America

PepsiCo

WHSmith - InMotion Marshall Retail Group

REEF Kitchens

Qdoba SLA Worldwide VRH Construction

AlanaKay Art

THE DRIPBaR Ideation Design Group Jersey Mike’s Master ConcessionAir Moët Hennessy PATH See’s Candies Sleepy Sleeves Suffolk Tandem Creative Trip Wipes Vera Bradley Wendy’s Wolfgang Puck Worldwide

EG A YXL OPR D ET ERX A IN E| L NO N GCH OER N EHF A L L 2022 AX Sales Lounge

428

427

828

829

327

926

321

920

Breakfast, Lunch & Seating

317

916

315

914 410

411

408

409

710

910

808

908

406

407

404

405

804

805

402

403

802

803

400

906

500

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ENTRANCE

700

800

ENTRANCE REGISTRATION

904

900

901

EXHIBITOR LIST Airport Dimensions Dimensions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .700 Airport Minority Advisory Council . . . . . . . . . . . . .404 Atmosphere TV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .411 The Barber Shop Marketing & Promotions . . . . .406 Ben's Pretzels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .910 Bobby's Burgers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .900 Coffee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .804 Caribou Coffee Chiroport. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .427 The Chiroport The Classic Shine Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .805 DRIPBaR. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .408 THE DRIPBaR Einstein Bros . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .410 Escape Pods Part of the Jabbrrbox Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .400 Focus Brands, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .321 Fresh Victor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .926 FuelRod. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .829 FUKU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .803 Grab Airport Marketplace

by Servy + AtYourGate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .600 Half Moon Empanadas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .802 Brands. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .500 Inspire Brands IP Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .901 Madeleine. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .908 La Madeleine Lemonade. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .914 Lemonade Minute Suites, LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .828 Eatery. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .916 Modern Market Eatery LLC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .407 notes to self, LLC Free. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .904 OMG... It's Gluten Free Group. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .906 Panda Restaurant Group Parisi Coffee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .409 PATH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .315 Peet's Coffee & Tea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .327 Prepango, LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .920 Qdoba . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .808 SAMBAZON. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .800 SAMBAZON See's Candies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .428 Servy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .700 Slim Chickens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .402 Steak 'n Shake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .317 Subway. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .405 Vera Bradley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .710 Vive Organic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .403

SAMPLING

DEMO

RAFFLE

SERVICES

EXPERIENCE HALL HOURS: Monday:

6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Tuesday:

7:30 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Wednesday:

8:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

SPONSORS

AIRPORT EXPERIENCE® CONFERENCE AUGUST 15-18, 2021 Gaylord Texan, Dallas TX

THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS Each year, some of our industry’s most vibrant players step up to help Airport Experience News put on a stellar event, and this year is no exception.

Without the backing of the following companies, we would not be able to hold the Conference. We appreciate the unwavering support!

Airport Dimensions want travelers to value their time at the airport. We are continuously seeking ways to open new dimensions in customer engagement using a mix of enriching physical experiences and innovative digital services. From comfortable lounges to restful sleep pods, from convenient food ordering to contactless collection from duty free, we help improve travelers’ experiences while helping airports maximize non-aeronautical revenue opportunities, helping to retain airlines and becoming more competitive.

Headquartered in Miami, Areas United States has grown substantially since it entered the U.S. travel market in 2006 with a contract at Miami International Airport (MIA). Since then, the company has expanded its reach to 11 airports and nine travel plazas along the Florida Turnpike and Maryland’s John F. Kennedy Memorial Highway.

The Barber Shop Marketing & Promotions is a full-service marketing and advertising agency based in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex.

We deliver high-quality, creative advertising solutions to local, regional and national brands.

Whether you need a brand clean-up, want to build from scratch or are looking to push the envelope, we’ll give you that perfect cut and style. As specialized brand ambassadors, we’ll be your one-stop-shop for all your advertising and promotional needs.

AlanaKay is an artist and designer living in Fort Worth, TX. AlanaKayART is the culmination of AlanaKay’s education, career experience, hobbies, interests and passions. In three years she has poured more than 100 original abstract resin paintings, including two large commercial installations. Her artwork is the foundation of her line of women’s apparel, accessories and home décor. She also operates the wholesale arm of her business and her ever-growing retail website. Her mission is to bring art into everyday life through her wearable fashion, home décor and accessories.

AtYourGate is the airport food and retail delivery service for travelers, airport employees and airline crews. We make airport dining easy, stress-free and convenient. Customers place their order online and AtYourGate delivers the order with punctual and friendly service.

Launched in early 2018, AYG is currently available in 17 U.S. airports, with plans to be in 25 by end of 2021. Order and relax. We’ve got this. We’re AtYourGate.

Canteen Spirits is a line of ready-to-drink spirits brands, specializing in sparkling soda lines mixed with real vodka and tequila.

Made with all-natural flavors, Canteen Spirits’ portfolio includes Canteen Vodka Soda and Cantina Tequila canned soda. Each line boasts an impressive list of ingredients and approach, making it the better drink choice for travelers, wherever the adventure may take them. To learn more and serve in your airport today, contact liz@experiencethreee.com

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SPONSORS

Atlanta-based Concessions International LLC is a food and beverage concessionaire with operations in eight airports. The company operates 34 brands in 42 locations, including casual dining, quick-service, snack, deli, and proprietary bar and grill concepts.

Centered between its owner cities of Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas, DFW stands at #10 in the world for passengers and #3 in the world for operations, solidifying DFW as a global superhub airport. DFW is proud to be the largest carbon neutral airport in the world and the first in North America. DFW customers can choose among 187 domestic and 59 international nonstop destinations worldwide. Additionally, 19 cargo airlines provide worldwide freighter service, positioning DFW as the ideal cargo gateway to the world.

Fraport USA is the developer/manager of the retail, food and beverage programs at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI), Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (CLE), Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT), JetBlue’s Terminal 5 at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), Nashville International Airport (BNA) and Terminal B at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR). A leading airport concessions model, Fraport USA projects rank among the highest for passenger spending.

Fraport USA is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Fraport AG Frankfurt Airport Services Worldwide, which is active in airports on four continents around the globe.

Crews began as a family-owned business in 1972, evolving from a single airport greeting card shop in Newark into a national hospitality brand. By partnering with local chefs and restaurateurs for each project, we can adapt more quickly and create solutions that are truly unique for each venue and market. We can operate at the same level as our major hospitality peers and provide a level of care for local operators that the conglomerates can never replicate.

Dallas Love Field (DAL) was established in 1917 and named after fallen aviator Lieutenant Moss Lee Love. Flights at the airport were restricted for decades under the Wright Amendment, but its expiration in 2014 led to rapid expansion. In 2019 DAL served 16.8 million passengers despite its federally mandated cap of 20 gates and barring of international traffic.

FuelRod is a kiosk-based mobile charging service for cell phones, tablets and other portable electronic devices. Users purchase a kit complete with a fully charged FuelRod, cables and adaptors to immediately start charging their devices. The San Diego-based company first entered the airport industry in 2014 and can be found in 42 U.S. airports, as well as other venues.

CXE inspires organizations to design and deliver employee and customer experiences that boost employee engagement, spark customer delight and drive organizational success. CXE has proven, award-winning success in organization-wide customer service culture initiatives, employee and leadership training, mystery shopping, coaching, and employee recognition and appreciation programs. For nearly 30 years, CXE has partnered with hundreds of prominent airport, retail, hospitality, sports and recreation clients.

Delaware North operates food, beverage and retail services in more than 35 travel hubs worldwide, including 22 airports in the United States. The company’s 300 total airport outlets include more than 200 brands – a mix of proprietary concepts, partnerships and franchises. Delaware North continues to maintain several airport partnerships that have spanned more than 60 years.

The Grove, Inc. is a food and beverage operator offering a wide variety of proprietary concepts – along with local, national and internationally recognized brands – to the traveling public for nearly four decades. Headquartered in the Chicago area, TGI currently operates 40-plus locations across 10 airports and two train stations.

Daily Crunch Snacks is an award-winning line of sprouted nut snacks that are non-GMO and vegancertified, keto-friendly and come in 5 amazing flavors in 2 sizes. Our multi-step Soak-Sprout-Dehydrate process turns ordinary, boring nuts into a Uniquely Crunchy™ snack without sacrificing vital enzymes that make our nuts easier to digest. Founded with a mission that mental health and overall health and wellness go hand and hand, Daily Crunch Snacks offers a bold and fun approach to healthy snacking.

We are a certified woman-owned business that gives back a portion of proceeds to The Support Network, an organization supporting mental health.

Your health depends on the health of your cells.

THE DRIPBaR provides intravenous nutrient therapy that can help boost your cellular health by saturating your cells with potent vitamins, minerals, anti-oxidants and amino acids with the Power Pack, Shield or Jet Setter IV. Your body is programmed to heal itself. Feed your cells – fuel your life. This is the power of CellVie.

Global restaurateur HMSHost is a world leader in creating dining for travel venues. HMSHost operates locations all over North America, and is part of Autogrill Group, the world’s leading provider of food and beverage services for people on the move. Visit HMSHost.com for more information. .

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SPONSORS P ROG R A M With more than 100 years of experience, Holt Construction is one of the country’s premier construction management and general contracting firms. As a third-generation family-owned company, Holt delivers experienced construction teams who understand the complex demands of diverse construction assignments. With offices in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Texas and Florida, Holt is committed to creating diverse workforces, sustainable and safe construction projects and creating collaborative and innovative environments.

Hudson, a Dufry Company, is a travel experience company turning the world of travel into a world of opportunity by being the Traveler’s Best Friend in more than 1,000 stores in airports, commuter hubs, landmarks and tourist locations. Our team members care for travelers as friends at our travel convenience, specialty retail, duty free, and food and beverage destinations. Along with our airport partners we turn the world of travel into a world of opportunity.

Since 2004, Ideation Design Group has partnered with the world’s largest brands to execute their visions into functional works of art that deliver innovation through design. We are a woman-owned one-stop shop that includes architecture, interior design, foodservice design and graphic design. We create restaurant, retail and hospitality concepts that both excite and perform. IDG works in all type of specialty environments, such as airports, casinos and entertainment venues. We have completed projects in 48 of 50 states as well as Canada, China, Dubai, South America and Mexico.

Inspire Brands is a multi-brand restaurant company whose current portfolio consists of nearly 32,000 Arby’s, Baskin-Robbins, Buffalo Wild Wings, Dunkin’, Jimmy John’s, Rusty Taco, and SONIC Drive-In locations worldwide. The company was founded in 2018 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. For more information, visit InspireBrands.com.

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INFECTION PREVENTION

IP Program is a leading provider of proven UVC technology in the airport and travel industries.

IP Program deployed the first fully autonomous UV robot in a U.S. airport. We have a portfolio of infection prevention products that will ensure a safer environment for your passengers, guests and staff and instill confidence that you are going above and beyond to reduce harmful pathogens at your airport. We look forward to being part of your strategy to implement a better, safer future.

Master ConcessionAir, LLC began in 1994 and immediately focused on the customer experience by setting out to serve the world, one guest at a time. We defined the airport as an extension of the traveler’s destination, which was the key to providing a unique, creative and engaging translation of local brands and chefs. Now with over 200 units in 19 airports across the U.S., we also have the responsibility of adding value to the social, economic and environmental aspects of the community.

Jackmont Hospitality is an award-winning leader in airport restaurant hospitality and comprehensive foodservice management.

Headquartered in Atlanta, we have been redefining airport hospitality for more than 25 years. From coast to coast, we operate more than 40 restaurants in some of the world’s busiest airports including Atlanta, Los Angeles, Miami and Baltimore, as well as street-side locations.

Mission Yogurt, Inc. and its subsidiary companies own and operate food and beverage concepts primarily in high-traffic airports, including Denver International (DEN), San Diego International (SAN) and Mineta San José International (SJC) airports. From Mission’s humble beginning with one frozen yogurt location in Arvada, Colo., to now operating 17 successful concepts, Mission’s goals remain the same: maintain steady growth, develop the best team in the industry and provide an exceptional customer experience to travelers.

LaTrelle’s Management Corporation is a family-owned, ACDBE-certified business based in Houston, TX. The company has owned and operated restaurants in major airports since 1985. Today LaTrelle’s is proud to operate restaurants in nine major airports across the United States

Moët & Chandon, Krug, Veuve Clicquot, Hennessy and Château d’Yquem are just some of the world-renowned LVMH wines and spirits brands that have become synonymous with the most prestigious origins and terroirs. Located in Champagne, Bordeaux and other illustrious winegrowing regions, many of these are centuries-old houses with a unique character. Overseen by Moët Hennessy, these exceptional champagnes, wines and spirits from around the world come together as a collection of rare brands where heritage and innovation, authenticity and creativity converge.

MAG USA is the United States’ go-to organization for delivering market-leading commercial solutions that drive revenue for operators and transform customer experiences for travelers. Their focuses include parking and travel distribution, parking and retail commercial services, airport lounges, and Escape Pods (part of the Jabbrrbox network), as well as P3, retail and terminal developments.

A leading retailer and restaurateur in North America, Paradies Lagardère operates more than 950 retail stores and restaurants in just over 100 markets. With a vast collection of international, national and local brands in our portfolio, our Retail Division offers an eclectic array of specialty retail and travel essentials solutions, while our Dining Division showcases the popular Vino Volo brand, as well as full restaurants, quick-serve restaurants, bars, markets and coffee brands.

Visit our booth at #914

LAX

Fresh, healthy, delicious food on-the-fly

Marketplace

Grab ‘n’ Fly

DEN getrealfood@modern-restaurants.com | lemonadela.com | modernmarket.com

High Quality, Fast Speed, Quick Throughput

SPONSORS

PATH is the only bottled water company in the industry that offers electrolyte-enhanced purified water in a 100 percent refillable, sustainable aluminum bottle. PATH provides the convenience of bottled water, a healthy alternative to sugary beverages and is leading the fight against single-use plastic bottles that are harmful to our planet.

With its ghost kitchens, REEF helps restaurants grow and prosper without the need for capital investments. With an ecosystem of 4,500 locations and a team of 15,000 people, REEF is the largest operator of mobility, logistics hubs and neighborhood kitchens in the United States and Canada, and has a growing presence in Europe.

Suffolk is a national enterprise that invests, innovates and builds. Suffolk is an end-to-end business that provides value throughout the entire project lifecycle by leveraging its core construction management services with vertical services that include real estate capital investment, design, selfperform construction services, technology start-up investment and innovation research/development.

Suffolk has main offices in Boston (headquarters), New York, Miami, West Palm Beach, Tampa, Estero, Dallas, L.A., San Francisco and San Diego.

PepsiCo products are enjoyed by consumers more than one billion times a day in more than 200 countries and territories around the world, and its product portfolio features 23 brands, including Frito-Lay, Gatorade, Pepsi-Cola, Quaker, Tropicana and SodaStream, that generate more than $1 billion each in estimated annual retail sales. Guiding PepsiCo is its vision of “winning with purpose,” which reflects its ambition to win sustainably in the marketplace and embed purpose into all aspects of its business strategy and brands.

Sambazon is the first certified organic and fair trade açaí company in the world. Since its founding in 2000, Sambazon’s mission has been to share the delicious powers of açaí, to fuel healthier people and a healthier planet by supplying ethically sourced açaí products.

All Sambazon products, including smoothie packs, ready-to-eat açaí bowls, energy drinks and juices have complete traceability and transparency. From the palm of the tree to the palm of your hand – it’s Sambazon’s guarantee.

Your new favorite way to rest while you travel!

Sleepy Sleeves are the most comfortable and compact pillow accessories on the market.

No need for bulky neck pillows or crazy contraptions! Sleepy Sleeves are discreet, portable, versatile and the ultimate comfort you can get on the fly.

At QDOBA we’re all about flavor. The flavor of our food, the flavor of our restaurants and, most importantly, the flavor of our people.

Some might say we are the flavor authority.

And we’ve been focused on flavor since day one. QDOBA has been serving freshly prepared, flavorful Mexican-inspired fare since 1995. Our menu includes classics like burritos, bowls, tacos, quesadillas and nachos. We freshly prepare our food in-house, grilling, slicing, dicing, smashing and sautéing every single day.

See’s Candies has been making quality chocolate and candy Mary See’s way for 100 years. From the beginning, Mary took pride in her recipes and insisted on only the finest, freshest ingredients. Today, we’re still just as committed to making candy the right way. Stop into one of our iconic black-and-white shops inspired by Mary’s kitchen or visit us online.

You’ll find more than 100 varieties of delicious chocolates made with the same motto in mind: quality without compromise.

SSP America is a division of SSP Group, a leading operator of restaurants around the world. The SSP America team is driven by a shared vision to bring authentic restaurant experiences to every airport in North America. Our employees have a passion for exceptional food served by people who believe in heartfelt hospitality. Our airport partners trust SSP America to deliver a worldclass portfolio of brands with broad passenger appeal and lasting commercial viability. Our brand heroes choose SSP America to bring a taste of place to their hometown airport.

ReachTV is a linear, short-form television network that uses a strategic combination of technology, location, data and premium content to reflect what viewers want to see and how they want to see it.

Channels are programmed daily across a variety of categories, with content from a lineup of partners.

The network is supported by a proprietary content management system that allows concessionaires, airports and brand partners alike to easily upload and manage content, as well as track content performance via real-time reporting of viewership and POS data.

ReachTV currently serves 90 airports internationally, with over 128 million travelers each month.

Servy is the enterprise self-service platform for hospitality.

Launched in 2015 as an airport digital commerce app called Grab, Servy has since expanded the platform and grown outside of airports to provide self-service solutions to hospitality companies of all sizes and venues.

Servy provides technology which aims to enhance the hospitality experience, not replace it. With a presence in more than 80 airports across the U.S., Europe, the Middle East and Asia Pacific, the Grab Airport Marketplace by Servy is now the largest omnichannel airport e-commerce platform. Learn more about Servy and our suite of enterprise self-service solutions at www.servy.us.

Debbie Butler and Melissa Vivari founded Tandem Creative LLC to offer a fresh perspective on brand identity and content development to various businesses and entities.

These two individuals are passionate and devoted to every client’s success by offering unique and customizable solutions that catapult organizations to a new level. Building strength in relationships and cultivating trust is the backbone of their mission. Tandem Creative LLC is ACDBE-certified to offer the following services: marketing consulting, graphic design, photography, and creative writing.

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SPONSORS Trip Wipes, a wellness brand, is a small family-, female- and co-owned company located in Detroit, Michigan. The company was here before the pandemic: locally made, nationally known.

Trip Wipes are for everybody; conveniently and individually packaged, perfect when taking a trip to the gas station, gym, grocery store, or even to Greece. Trip Wipes are easy to carry in your pocket, purse, glovebox or carryall. In 2020 we activated our ShowerSheets program (hygiene for the homeless).

ShowerSheets are individual XL towelettes to aid with self-care. We have donated 100,000 nationwide.

VRHRetailBuild, a division of VRH Construction, provides aviation concession construction experience, delivering comprehensive services and installation solutions to 10 airport concession-development programs. We have constructed more than 270,000 square feet of concession space, including retail food courts and food and beverage facilities at EWR, JFK and LGA. This unique group offers our clients the nimbleness of a small company backed by the financial, technical and human resources of a larger firm, ensuring operational continuity and exceeding expectations.

Marshall Retail Group, a WHSmith company, is America’s leading travel retailer in the airport, casino, and resort marketplace. For 65 years, MRG has provided clients with a collection of brands in more than 300 standalone stores across the United States, with over half operating inside 46 airports nationwide. MRG, along with the largest electronics-based retailer in the nation, InMotion, are wholly owned subsidiaries of WHSmith, the leading global retailer in news, books, and convenience for the world’s traveling customer.

We have been inspiring and connecting women unlike any other brand for more than 35 years. Our focus remains delivering patterns and silhouettes that resonate with todays travel consumer. In a competitive marketplace, Vera Bradley is the #1 women’s backpack and #1 women’s duffel brand in the U.S. We are passionate about innovation by developing sustainable collections with a focus of being 100 percent sustainable by 2025.

Wendy’s was founded in 1969 by Dave Thomas in Columbus, Ohio. Dave built his business on the premise that “quality is our recipe,” which remains the guidepost of the Wendy’s system.

Wendy’s is best known for its made-to-order square hamburgers, using fresh, never frozen beef*, and other signature items like chili and the Frosty dessert. There are more than 6,800 Wendy’s worldwide, with a vision of becoming the world’s most thriving and beloved restaurant brand. To learn more about Wendy’s development in airports, reach out to NonTraditionalDev@wendys.com.

The experience of the Wolfgang Puck Group encompasses a wide range of areas, which provides for a depth of expertise not readily available in most organizations. With three distinctive companies, each line of business has its own unique and specific skill set, relying on teamwork and refinement to continually reinvent itself and provide the innovation and diversity for which Wolfgang Puck is known. Wolfgang Puck Worldwide, Inc. has more than 25 years of experience in the airport channel. The company’s constantly evolving, rapidly growing portfolio of concepts includes new locations domestically and in seven new countries in recent years.

Etihad Airways Lounge John F. Kennedy International Airport

Be Relax Spa Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport

Budweiser Brew House Newark Liberty International Airport

Construction Management General Contracting Design-Build holtcc.com

Building Relationships Since 1919

IPD/CPD Florida | Massachusetts | New Jersey | New York | Pennsylvania | Texas

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AIRPORT EXPERIENCE® CONFERENCE AUGUST 15-18, 2021 Gaylord Texan, Dallas TX

EXPERIENCE HALL SPOTLIGHT ON EXHIBITORS This year’s exhibitors will bring tried-and-true and new offerings to the Experience Hall floor, creating a vibrant environment for AX Conference attendees. Here is a brief introduction to our valued exhibitor partners. Be sure to visit each booth to see the latest airport concessions innovations.

Atmosphere is the world’s first free streaming platform for businesses. Atmosphere includes 50-plus audio-optional TV channels that are updated regularly. Our channels, like Chive TV, have been curated to fit any vibe and integrate seamlessly into any environment. Cut your cable costs and engage your customers in a whole new way.

Bobby’s Burgers was established in 2008 and began franchising the concept in 2020. During that time Bobby opened locations in Yankee Stadium, and a second location in Caesars Palace, Las Vegas. Bobby’s Burgers is everything you would expect from a Bobby Flay dining experience, but this time it’s for everyone.

Airport Dimensions wants travelers to value their time at the airport. We are continuously seeking ways to open new dimensions in customer engagement using a mix of enriching physical experiences and innovative digital services. From comfortable lounges to restful sleep pods, from convenient food ordering to contactless collection from duty free, we help improve travelers’ experience while helping airports maximize nonaeronautical revenue opportunities, helping to retain airlines and becoming more competitive.

The Barber Shop Marketing & Promotions is a full-service marketing and advertising agency based in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.

We deliver high-quality, creative advertising solutions. Whether you need a brand clean-up, have something holding you back or want to build from scratch, we’ll give you that perfect cut and style. As brand ambassadors, we’ll be your one-stop shop for all your advertising and promotional needs.

Caribou Coffee is best in class! We are the brand that transcends generations, delivers an innovative guest experience and drives revenue with our premium offerings and trendy settings. We already did the heavy lifting and have a full experience designed to accommodate most any space. Our brand awareness will drive guests in and our ontrend menu will keep them coming back. We are entering a new phase of tremendous growth. Ask us how we can enhance your guest experience.

The Airport Minority Advisory Council (AMAC) is the only national, nonprofit trade association dedicated to promoting the full participation of minority-owned, womenowned and disadvantaged business enterprises in contracting opportunities and professional development throughout the aviation and aerospace industries. AMAC and its affiliates represent thousands of members that include airport operators, government officials, corporations and M/W/DBE entrepreneurs.

Ben’s Soft Pretzels was started in 2008 in America’s heartland by three visionary entrepreneurs who were passionate about great tasting food. Scott Jones, Brian Krider and Benjamin Miller co-founded Ben’s Soft Pretzels after a divine sequence of events brought the three businessmen together. The first Ben’s Soft Pretzels bakery opened in 2008 in Concord Mall in Elkhart, Ind., and the first franchise was awarded in 2013.

The Chiroport is a wellness-based chiropractic service located in airports. Locations offer chiropractice care designed to make people feel great at the gate. Services include care for headaches, neck pain, back pain and other ailments. The Chiroport launched at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and is currnetly in four airports nationwide.

Booth: 411

Booth: 700

Booth: 404

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Booth: 406

Booth: 910

Booth: 900

Booth: 804

Booth: 427

EXPERIENCE HALL Fresh Victor is a line of premium mixers for making consistent, efficient and delicious cocktails and mocktails. We are gluten-free, kosher, low-cal and only use organic sweeteners.

Booth: 926

The Classic Shine is a Plano, TX-based certified ACDBE shoeshine service. We’ve been in business since 1985 and have been serving the traveling public in airports around the U.S. since 2010. The Classic Shine uses state-ofthe-art POS systems to accept a wide range of payments, including contactless, and enables real-time sales performance monitoring. The Classic Shine is flexible to operate in small footprints, adapt to concession standards, and meet all current CDC safety protocols.

Booth: 805

Your health depends on the health of your cells.

THE DRIPBaR provides intravenous nutrient therapy that can help boost your cellular health by saturating your cells with potent vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and amino acids with the Power Pack, Shield or JETSETTER IV. Your body is programmed to heal itself. Feed your cells – fuel your life. This is the power of CellVie.

Booth: 408

Fuku is the fried chicken joint from chef David Chang – on a mission to change the way people think about fast casual. Fuku, as a concept, was built off a really delicious thighmeat spicy fried chicken sandwich and has since grown to serve a variety of fried chicken offerings, sides and slushies. Guided by many of the same principles that David instills in all his restaurants, Fuku is focused on offering guests approachable, tasty food that draws from both Asian and American influences.

Booth: 803

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Looking for fast, fresh and fun, today’s busy travelers expect more from where they dine on the fly – so pick the right brand to meet those demands! No other brand offers the quality and freshness of a bakery café with the speed and convenience of a QSR. Einstein Bros. Bagels – the complete coffeehouse experience. What EBB brings: national brand awareness; full menu for every day part and flexible design; proven financial results; dedicated support teams and comprehensive staff training.

FuelRod is a kiosk-based mobile charging service for cell phones, tablets and other portable electronic devices. Users purchase a kit complete with a fully charged FuelRod, cables and adaptors to immediately start charging their devices. The San Diego-based company first entered the airport industry in 2014 and can be found in 42 U.S. airports, as well as other venues.

Escape Pods, part of the Jabbrrbox network, offer airport guests an individual, technologyequipped workspace that is plush and quiet, with thoughtfully designed touches for those who need an escape from the hustle and bustle of the busy airport terminal.

Grab Airport Marketplace by Servy + AtYourGate: A winning strategic partnership for airports and operators. A product of Servy, Grab Airport Marketplace is the largest e-commerce platform in airports with a presence in more than 80 airports worldwide.

AtYourGate is the airport food and retail delivery service for travelers, airport employees and airline crews, making airport dining easy, stress-free and convenient. Order online and AtYourGate delivers the order with punctual and friendly service.

Focus Brands is a leading developer of iconic global foodservice brands. Through its affiliate brands, FOCUS Brands is the operator of more than 6,300 restaurants, cafes, ice cream shoppes and bakeries in the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and more than 60 foreign countries under the brand names Auntie Anne’s, Carvel, Cinnabon, Jamba, Moe’s Southwest Grill, McAlister’s Deli and Schlotzsky’s.

Half Moon Empanadas is a Miami-based business serving artisanal empanadas. We are creating a new snack category with a high-quality product that’s made from scratch and baked daily. This locals’ favorite offers a variety of flavors, both savory and sweet. Half Moon Empanadas, female owned and ACDBE certified, is the number one best seller per-square-foot at Miami International Airport (MIA). Our pre-baked, limited/no touch product is a great addition to any concession.

Licensing opportunity available for add-on option.

Booth: 410

Booth: 400

Booth: 321

Booth: 829

Booth: 600

Booth: 802

Inspire Brands is a multi-brand restaurant company whose current portfolio has nearly 32,000 Arby’s, Baskin-Robbins, Buffalo Wild Wings, Dunkin’, Jimmy John’s, Rusty Taco and SONIC Drive-In locations worldwide.

The company was founded in 2018 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. For more information, visit InspireBrands.com

Booth: 500

Minute Suites offers travelers a clean and serene escape from the airport terminal during layovers.

Our private rooms are equipped with a daybed and workspace, free Wi-Fi, temperature and noise control, and many other luxury features.

Our suites are the perfect place to unmask and relax. Our innovative and unique concept is rapidly expanding into new airports across the United States, with construction underway in multiple locations. Learn why Minute Suites prospered during COVID.

Panda Express is a family owned and operated American Chinese quick service restaurant brand.

The first Panda Express location at an airport opened in 1995 at Denver International Airport (DEN). Panda Express now serves in 27 airport locations and growing. Panda Express is the perfect fast casual concept for the guest on the go, with fresh, ready to eat entrees and less than a minute to checkout from the time the guest arrives at the serving line.

Modern Market Eatery is an award-winning, fast casual brand operating at Denver International Airport (DEN) and nearly 30 other high-profile locations across the country. We serve a widebreadth of scratch-made, health-minded options in an efficient, small footprint with fast flow through times and QSR-level speed of service.

Menu items include signatures salads, chefinspired bowls and sandwiches, and a high-quality breakfast offering. We also offer an add on-brickoven pizza option. Fly by booth 914 to learn more.

Timeless moments are often shared over a cup.

So, we take our coffee seriously. Selecting, roasting and brewing it right is an art. Parisi Coffee is our proud, passionate homage to our Italian heritage.

It’s also our way to share our delicious traditions with you so you can start your own. From fully branded coffee kiosks to cold brew on tap in your office, we offer solutions that feature our passion in your cup.

Since the subconscious is most receptive early in the morning and late at night, I thought, “what if I put positive affirmations on the toes of socks?” Find Notes to Self in the Experience Hall or at www.notestoself.com .

PATH is the only bottled water company in the industry that offers electrolyte-enhanced purified water in a 100 percent refillable, sustainable aluminum bottle. PATH provides the convenience of bottled water, a healthy alternative to sugary beverages and is leading the fight against single-use plastic bottles that are harmful to our planet.

Booth: 828

Booth: 906

P ROG R A M INFECTION PREVENTION

IP Program is the leading provider of proven UVC technology in airports. We provide a host of UVC products for a safer environment.

We identify methods to eradicate pathogens in healthcare and, with the current crisis, airports need a germicidal eradiation plan. IP Program deployed the first fully autonomous UV robot in a U.S. airport. Our portfolio of infection prevention products to ensure a safer environment for your passengers, guests and staff.

Booth: 901

La joie de vivre at la Madeleine, we aim to share joie de vivre, or joy of life. True to French tradition, we believe this joy can be found in the simple moments, like sharing good food and good conversation with people we love.

That’s why we use real, wholesome ingredients paired with classic French techniques. We do it all, for the joie of our guests in mind.

Booth: 908

Lemonade is a seasonal, modern cafeteria offering guests a colorful, interactive dining experience that is as fun as it is delicious. The Cali-inspired cuisine features marketplace salads, unique sandwiches, fresh poke bowls and slow simmered braises. Easy to execute operations, true chef-driven fare and high throughput make Lemonade a one-of-a-kind fast casual concept. Operating at LAX and 20 other high-profile locations, we are ready to fly.

Visit us at booth 916 to learn more.

Booth: 916

Booth: 914

Booth: 407

It all began with a mom on a mission to find kidfriendly gluten-free snacks after being diagnosed with Celiac Disease and discovering all four of her children were gluten intolerant as well. After partnering with a young chef and creating our delicious gluten-free baked goods, the dynamic duo grew OMG...It’s Gluten Free from a small cafe to a thriving manufacturer.

Booth: 904

Booth: 409

Booth: 315

Our Coffee Revolution: On April 1, 1966, Alfred Peet first opened the doors of his coffee store in Berkeley, CA, and quietly ignited a revolution that forever changed the expectations of American coffee drinkers..

Booth: 327

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EXPERIENCE HALL

Steak ‘n Shake, based in Indianapolis, Ind. and founded in 1934, pioneered the concept of a better burger by hand-crafting cuts of steak to create its flagship Steakburger. Since then, the brand has become one of the most recognized and beloved brands in the restaurant business, synonymous with freshness and quality. We currently have three airport locations open with another one opening this month at Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH).

Booth: 317

Prepango is a visionary company that delivers thoughtful innovative solutions in the automated retail, specialty vending and traveler communications industries. We imagine, develop and deploy a wide range of concepts, products, and services and manage them, using Prepango’s proprietary optimization platform, through our unique retail network throughout the U.S.

See’s Candies has been making quality chocolate and candy Mary See’s way for 100 years. From the beginning, Mary took pride in her recipes and insisted on only the finest, freshest ingredients. Today, we’re still just as committed to making candy the right way. Stop into one of our iconic black-and-white shops inspired by Mary’s kitchen, or visit us online.

You’ll find over 100 varieties of delicious chocolates made with the same motto in mind: “Quality without compromise.”

Subway restaurants are the world’s largest submarine sandwich chain with more than 38,000 locations in over 100 countries.

SUBWAY restaurants are a simple operation with a versatile design, adaptable to most spaces. Whether you are looking to own and operate a franchise or earn rental income, the Subway franchise offers you the formula that works.

At QDOBA we’re all about flavor. The flavor of our food, the flavor of our restaurants and, most importantly, the flavor of our people. Some might say we are the flavor authority. And we’ve been focused on flavor since day one. QDOBA has been serving freshly prepared, flavorful Mexicaninspired fare since 1995. Our menu includes classics like burritos, bowls, tacos, quesadillas and nachos. We freshly prepare our food in-house, grilling, slicing, dicing, smashing and sautéing every single day.

Servy is the enterprise self-service platform for hospitality. Launched in 2015 as an airport digital commerce app called Grab, Servy has since expanded the platform outside of airports to provide self-service solutions to hospitality companies of all sizes and venues. Servy provides technology which aims to enhance the hospitality experience, not replace it. With a presence in 80-plus airports worldwide, Grab

by Servy is now the largest airport e-commerce platform. Learn more at www.servy.us.

We have been inspiring and connecting women unlike any other brand for more than 35 years. Our focus remains on delivering patterns and silhouettes that resonate with today’s travel consumer. In a competitive marketplace, Vera Bradley is the #1 women’s backpack and #1 women’s duffel brand in the U.S. We are passionate about innovation by developing sustainable collections with a focus of being 100 percent sustainable by 2025. Our focus is building profitable partnerships delivering sustained growth.

SAMBAZON is the first certified organic and fair trade açaí company in the world. Since its founding in 2000, SAMBAZON’s mission has been to share the delicious powers of açaí, to fuel healthier people and a healthier planet by supplying ethically sourced açaí products. All SAMBAZON products, including smoothie packs, ready-to-eat açaí bowls, energy drinks, and juices, have complete traceability and transparency.

From the palm of the tree to the palm of your hand—it’s SAMBAZON’s guarantee.

Slim Chickens is known for having the right combination of crave-able food, a cool vibe and that extra touch of southern hospitality. We are more than a quick meal. Guests can always expect fresh, hand-breaded chicken tenders and wings cooked to order and served with house dipping sauces. With more than 130 locations and a fanatical following in the U.S. and internationally, the eternally cool brand is an emerging national franchise leading the “better chicken” segment.

Booth: 920

Booth: 808

Booth: 800

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Booth: 428

Booth: 600

Booth: 402

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Booth: 710

THANK YOU EXHIBITORS Airport Dimensions

Fresh Victor

Parisi Coffee

Airport Minority Advisory Council

FuelRod

PATH

Atmosphere TV

FUKU

Peet’s Coffee & Tea

The Barber Shop Marketing & Promotions

Grab Airport Marketplace by Servy + AtYourGate

Prepango, LLC

Ben’s Pretzels

Half Moon Empanadas

Bobby’s Burgers

Inspire Brands

Caribou Coffee

IP Program

The Chiroport

La Madeleine

The Classic Shine Company

Lemonade

THE DRIPBaR

Minute Suites, LLC

Einstein Bros

Modern Market Eatery

Escape Pods - Part of the Jabbrrbox Network

notes to self, LLC

Focus Brands, Inc.

OMG... It’s Gluten Free Panda Restaurant Group

Qdoba SAMBAZON See’s Candies Servy Slim Chickens Steak ‘n Shake Subway Vera Bradley Vive Organic

SPEAKERS & MODERATORS MEET OUR SPEAKERS AND MODERATORS This year’s educational sessions will begin to tackle many ongoing challenges faced by the airport and concessions sector. Check out the roster below, and be prepared for lively debate centered on the way forward for the industry!

ADRIAN BEARD FOUNDER WHITMAN MAY ENTERPRISES

Adrian Beard founded Whitman May Enterprises in 2010 in Charlotte, North Carolina, with a goal of developing and operating quick service, fast casual and casual restaurants throughout the U.S. Beard has more than 10 years of experience in airport concessions operations. He is the managing partner of Uptown Airport Group, a prime concessionaire at RaleighDurham International Airport (RDU). He also serves as the vice president of operations for Denard Enterprises Inc., with leases at Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT).

KEN BUCKNER CONCESSIONS PLANNING CONSULTANT UNISON CONSULTING

Ken Buckner is a concessions planning consultant at Unison Consulting, working with airports across the hub size spectrum to optimize concessions program productivity and passenger engagement. He has participated on planning teams that have developed solicitation and leasing strategies and provided RFP implementation support for Chicago O’Hare International (ORD), LaGuardia (LGA) (Delta Airlines), Louis Armstrong New Orleans International (MSY), JFK International (JFK) (British Airways) and San Antonio International (SAT), among other airports. Buckner has also been actively involved in concessions planning for other airports.

Prior to Unison, Buckner worked at Westfield Airports in marketing and concessions management capacities.

ZENOLA CAMPBELL VICE PRESIDENT, CONCESSIONS DALLAS/FORT WORTH INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

Zenola Campbell serves as the vice president of concessions at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW). Campbell develops strategies that focus on maximizing revenues in passenger-related concessions, advertising, rental cars, sponsorships and related revenues within the airport terminals, including passenger services enhancements and telecommunications. Prior to DFW, Campbell held key executive positions with companies including McDonald’s Corporation and Blockbuster Inc. She is a past recipient of the Property Manager of the Year award from Airport Experience News.

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DAVID CHARLES PRESIDENT, CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER MARSHALL RETAIL GROUP

David Charles has 30-plus years of experience in the airport and travel retail sector and currently serves as president and chief operating officer of Marshall Retail Group. He has global experience across finance, operations, business development and general management, and his direct oversight includes store operations, visual merchandising, marketing, design and construction. Previously, Charles was at DFS Group, where he served in various roles, culminating as the regional president for the Pacific Division.

MARLENE COLEMAN DIRECTOR OF CONCESSIONS MANAGEMENT HARTSFIELD-JACKSON ATLANTA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

Marlene Coleman is the director of concessions management at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL), with responsibility for directing the overall concessions and car rental operations, including strategic and business plan development, contracts and lease administration, and service delivery. An accredited airport executive, Coleman has more than 20 years of extensive city government and aviation concessions management experience at ATL. She joined the Department of Aviation’s concessions team in 1998 and moved up the ranks to serve as concessions business development manager in 2007. She was then tapped to run the city’s Watershed Deparment, and rejoined ATL in December 2019 to serve as director of concessions management to oversee and develop all airport concessions businesses.

NICHOLAS CREWS MANAGING PARTNER, PRESIDENT & CEO CREWS HOSPITALITY

Nicholas B. Crews has more than 12 years’ experience in the retail and food and beverage/hospitality airport concessions industry. As president and CEO of Crews Hospitality, Crews provides overall leadership to the organization by ensuring the Crews mission and vision are implemented and strategic goals are achieved. Growing up in the airport concessions business, Crews has worked in various facets of the industry including management of day-to-day operations, human resources, purchasing and loss prevention. In December 2019, Nick raised capital to purchase majority interest in Crews companies from his father, also the company founder.

JOHN CUGASI VICE PRESIDENT OF MARKETING PARADIES LAGARDÈRE

John Cugasi is the vice president of marketing for Paradies Lagardère. He is responsible for all aspects of the marketing function, including RFPs and the company’s concept portfolio and brand relationships. This is Cugasi’s third assignment with the company, having previously held the position of senior vice president, planning and development from 2011 to 2016, and providing consulting services since 2016. Prior to that, he held various leadership positions in the industry, including director of concessions at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL), where he managed the concessions program for the world’s largest airport.

LISE D’ANDREA

PILAR GUZMAN ZAVALA

PRESIDENT & CEO CXE

CEO HALF MOON EMPANADAS

With a stronghold in the Airport Customer Experience arena, Lise has more than 25 years of experience designing strategic airport-specific programs to improve employee and customer experiences. D’Andrea founded CXE (Customer Service Experts) in 1993. Under her guidance, CXE partners with airport executive stakeholders, concessions partners, and service/operations entities to develop customer experience strategies. In her current role she leads strategic consulting and visioning for client programs, inspiring executive-level collaboration in developing client service cultures and customer experience improvement strategies.

Pilar Guzman Zavala is the CEO of Half Moon Empanadas, a fast-casual food concept in Miami. Under Guzman Zavala’s leadership, Half Moon Empanadas is embarking on a national expansion to create a new food category in America, the empanada. Half Moon has been in business for 12 years and has more than 13 locations in non-traditional locations, including Miami International Airport. Before joining Half Moon Empanadas, Guzman Zavala worked at The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation managing the National Programs grant process.

CHRIS GWILLIAM JIM DECOCK DIRECTOR OF REVENUE GENERATION & PARTNERSHIP DEVELOPMENT (INTERIM) SAN DIEGO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

Jim DeCock is the interim director of revenue generation and partnership development and has been with the San Diego International Airport (SAN) for more than nine years. During his first few years at SAN he was heavily involved with the concession development program, which transformed the concession program from one single operator to multiple operators. Prior to his role at SAN, DeCock was property manager for food and beverage concessions at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG). Prior to working in the aviation industry, DeCock was a partner and operator of multiple restaurants.

VICE PRESIDENT BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT AIRPORT DIMENSIONS

As vice president of business development at Airport Dimensions, Chris Gwilliam is responsible for leading and expanding all business development and client management activities.

With roughly two decades of experience in the hospitality industry, he leads all growth strategy initiatives in the Americas. Gwilliam has always worked in fast paced innovative concepts that are focused on continual guest experience improvement. His primary objectives are to continually strengthen Airport Dimensions competitive position and identify strategic partnerships that support network and revenue growth.

RHONDA HAMM-NIEBRUEGGE DIRECTOR OF AIRPORTS ST. LOUIS LAMBERT INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

MARK GALE CEO, DIRECTOR OF AVIATION BROWARD COUNTY AVIATION DEPARTMENT

Mark Gale assumed the position of CEO/director of aviation for the Broward County Aviation Department in March 2016. Gale is responsible for the overall executive management and operation of Broward County’s Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International (FLL) and North Perry (HWO) airports, including master plan and strategic vision development, implementation of capital improvement programs, financial metrics and performance, internal and external business relationships, operational efficiency and guest experience initiatives. Prior to his arrival in Broward County, Gale served as the CEO of Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) from 2009 to 2016, and as the deputy director of aviation for operations and facilities from 2000 to 2009.

ALAN GLUCK SENIOR MANAGER, AVIATION, ICF

Alan Gluck has nearly 30 years in the aviation industry, with experience ranging from developing RFPs and contracts for, most recently, Nashville International (BNA) and Kansas City International (MCI) airports, to helping plan concession locations in Cairns Airport (CNS), Baltimore/ Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI) and Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW). Gluck was also part of a multidisciplinary team to develop ways to enhance commercial revenues without construction at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport(BOM), and is involved in various planning aspects at other airports.

Rhonda Hamm-Niebruegge has been the director of St. Louis Lambert International Airport (STL) since January 2010. She manages 500 employees with revenues of more than 183 million dollars in 2019 and also serves as chairwoman of the 17-member St. Louis Airport Commission. Prior to STL, Hamm-Niebruegge logged over 25 years in aviation management positions with American Airlines, Trans World Airlines (TWA) and Ozark Air Lines.

EILEEN HANSON SVP COMMERCIAL STRATEGY & LEASING, AIRPORTS UNIBAIL-RODAMCO-WESTFIELD

As senior vice president of commercial strategy and leasing, airports at Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Airports, Eileen Hanson is responsible for URW’s airport commercial and customer experience strategies, with oversight of leasing, marketing and innovative new commercial partnerships. She has nearly 10 years of experience in senior roles at URW managing multi-billion-dollar projects spanning both airports and shopping centers. In addition to URW, Eileen has significant marketing experience in a variety of industries with leading brands including DIRECTV and Hilton Worldwide

CHRIS HARTMAN CHIEF EXPERIENCE OFFICER ATYOURGATE

Chris Hartman is a technology and business development professional tasked with executing the product vision of AtYourGate while also leading growth and expansion. With over 20 years of experience as a manager, technologist and entrepreneur, he joined PJ Mastracchio in 2015 to co-found AtYourGate with the dream of bringing digital ordering and delivery to the airport.

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DAWN HUNTER DIRECTOR OF AVIATION COMMERCIAL MANAGEMENT SEATTLE-TACOMA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

Dawn Hunter is the director of aviation commercial management at Seattle Tacoma International Airport (SEA). As director, Hunter is responsible for generating non-aeronautical revenue and leading a team of skilled managers. Her scope includes airport concessions, parking, ground transportation (taxis, Uber Lyft, limos, shuttle buses, rental car operations), and airport building facilities management. Hunter joined the SEA team in 2017. Prior to that, she spent more than 10 years at Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) in the commercial management group on the concessions team.

JEFF LIVNEY CHIEF EXPERIENCE OFFICER, CO-FOUNDER SERVY

Jeff Livney is a co-founder and the chief experience officer (CXO) at Servy, which launched in 2014 as an airport digital commerce app called Grab. He oversees commercial partnerships and business development, as well as product development, operations and guest experience. Livney’s vision of technology as part of hospitality has led to the evolution of the company, which now is called Servy, and provides much more than the simple ability to grab food on the go at the airport. Through Jeff’s leadership, Servy has branched into all areas of hospitality and developed the omni-channel line of guest-facing digital products that they have today.

BRYAN LODEN VICE PRESIDENT OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT HMSHOST

Bryan Loden is vice president of business development at HMSHost, responsible for developing and overseeing key client relationships, including strategic airports and developer partnerships. Loden joined HMSHost in 2002, starting in corporate accounting and eventually moving to business development. Bryan’s years of expertise include his time managing all accounting and reporting functions of the Asset Management Group. He moved on to assume the role of director of finance, assessing potential new development opportunities as well as real estate maximization projects.

Prior to his time at HMSHost, Bryan worked as a senior accountant for Yafo Networks.

PAT MURRAY EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT SSP AMERICA

Pat Murray is SSP America’s executive vice president, charged with developing and growing the company’s portfolio across North America. Murray oversees a division responsible for business development, design and construction, brands and concepts, strategic partnerships, and corporate marketing and communications.

about the macro trends that are shaping and impacting today’s landscape.

She has spoken at TEDx and keynoted more than 100 conferences around the world. In 2020, she was named by Forbes as one of the world’s 50 Top Female Futurists.

DANA POUWELS LOUNGE GENERAL MANAGER JPMORGAN CHASE

Dana Pouwels has 20 years of experience across financial services, strategic partnerships, marketing and retail operations, and is currently the lounge general manager at JPMorgan Chase. Pouwels joined Chase as part of the corporate business development team before transitioning to lead strategic partnership management for Chase Cards with partners like Lyft and DoorDash.

Before joining Chase, Pouwels held leadership roles at American Express across the merchant services, digital and consumer businesses.

Her prior experience also includes global general management roles for Inditex and in real estate expansion for H&M.

BRIAN QUINN EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT AND DEPUTY CEO HUDSON

Brian Quinn was appointed deputy chief executive officer of Hudson in July 2021, where he is responsible for the strategic direction and performance of more than 1,000 stores across North America. Prior to that time, he was executive vice president and chief operating officer. Previously, Quinn served as vice president of operations from 1992 to 1996, as well as general manager of Hudson’s LaGuardia Airport (LGA) operations. Quinn also serves on the Board of Directors of the Airport Restaurant & Retail Association (ARRA). Prior to joining Hudson in 1991, Quinn held positions at the Rite-Aid Corporation, Faber Coe & Gregg and WH Smith.

PADY REGNIER FOUNDER, CEO AIRPORT RETAIL GROUP

Minnesota native Pady Regnier is an award-winning entrepreneur. For over 25 years, she has developed successful proprietary and global brands for retail, and food and beverage, always with an eye to delivering local products and stories to market. Regnier started in merchandising and product development.

In 2007, Regnier opened her first airport store at Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport (MSP), and she was hooked on airport concessions. Since 2016, Regnier’s business is exclusively an airport concessionaire. She rebranded her company Airport Retail Group (ARG) and now operates and partners in six airports with 40 locations, and 25 more locations in development. Regnier attended the University of Minnesota.

CHARLENE REYNOLDS ASSISTANT AVIATION DIRECTOR – BUSINESS PLANNING PHOENIX SKY HARBOR INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

ERICA ORANGE EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER THE FUTURE HUNTERS

Erica Orange is executive vice president and chief operating officer of The Future Hunters, one of the world’s leading futurist consulting firms. She evaluates emerging social, technological, economic, political, demographic and environmental trends – and identifies the strategic implications of those trends for several of the most influential Fortune 500 companies, trade associations and public sector clients. Orange frequently speaks to a wide range of global audiences

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Charlene Reynolds serves as the assistant aviation director – business planning for Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX). She has managerial responsibility for the Contracts and Services, Business and Properties, Fiscal Management, and Air Service Development divisions. Reynolds also led Sky Harbor Airport as the interim aviation services director from October 2020 through March of 2021. She has served the city of Phoenix for close to 20 years in a variety of positions and began her aviation career five years ago when she was tapped to create the Aviation Department’s first Contracts and Services Division.

JAMIE RHEE

CATHRYN STEPHENS

COMMISSIONER CHICAGO DEPARTMENT OF AVIATION

ACTING AIRPORT DIRECTOR EUGENE AIRPORT

Chicago Department of Aviation (CDA) Commissioner Jamie Rhee manages one of the world’s busiest airport systems, comprised of O’Hare (ORD) and Midway International (MDW) airports. Rhee began her career with the City of Chicago and has worked for nearly 24 years in various roles, most recently as the chief procurement officer. In this role, Rhee oversaw purchasing of $2 billion in goods and services for dozens of user departments of the City of Chicago, including the CDA; and the certification of thousands of minority-owned, women-owned, and disadvantaged business enterprises, including the Airport Concessionaire Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (ACDBE) program.

TOM RUTH

JOE THORNTON

PRESIDENT & CEO EDMONTON AIRPORTS

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, COO HMSHOST

As president and chief executive officer of Edmonton Airports, Tom Ruth is responsible for the management and operation of Edmonton International Airport (YEG), Canada’s fifth busiest airport, and Villeneuve Airport, which serves the Edmonton Metro Region’s general and recreational aviation sectors. He has also advanced development of the Airport City Sustainability Campus at EIA. Prior to joining Edmonton Airports, Ruth was president of Halifax International Airport (YHZ), and was formerly president of Canadian North Airlines. He has also held senior executive positions throughout Canada, United States, Europe and Asia in the cargo and logistics industries.

ROB SALARANO PROPERTIES DIVISION MANAGER ST. LOUIS LAMBERT INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

Robert Salarano has been the properties division manager at St. Louis Lambert International Airport (STL) since 2008. Salarano leads a staff that negotiates all leases and contracts of airport owned properties and facilities, including agreements with airlines, airport concessionaires, vendors and contractors. Previously, Salarano served as STL’s contracts administrator from 2001 to 2008. Salarano joined the airport in 1994 working for the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise program office, specializing in DBE certification and compliance.

WARNER SESSION FOUNDER SESSION LAW FIRM

Session Law Firm, P.C. was founded by Warner H. Session in January 1991 in Washington D.C. Prior to establishing the firm, Session served as staff director and counsel to the Government Activities and Transportation Subcommittee of the House Government Operations Committee, United States Congress, chaired by the Honorable Cardiss Collins. Session was formerly associate counsel for two major U.S. airports – New Orleans International Airport (MSY) and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) – providing advice on legislative and regulatory matters affecting those airports.

Cathryn Stephens is the acting airport director for the Eugene Airport (EUG) in Oregon. An Accredited Airport Executive, Stephens serves on the American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE) Board of Directors and as chair of the AAAE Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. For the Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, Stephens has participated on several Airport Cooperative Research Program panels, and currently serves as a member of the ACRP Oversight Committee. She is also involved in various state and regional associations and holds a courtesy faculty appointment at Oregon State University.

Joe Thornton is executive vice president and chief operating officer at HMSHost, responsible for all of HMSHost food and beverage operations in North America, as well as marketing and communications. Thornton joined HMSHost in 2020.

Before HMSHost, Thornton was chief operating officer at Jamba Juice, and prior to that he was with Starbucks Coffee Company. He is actively involved in diversity work and is a keynote speaker on the topic of leadership in the community. He is also a published author.

FLORIA WASHINGTON PROGRAM MANAGER, LEARNING/DEVELOPMENT, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION COLUMBUS REGIONAL AIRPORT AUTHORITY

Floria Washington is a thought leader with public and private sector experience in human resources including diversity, learning and organizational development, succession planning, talent acquisition, change management and innovation. Prior to joining CRAA, Washington served as chief of staff for the Ohio Treasurer of State and as director, human resources for Whirlpool Corp.

ANDREW WEDDIG MANAGING PRINCIPAL, A. WEDDIG CONSULTING

Andy has 23 years of experience planning, developing and managing airport dining and shopping programs.

He has consulted for more than 40 North American airports, providing concessions planning, development and management services for airports, as well as leading food and beverage development for major airport concessionaires. Weddig recently formed A. Weddig Consulting to assist airports with their concessions programs. Prior to his independent consultancy, Andy worked at Paradies Lagardère (and predecessor Hojeij Branded Foods), where he directed the company’s Dining Division business development activity.

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DIRECTORS OF THE YEAR

Bill Wyatt Took On Massive Terminal Project With Energy And Vision

BY CAROL WARD

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DIRECTORS OF THE YEAR

Editor’s Update: Bill Wyatt, the executive director of the Salt Lake City Department of Airports, was named AXN’s Director of the Year, Large Airports Division, in the fall of 2020. He was profiled in the November/December issue of Airport Experience News.

Since then, close proximity to a variety of major outdoor destinations has been a boon for Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC), with traffic heating up in spring and thrumming thus far throughout the summer. “We’ve seen very strong numbers and the building feels full,” Wyatt says. Phase 1 of the airport’s redevelopment opened during the pandemic and now, with construction is underway in Phase 2, the new facility is crowded.

The preponderance of leisure travel has caused some minor upheaval.

“There’s some business travel beginning to return and very little international,” Wyatt says. “At the checkpoint, for example, it’s mom and dad and a few kids, and very few people using pre-check, because that’s primarily driven by business customers. The TSA has really had to adapt. Also, at the beginning they reduced their staff, and now they’re having to add back up, and that’s not an overnight thing.”

Wyatt says there are “a lot more business travelers now than there were a month and a half ago,” and he believes predictions on the longterm demise of business travel to be overblown.

“The value in face-to-face communication just can’t be replicated easily with technology, you and I are doing fine, cause it’s a two-person conversation, but if you have four or five people on Zoom it gets to be very challenging and often a little frustrating unless it’s really a wellorganized conversation.”

Wyatt also points to remote or hybrid work policies. ”I think for a lot of people remote to me doesn’t mean their basement,” he says. “They could get on a plane and go to New York and still be working.”

Meantime, like many airports, SLC is finding the rapidly expanding traveler pool to be challenging. “We don’t have enough concessions open right now to serve all of the people who are using the airport,” Wyatt says, noting that openings were expected to continue through the summer. “Pretty soon the concessions program is going to begin to really fill out, and the ones that are open are doing really well,” he adds.

Of course, like virtually every other airport, SLC is feeling the pinch of the labor shortage.

One feature largely unique to SLC has been the large contingent of meeters and greeters. Wyatt says the airport has reopened to this group, whereas during the pandemic only ticketed passengers or badged individuals could access the airport.

“It’s kind of a big deal here in Salt Lake because there is this long tradition of LDS (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) families coming out to meet their returning missionaries,” he says. And for the community overall, this summer marked the first time many could see the new airport that opened in autumn of 2020. 1st of July. “Now we can offer the experience that I think is so wonderful about airports – the comings and goings and greetings.”

The following article originally appeared in the November/December issue of AXN.

V

ery few airport directors get the chance to build a new terminal from the ground up. When the opportunity arose for Bill Wyatt to lead Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC) and build the nation’s first 21st Century hub airport, he jumped at the chance.

That was in 2017, heady times for the aviation industry. No one knew then that aviation business would be turned upside down in March 2020, just months ahead of the opening of Phase 1 of the new terminal. The timing was challenging, to say the least, but Wyatt pushed forward with the planned September opening and actually accelerated Phase 2 of the construction project, saving millions of dollars in the process.

Wyatt’s ability to pivot during an extraordinarily difficult time for the industry and still deliver a world-class facility provided a bright spot in what has been a challenging year for North American airports. That achievement, coupled with his enviable relationships with airlines and his commitment to the broader aviation industry, prompted AXN to select him as its Director of the Year in the large airports category.

The honor is “very flattering,” Wyatt says, while acknowledging the contributions of the staff and colleagues supporting him.

“I realize that I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for the amazing team around me,” he says. “I think it’s important to acknowledge in moments like this that this is a team sport and we happen to have a really good team.”

Opposite Page: AXN Director of the Year Bill Wyatt confers with colleagues.

Wyatt led the completion of the recently opened new terminal at Salt Lake City International Airport

Right: SLC’s new terminal brings ample space and 21st century design to the Delta Air Lines hub.

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Primed In Portland Wyatt’s first foray into the aviation business wasn’t exactly fortuitous timing either. He was winding down a position as chief of staff to Oregon Gov. John Kizhaber when he was hired as executive director of Port of Portland, overseeing Portland International Airport (PDX) and two smaller airports, four marine terminals and substantial industrial property.

Wyatt was hired on September 4, 2001. He then embarked on a pre-planned vacation abroad and was in Portugal when the 9/11 terrorist attacks occurred.

Several days later, upon returning to the United States, he faced a new job that looked starkly different than the one he had accepted just a few weeks earlier.

“We had some immediate challenges, like figuring out what was going to happen,” Wyatt says. “How was the business going to come back? And we had all these security related issues. We lost a third of our parking spots in the garage because the perimeter of the garage was too close to the terminal building for blast purposes.

And there was a question about whether we were going to be able to make our debt service.

“So, it was trial by fire and gradually, you know, business came back and we started aggressively recruiting international air service – we had very little,” Wyatt recalls. Wyatt wasn’t involved in the day-to-day business of running the airport, but he got “very involved in the recruitment part of the business,” especially focusing on international air service.

Wyatt’s efforts paid off, and those, coupled with a booming Portland economy, helped set the stage for a multi-year upward trajectory for PDX. “We undertook a lot of construction projects, expansion projects, some of which are still in the works in Portland,” Wyatt says.

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Above: Phase 1 of the massive SLC new airport project came in on time and on budget in September, despite an spring earthquake and the ongoing pandemic that put a wrench in progress.

Below: Wyatt had retired from Port of Portland, but the opportunity to lead an airport through a major transformation lured him south to take on the New SLC project.

Wyatt “retired” from Port of Portland in June 2017, but he wasn’t quite finished with aviation.

“About three days after I retired, I got a call from Korn Ferry about this [SLC] job,” he says. “I was ready for a change – 16 years in that job was plenty and I had a couple of other things cooking, but this just looked too exciting. And so, I loaded up my little Ford Escape and moved down here to Salt Lake.”

Wyatt says he’d never intended to fully retire, he just needed a change. He found it at SLC. “I get to come to work every day and build the nation’s only 21st Century hub airport – or first, I should say, but I think it’s going to be hard for someone to do this again,” he says. “This is an airport that will be here for the balance of the century, at least. I just couldn’t pass it up – it sounded like too much fun.”

The enthusiasm shown for the job doesn’t come as a surprise to many of Wyatt’s colleagues.

Curtis Robinhold, who succeeded Wyatt as executive director of Port of Portland, says he taps the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson to describe Wyatt’s approach: “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.”

“He’s always super-enthusiastic – his style is to bring the enthusiasm and the vision,” Robinhold says. “The enthusiasm has a way of both charming people and getting them fired up to attack these big projects.”

The New Central Terminal Shortly after Wyatt began his tenure at SLC, he met with Mike Williams, owner of

DIRECTORS OF THE YEAR

Making Projects Work, Inc., who SLC had hired to oversee the construction project.

Project timing was crucial. SLC had targeted fall of 2020 for the terminal opening but didn’t want to push too close to the holiday season.

“We just circled Tuesday, September 15” as an opening date, Wyatt recalls. “Then we had the initial challenge of getting the workforce because the economy here is so hot. Then, after we had established this date, we made several very large-scope additions to the project. We substantially increased the size of the customs and border protection facilities because when it was designed originally, Salt Lake didn’t really have that much international traffic, and all of a sudden we had quite a bit. We added a sterile corridor to the international gates. And we made a substantial addition, at Delta’s request, to their Sky Club – it is now the largest in their system and it’s spectacular too. And we said, and we’re still opening on September 15.”

The pandemic didn’t stop the progress.

Neither did a 5.7 magnitude earthquake that hit Salt Lake City on March 18. SLC hit the mark with the September 15 opening the new Central Terminal, Gateway Center, Concourse A-West and parking garage. Had the pandemic not decimated traffic, the facility would have been a welcome respite – the previous airport was built for 10 million passengers but served 26 million in 2019.

HOK was the architecture firm on the New SLC, and construction was handled by HDJV, a joint venture of Holder Construction and Utah’s Big-D Construction. Rob Moore, CEO of Big D Construction, says Wyatt’s tenacity paid off.

“This could have been difficult for us – this is a massive project and we have as many as 1,650 craftspeople on the job every day,” Moore says. “You’ve got to make decisions quickly. Then of course COVID hit, and we had an earthquake in the middle of it. Bill is very calm, very precise. He said we’d get through this, and we did.”

The new SLC includes LEED Gold Certified Terminal and Concourse A, which features 25 gates for Delta Air Lines. The new Gateway Center houses car rental counters and quick-check airline ticket counters and leads to 16 security screening lanes with automatic return bins to aid in touchless travel. The project also included a two-level roadway system with an elevated road designated for departures and a 3,600-space parking garage. A total of 45 concessions locations are included in the new facilities.

Pat Murray, executive vice president of SSP America, says Wyatt helped find city-backed

financing for some concessionaires who were struggling to build out their locations due to the pandemic and earthquake. “To my knowledge, something like that has never been done before,” Murray says. “It was really remarkable to see how quick he moved on that.”

Wyatt says being part of building the New SLC ranks as one of the biggest achievements of his career. “It’s pretty special to be part of something that is going to have such a longterm positive impact on this community,” he says. “There isn’t quite anything like it.”

Next Up In late October, SLC opened the B Concourse with 21 gates serving Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Frontier Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines, as well as Delta. The next phase of expansion is also underway, with the previous terminal demolished to make way for an expansion of Concourse A to the east and construction of the concrete portion of a permanent tunnel to transport passengers between concourses A and B. Wyatt says the pandemic and subsequent traffic drop-off allowed the airport to speed up the timeline. Phase 2 is now scheduled to open December 20, 2024, nearly three years ahead of the original schedule.

While SLC has seen some uptick in traveler numbers, Wyatt says he believes the second-phase opening will more or less coincide with the recovery. “My sense is that whatever the new normal is, we will arrive there about the time that we open the second phase,” he says. “That doesn’t mean that it all happens at once, but I think it’s just going to be a very gradual build back.”

Meantime, Wyatt is among the North American airport directors assessing if and how airports should move forward on COVID-19 testing, just one of the issues being tackled by the large hub committee for Airports Council InternationalNorth America (ACI-NA); Wyatt is vice chair of the committee. He also is involved with the American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE), where he serves on the policy review committee.

Wyatt is also continuing to build relationships locally. He was a newcomer when he arrived in Salt Lake City in 2017, a sharp change from the Oregon where “I knew everybody and everybody knew me,” he says.

“I moved down here and I knew nobody – I knew the mayor’s chief of

Above: The New SLC opened September 15. Now, Wyatt and his team are gearing up for Phase 2 of the massive capital project.

staff basically,” he adds. “Slowly, largely through the airport, I have become more involved with Visit Salt Lake, which has a natural attachment.” Wyatt also wants to revive the international air service committee that was formed shortly after he arrived, comprised of people from the community who have interest in international air service. “I think it’s probably a pretty good time to organize around that,” he says.

But top of mind is the next phase of expansion currently underway. Despite the fact that more than three years have passed since Wyatt first “retired,” he says he is committed to seeing the next phase of the project through. “I like what I’m doing – I don’t have wanderlust, I want to keep doing this. I really enjoy it. I like the people that I work with and I like the business.”

Wyatt is also keen to continue exploring Salt Lake City and the surrounding area.

He enjoys skiing and shooting skeet, opportunities for which are prolific in the area. Options for hiking, exploring national parks and other outdoor adventures are also plentiful in Utah.

Wyatt’s son and grandchildren live in Seattle and, although complicated this year due to the pandemic, are typically up for visiting at least twice a year. A swimming pool in the back yard of his house is the crowning touch, he says: “It’s a grandbaby magnet.”

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DIRECTORS OF THE YEAR

Native New Orleanian Caps Career Unveiling New Terminal

BY ANDREW TELLIJOHN

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DIRECTORS OF THE YEAR

Editor’s Update: Kevin Dolliole, director of aviation for the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY), was named AXN’s Director of the Year, Medium Airports Division, in the fall of 2020. He was profiled in the November/December issue of Airport Experience News.

Now, nine months later, much of the traffic lost during the depths of the pandemic has returned to the leisure-centric market. The impact of the pandemic on MSY has been significant, but Dolliole says the fact that the airport’s terminal was just a few months old when the pandemic dramatically curtailed traffic across the country means it is well positioned for recovery.

Opening in November 2019 meant MSY was unaffected by significantly increased materials costs or delays across the supply chain that would likely have slowed the project and made it more expensive had it taken place during the pandemic. Plus, as vaccination rates and pent-up demand for leisure travel have bumped traffic within about 30 percent of 2019 numbers, the new facility with its large, centralized security checkpoint has eased what could have become a significant burden on the Transportation Security Administration.

“If we had still been in our old facility as traffic started picking up... in our smaller checkpoints at each concourse, we could very well have had lines running out of the building,” Dolliole notes. “So, we were fortunate we got that billion-dollar project done.”

Throughout a tough 2020, the new facility has been paying off, Dolliole says. It likely helped MSY become one of a handful of anchor markets for Breeze Airways, a start-up that officially launched flights to and from New Orleans in July.

Dolliole thinks the airline would have picked the city anyway, “though maybe on a lesser scale,” he says. “We started conversations, actually, two years ago, so there was ongoing dialogue. … It all came together and happened, but it was really significant that we were named one of four operations bases.”

With the new terminal in place, MSY didn’t have to defer as much work as many of its peer airports. It does, Dolliole says, have an Airport Improvement Program-funded airfield project under construction. The airport received $54.5 million in federal funding for the $65 million project that will create two taxiways for better connections to its EastWest Runway.

“That’s a significant project,” he says, adding that it was made necessary as a result of traffic flow changes as part of the new terminal project.

As is the case with many leisure markets, MSY is enjoying strong summer traffic counts. The rebound has happened faster than expected, Dolliole says, adding that it brings on a new set of challenges related to staffing, particularly in concessions. “Everyone is scrambling for labor,” he says. “Concessionaires have warned us that they would have everything open if they could find the labor to open everything.”

Left: New Orleans native Kevin Dolliole returned to MSY in mid-2017 to oversee completion of the new airport terminal, which opened in November 2019. His family’s roots in the city go back to the 1760s.

Copyright: LEO A DALY/Atkins, a Joint Venture. Photography by: Creative Sources Photography.

In spite of the labor challenges MSY is facing now, its customer service since moving into the new building has received significant recognition.

MSY ranked as the third best large airport in the country for customer satisfaction in the USA Today’s 10Best Reader’s Choice Awards. It also ranked in the top three in 24 of 34 satisfaction items measured by Airports Council International’s (ACI) ASQ program, including taking first overall in the overall satisfaction category for airports with more than 5 million passengers, for the first quarter of 2021.

“We did very, very well,” Dolliole says. “Things have picked up nicely.”

The following article originally appeared in the November/December issue of AXN.

K

evin Dolliole was a decade into a consulting position with Unison Consulting in mid-2017 and not really looking to make a move. But his family’s roots in New Orleans run deep, going back more 260 years. So, when the opportunity arose for him to return to Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY) to oversee the construction of a new terminal building, he couldn’t pass it up.

“When you’ve been around for the period of time I have, and if you’ve had a really good and really productive career, to have the opportunity to return to your hometown and take over a legacy project and deliver that for your hometown, it’s just too difficult to stay away from,” he says. “The more I looked at it, the more I wanted it.”

Dolliole and his team at MSY delivered the $1 billion terminal in November 2019. His efforts with the terminal, along with his involvement in the region and nationally with civic and industry trade groups, earned him Airport Experience News’ Director of the Year Award in the medium airports category.

Early Convert While he now has a four-decade record of contributions to aviation, Dolliole nearly never entered the industry in the first place.

He started his career with Eastern Airlines in 1976, but interviewed

Above: There are more than 100 ticketing counters at the new MSY, along with state-of-the-art a baggage screening system security checkpoints.

Copyright: LEO A DALY/Atkins, a Joint Venture.

Photography by: Creative Sources Photography.

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there on career day at Xavier University only at the insistence of his future motherin-law.

He became the only person the airline hired from his campus that day, but even then, his intention still was to work for a couple years, then transition into a career as an oil industry executive.

But when the pressures of deregulation ended up shuttering Eastern, he realized he was hooked on aviation. It was airports, not oil, where Dolliole turned next.

“It forced me to either go to another carrier or flip to a more stable side of the industry,” he says. “I took what I thought was a safer course, coming over to a safer side, and my career just blossomed. That’s the best move I ever made.”

He spent more than a decade in various roles at MSY, including deputy director and acting director before moving on. In 1999, he became aviation director at San Antonio International Airport (SAT), where he oversaw a complete overhaul of the concessions program and got the airport started on an improvement program aimed at modernizing World War II era infrastructure.

He became director of airports at St. Louis Lambert International Airport (STL) in 2005, where he helped finish a significant airfield redevelopment that included a new runway. He also tweaked the Below: It took eight years from when the New Orleans Aviation board was tasked with analyzing a new terminal to when it opened.

The new MSY arrived in Nov, 2019.

Copyright: LEO A DALY/Atkins, a Joint Venture. Photography by: Creative Sources Photography.

Disadvantaged Business Program at STL to ensure it was reporting to the director.

After two years of commuting between San Antonio and St. Louis for family reasons, Dolliole left STL and took a job consulting for airports with Unison.

Coming Home And he was happy in that role and would have stayed, had the opportunity to return to MSY not come up. He couldn’t be prouder of having had the opportunity to contribute to a modernized airport that provides passengers with far more amenities than the previous overcapacity, outdated building.

For example, the new building has one large consolidated checkpoint. Once travelers pass through, they can access the entirety of MSY’s secure space. Previously, the airport had four concourses, each of which had small checkpoints leading to concourses that were not connected on the airside.

“You couldn’t move around between concourses,” he says.

The concessions program has been significantly improved, featuring several local New Orleans chefs, brands and cuisine.

“The program that was in place at the time was not a very good program,” he says.

Restrooms are more spacious and strategically spaced, electrical outlets are in abundance, the building curves, following the shape of the Mississippi River, and there are several pleasant architectural features, such as skylights, glass walls and an open, airy layout due to its three levels.

“You could go on,” he says. “In a number of different ways, even basic ways, it’s a big

improvement over what we were in. As I compare it to facilities I’ve worked in and moved through over my 40-year period, it’s one of the better facilities overall that I’ve been through.”

Airport projects take forever to come together and they don’t happen without challenges. Among the biggest at MSY was the damp, porous soil on which the facility was built. Engineers and architects in the area are used to working with the challenging environment, but building a secure building that won’t shift over time takes some work.

“We were constructing these facilities basically on reclaimed swamp,” he says. “In this part of the world, you go through a very long and involved process of preparing a site before you build on it. … The soil is pretty damp and porous and moist below.

And once you prep it and build on it, there is still movement over time.”

Outside of overseeing the terminal project, Dolliole says he’s proud of having built a strong team to help with both what has been completed and what is to come. There were talented people on staff when he arrived, but also holes in the organization. There had not been a commercial development division or a communications department. The deputy director of finance and administration position had been long open. And there was no director of planning and development.

Those were important roles to fill, in part, he says, because with airport operations moving to the new facility on the north side of the airfield, it opened significant space to redevelopment on the south side of the airport. MSY officials are currently studying options for the additional space. Options likely include additional aeronautical services, such as cargo.

“It’s an identifying and tweaking of the organization, bringing in a good level of talent to mesh in with the talented folks that were here, tweaking functions in the organization so that things work more efficiently, then setting goals and giving that talent the authority to perform their functions,” he says.

Community, Industry Connections Dolliole also has worked aggressively to build relationships with organizations like the Port of New Orleans; Greater New Orleans Inc., the local economic development organization; and Visit

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New Orleans, the area’s tourism outreach organization, to see how they could mutually better each other.

“We have customers in common,” he says.

“Maybe there are some products or activities we can put in place that benefit our common customers. It’s seeking opportunities like that and really being out in the community and ensuring the community is informed on the importance of the airport, the broad spectrum of activities at the airport … and seeking out opportunities to collaborate on different projects.”

Dolliole has also gotten involved nationally. He was a founding member of the Airport Cooperative Research Program, which develops solutions for shared industry problems. He was on the board of directors for the Airports Consultants Council. He serves now on the board of Airports Council International – North America (ACINA) and on the Policy Review Committee for the American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE).

Above: Kevin Dolliole collaborates with local and regional business and tourism groups, and is also active with the airport industry nationally.

Copyright: LEO A DALY/Atkins, a Joint Venture.Photography by: Creative Sources Photography.

“Every time I have gone into a situation like that, my primary intent is to contribute to the industry,” he says. “The intent is to not just be the guy in your facility, but also to be a part of making a contribution to the industry in maybe a bit more profound way.”

Todd Hauptli, president and CEO at AAAE, says that is an understatement with respect to Dolliole, whom he describes as a terrific guy who is always looking to help.

“He is an optimistic, get-it-done kind of guy,” Hauptli says. “It’s lucky for us he took the call because he’s strong. If you could bang out another 50 of him and spread them around the country, that would be terrific.”

Ricky Smith, executive director and CEO at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI) and current chair of the Airport Minority Advisory Council, has created the Airport Leadership Collective, a committee of past- and present-minority airport CEOS, to create opportunities to tap into institutional industry knowledge. About 30 people have signed on, many of them retired.

“Half the group decided to sign on because Kevin asked them to,” Smith says. “There are a lot of people I know and a lot of people I have a lot of respect for and could say good things about and, if you think they are qualified for a job, you may exaggerate a bit. That’s not what I’m doing here. I don’t have to exaggerate for Kevin.”

Smith and Carl Newman, airport manager at Glendale Municipal Airport, both recall Dolliole taking a day off from

Above: The new MSY spans 972,000 square feet. It has three concourses, 35 gates, two new parking garages, a surface parking lot and more than 40 food and retail opportunities Copyright: LEO A DALY/Atkins, a Joint Venture Photography by: Creative Sources. Photography.

his work to meet with them when they were hired to their first director jobs, to help ensure they were ready for the challenge.

“Sometimes you don’t know you need these things, but he recognizes it and goes out of his way to help,” Newman says. “He didn’t charge me for that, he didn’t ask for anything in return. He did it simply to help me out and I appreciated that.”

Adds Smith: “He’s done that for a lot of people in the business and he does that without expecting anything in return “As much as I can praise him for being a great airport professional, I envy just how good a man, a family man he is. You won’t find anybody that has anything negative to say about Kevin. You just won’t.”

Dolliole calls himself “kind of a boring guy.” Outside of his work, he’s a regular at the gym four nights a week and he likes to hit the links.

“I like cutting grass with golf clubs,” he says.

Otherwise it’s pretty common for him to be checking email at home and advancing correspondence even after he’s returned home from work and the gym.

And he’s happy doing so. He loves the job and is grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the betterment of New Orleans. “My family has been in this town since 1760,” he says. “I just have really deep, deep roots here.”

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DIRECTORS OF THE YEAR

Bradbury Uses Engineering Background, Relationship Skills To Benefit PWM, Industry

BY ANDREW TELLIJOHN

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DIRECTORS OF THE YEAR

Editor’s Update: Paul Bradbury, director of Portland International Jetport (PWM), was named AXN’s Director of the Year, Small Airports Division, in the fall of 2020. He was profiled in the November/December issue of Airport Experience News.

A lot has changed since then. Recovery from the global COVID-19 crisis has definitely started at PWM. In recent months, the airport has added Sun Country Airlines to its portfolio of carriers providing service to PWM and has seen a number of new routes added by existing partners, such as Cape Air and Elite Airways.

During the pandemic, PWM became one of the first airports in the U.S. to administer COVID-19 testing, ultimately testing more than 36,000 people.

That likely helped increase at least some traffic at the time, Bradbury says, because without tests, much travel was restricted. “The industry rallied around making it safe for people to travel,” he says.

And in May, PWM worked with Visit Maine, the state’s tourism department, and a marketing firm to launch a $100,000 “Maine’s Home Airport” campaign to entice travelers.

Bradbury says both efforts likely helped some, but the real driver of new vibrancy has been pent-up demand. Travel was highly limited for several months due to the pandemic, meaning Mainelanders had limited travel options outside the state and visitors were discouraged from entering. Now, with restrictions eased, current and projected passenger levels during the summer are expected to be comparable to those of 2019.

“In terms of the leisure component, there is probably more demand than there was in 2019,” Bradbury says. “We’re not at 2019 levels yet, but we’re into single-digits [down] for the first time.”

That’s not to say 2020 wasn’t rough. As with most airports, PWM was down 97 percent when the pandemic ravaged travel. And there are challenges ahead. A five-time winner of Airport Council International’s (ACI) Airport Service Quality Awards, including in 2020, PWM and its airlines, airport concessions operators and transportation network carriers are struggling to find staff, making it difficult to maintain the customer service levels the airport is known for.

“It’s never easy to go from famine to feast,” Bradbury says.

So, the airport has been stressing for months making sure that its own internal operations, such as custodial and parking operations, were staffing up in anticipation of better times. Existing extra staff may also be assigned temporarily to cover potential challenges in the baggage handling area.

Bradbury credits Congress for passing several federal relief packages that allowed PWM to maintain much of its staffing throughout the pandemic.

“We see where this capacity is going for the summer,” Bradbury says.

“We’re still getting great numbers. You have to keep looking at those and making sure you are doing everything you can.”

The airport, Bradbury says, moved forward during the pandemic with Airport Improvement Program-funded work on a taxiway project that both eliminated a potential safety issue and set the stage for connecting to the airport’s cargo apron.

But many other projects were stopped, including passenger boarding bridge improvements at three gates currently requiring manual boarding and baggage claim enhancements aimed at curbing one of PWM’s biggest service challenges.

A Federal Inspection Services international facility also was put on hold.

“We have lost 15 months of opportunities to be positioned in 2021 for where we’ll be if we start to get back to the real system numbers,” Bradbury says, adding that the challenge is exacerbated by a passenger facility charge that is more than tapped. “You have to invest to maintain.”

Still, even as business travel recovery lags, Bradbury appreciates where PWM is at now compared with many airports in the industry and with respect to last year. “It’s very encouraging,” he says.

The following article originally appeared in the November/December issue of AXN.

P

aul Bradbury’s route to becoming the airport director at Portland International Jetport (PWM) wasn’t necessarily the conventional one, and his long stay in one place defies the modern trend, as well.

But he’s learned a lot during his 28 years of service to the state of Maine’s largest airport, becoming an asset not just there, but to the local tourism and transportation industries, as well as the aviation industry nationwide.

His efforts across all spectrums has earned him Director of the Year honors for the small airport category.

Growing Up At PWM Born and raised in Maine, Bradbury arrived at the Jetport in 1992. Unlike most directors, he started out as the engineering and facilities manager. Early on, he spotted a parking shortage that was not only causing a decrease in customer satisfaction but also costing the airport revenue.

“It was a double whammy,” he says.

That problem was solved with a couple of different parking expansion projects, through which he worked directly with his predecessor, Jeff Schultes, and learned about financing major projects.

“That really started a great bigger picture for me, he says. “For a lot of what I wanted to do, you had to understand airport management and finance,” he says.

Left: Paul Bradbury, airport director, has been at Portland International Jetport since 1992.

He’s overseen significant passenger and flight growth at the airport and contributed significantly to the industry.

Right: The largest capital improvement program in PWM’s history resulted in a spacious new terminal with high ceilings made from sustainably harvested wood.

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DIRECTORS OF THE YEAR

Taking On The CIP Bradbury succeeded Schultes as airport director in 2008. Shortly thereafter, PWM embarked on its largest-ever capital improvement project.

The project included a 137,000-squarefoot terminal expansion that doubled its size, an aircraft deicing fluid capture facility, a new parking garage, a new terminal apron and the rehabilitation of a runway.

It added other improvements to ticketing, the concourse, concessions (one restaurant actually serves lobster to-go) and to the security screening experience, including what Bradbury calls the largest “recombobulation” area of any airport in the country.

The new terminal brought a sense of place, with its high, wood ceilings and locally branded concessions, important when much of the state’s economy revolves around tourism.

The new facilities helped improve the customer experience immensely. Concurrently with kicking off the project, Bradbury redoubled the airport’s focus on customer service and being the local convenient airport of choice for local travelers.

The strategy has paid off. PWM has collected several customer service awards in recent years, including the Airport Service Quality Customer Experience Award for Best Airport by Size and Region in North America the last three years.

The project also had several sustainable characteristics. A geothermal heating and cooling system helped the terminal project receive LEED Gold accreditation from the U.S. Green Building Council. The deicing

facility also received the Environmental Achievement Award for Mitigation from Airports Council International (ACI-NA).

Bradbury says he used every lesson he learned since his early days at PWM on the $75 million expansion project, from his original engineering skills to the financial lessons he’d learned from Schultes.

“You have to invest in your business. You have to invest in the product. No business grows without nurturing and investment,” he says. “It was a brilliant lesson early for me as a young engineer coming in that there is no limit, the pie is not the pie. The pie gets bigger. It’s up to you to grow the pie. It’s not finite. It can be expanded. You just have to invest and nurture.”

More To Do That project was completed in early 2012 and in the years since, up until the COVID19 pandemic hit, PWM had experienced significant growth, both in seeing passenger traffic surge past 2 million annual passengers and in airline service. Even in February, just as COVID was coming to the U.S., the airport had a record month, and that followed up on four successive years of traffic increases.

“Since [completion], we’ve really had an exceptional product to offer our passengers,” Bradbury says, embracing the idea of investing in airport infrastructure. “Before you know it, those investments grow more passenger volumes.”

That doesn’t mean there isn’t room for future improvements. One area the capital improvement program didn’t hit was baggage claim for returning passengers. Bradbury acknowledged that prior to the pandemic, traffic had reached a point where wait times had become problematic.

While a long-term fix is still to come, Bradbury met with airline partners and got creative, establishing a competition through which the fastest baggage delivery crew would get to park in a short-term lot near the terminal. That provided significant incentive for improvement, Bradbury says, especially during cold winter months.

“This is just how you can take one problem and help the team get even better with some friendly competition and some incentives,” he says.

The pandemic has also at least temporarily put the brakes on a federal inspection facility Left: Under Bradbury’s leadership, PWM has won several customer service awards, including the Airport Service Quality Customer Experience Award for Best Airport by Size and Region in North America from ACI-NA the last three years.

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that had been under consideration as part of a desire to add some international service.

“Obviously international traffic is not doing anything right now,” Bradbury says.

Additionally, as COVID-19 pushes airports to create a more touchless experience, Bradbury suspects the airport’s ticketing process will be overhauled into a seamless process where travelers are greeted, led somewhere to drop bags and sent on to security with fewer steps than currently exist.

Building Relationships While he’s been running a successful airport on the local level for several years, national airport trade officials and local civic leaders say Bradbury also has played a significant role in growing the region and the industry as a whole.

Todd Hauptli, president and CEO of the American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE), said his relationship with Sen. Susan Collins, R-ME, was among the biggest factors in the airport industry receiving $10 billion from the CARES Act after the pandemic eviscerated travel.

“He is a happy, positive, optimistic person who truly loves aviation and understands how important that is as an economic engine for good in the state and across the country,” Hauptli says. “His relationship with Susan Collins and her staff has been invaluable for airports in the state of Maine and throughout the country.”

Bradbury joined the board of Airports Council International-North America in 2018. Assistant Director Zachary Sundquist represents the airport on the Northeast Chapter Board for AAAE. Earlier in his career, Bradbury says, he punted on getting involved nationally, figuring representatives from the larger airports could handle politics and policy. Over time he’s recognized that not only are there more small airports, but they come to negotiations with different priorities and issues than their larger colleagues. So, he has since embraced the responsibility of making sure those needs are heard.

“There are so many more small airports and we’re in an industry,” he says. “It’s up to all of us. You learn stuff over time and you have to get involved and start to move.”

He also recognized that while Maine is smaller than most states in terms of geographic size, it has two senators, just as all states do, giving his equal pull. So, he embraced building relationships with Collins, Sen. Angus King, ME-Independent, and other members of the local delegation.

“Maine has had a track record of very bipartisan senators that have been very good

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DIRECTORS OF THE YEAR at doing an exceptional job for the state of Maine and for the country,” he says. “Collins has just always been very supportive of transportation.”

His involvement extends to the local level as well. He’s been involved in several organizations, serving currently on the board of Greater Portland Metro and on the Maine Better Transportation Association, a nonprofit that supports investment in the state’s transportation resources, where he is the immediate past president. Several years ago, he was the project manager for the Portland Transportation Center development.

“If we don’t have transportation, we’re not connected to the country, so, it is really critical to us that we really reach out and make sure that we are advocating for the needs of transportation,” he says.

It was during that stint that Martha Fuentes, the association’s executive director, gained respect for his humility, his multimodal knowledge and his ability to go all out, all the time.

“He has been a really inspirational leader and not just at the Portland Jetport, but in

Maine in general,” she says. “He has led efforts in other modes just because people or agencies wanted him to chair them. He’s just so skilled and gifted at collaboration and negotiation.”

Fuentes also says Bradbury is humble, hardworking and committed to his home state.

“He’s really developed relationships across not only the different transportation sectors, but certainly communities and businesses,” she says.

“He’s just one of those people you don’t know how he gets everything done. He’s also probably one of the most positive and optimistic people I know. Even when it seems like the world is crashing down, he finds a silver lining.”

Takes Care Of Himself Running an airport and liaising with lawmakers can be grueling, so Bradbury tries to regularly find time to take care of himself.

Young children slowed his penchant a few years ago for training for and entering triathlons: “You just can’t give up your Saturday to triathlon training because that’s what it really takes,” he says.

But he’s still an avid snowmobiler. And he runs long distances, having competed in the Boston Marathon several times. “It’s not about winning or anything, though I was thankful I could qualify for Boston,” Bradbury says. “It’s more of a stress relief, mind and body kind of thing for me. I know that sounds weird, but … it’s really neat to go out against a bunch of Type-Aers and see how you perform.”

He did lose one of his Sunday runs earlier this fall to another hobby: beekeeping. A sting sustained when he wore regular shoes instead of a proper pair of boots left him with a swollen ankle. Nonetheless, the beehives he inherited from his parents after they and their initial successors, their neighbors, both moved away in retirement from the third-generation family farm, provide another of his favorite rewards.

“It is a lot of fun,” he says, adding that with COVID limiting in-person activities, it’s been nice to have this as an outlet. “It’s something I do right in my backyard. There is nothing better than having my toast on the weekends with some nice autumn dark honey. It’s a beautiful thing.”

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September/October 2021 Volume 19, Issue 237

Funding Evolution After A Tumultuous Time Investment: The Future of P3s In U.S. Airports Demographics: The 2020s Passenger Recap: Highlights from the 2021 AX Conference Director’s Chair: Interview With An Airport Director Finances:

NOTE: Editorial subject to change

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