More than 500 professionals, decision-makers ‘meet and match’ opportunities INDIANAPOLIS (June 10, 2025) – Hundreds of aviation professionals and more than 30 airlines are meeting in Indianapolis this week to swap air travel wish lists at the 2025 JumpStart® Air Service Development Conference. The Indianapolis International Airport (IND) is playing host to this key industry event at the JW Marriott Hotel. “People wonder how the Indy airport attracts flights to places like Dublin, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Nashville or the Caribbean,” said Mario Rodriguez, executive director of the Indianapolis Airport Authority. “We grow our nonstop flights to key domestic and international routes through high-visibility, high-connection conference opportunities like this where airlines and aviation professionals meet and match interests, data and opportunities.” Marsha Wurster, IAA senior director of commercial enterprise, along with Matthew Cornelius, executive vice president of Airports Council International-North America, co-hosted a news conference today at the JW Marriott to share the significance of the industry conference with local news media.   Wurster and Cornelius explained that the JumpStart event, which kicked off on June 9 and will run through June 11, brings together more than 500 airline, airport and aviation decision-makers over three days to discuss the latest industry news and exchange updates. It is an opportunity for airlines and airports to meet one-on-one to discuss air service development efforts across North America and South America. JumpStart is the cornerstone industry event of Airports Council International-North America, a non-profit trade association. This year’s conference will be one of the most well-attended events in its history with even more airlines, airports, and nearly 1,500 one-on-one meeting opportunities. “As the host city, we can also connect airline decision makers with key corporate and community partners to engage firsthand with local industry leaders here in Indy, to emphasize the importance of key routes to grow their businesses and attract and retain talent in Central Indiana,” said Wurster. Visit Indy is also an active sponsor and participant in this year’s JumpStart event. In 2020, the Indy airport, in partnership with Visit Indy and the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, hosted Routes America — one of the premier air service development conferences in the Americas. The Routes conference was estimated to draw $2 million in short-term economic impact, and a longer-term impact of $40 million. “ACI’s JumpStart builds off Indy’s hosting of Routes Americas in 2020 to support and grow Central Indiana’s tourism industry through air route development,” said Leonard Hoops, president and chief executive officer of Visit Indy. “We appreciate and value IND and IAA’s leadership in attracting this important meeting.” Indy airport officials anticipate the JumpStart conference will create at least $2 of short-term economic impact for every $1 spent. “But the larger potential is for exponential return to the community in the longer-term,” said Wurster. “The value of hosting this kind of global industry event is the increased air service connectivity in future years, which can lead to multiple millions of dollars in economic impact.”