Seasons Greetings

Never have I been happier about moving forward in time. The past two months have been excruciating. The recent elections were the most painful I can remember.

While I confess to being a political junkie, I am becoming increasingly turned off by the behavior and mindset of today's candidates. (Does that make me sound old?). Candidates who can't or won't answer a direct question are nothing new. But the degree of self-righteousness, inflexibility and failure to even pretend to listen, much less be open minded, has sent me over the edge. It's hard to remain hopeful about finding candidates who can/will make a difference.

Equally startling is that most airports have been able to not only survive, but thrive in a climate that is not conducive to change or risk-taking. I can't imagine how difficult it is to run a public entity and report to politicians. (They couldn't pay me enough do to that!) Who could blame an airport official for wanting to keep procedures, equipment, contracts or budgets as close as possible to the status quo? In many regards, the job is like being an offensive lineman in football: Only those who are called for holding are noticed, so no one wants to be noticed.

Amazingly, this is not the case in today's airport environment. Traveling to airports and conferences this year has revealed an incredible amount of exciting ideas that have been tried and proven in airports nationwide. Whether it's the airport consultants and suppliers pushing through these ideas or vice versa, the results are quite remarkable. Good stuff is happening.

Rewarding, reveling in and sharing great ideas are all natural motivators. Having the privilege of telling your stories is what motivates the staff of Airport Improvement.

You're busy, and we don't want to waste your time. That's why it's imperative to bring you stories about airports that have succeeded in solving problems and share how they did it.

Like you, our world is measured by performance, not promises.

Here's to a Happy Thanksgiving, Holiday Season and 2011.

Cheers! Paul