Like many people of our vintage, my wife is handling more and more of her aging mother’s affairs. After her recent move into an assisted care facility, there was a lot of follow-up paperwork. Our experience changing my mother-in-law’s address with one insurance carrier was particularly frustrating.
Harkening back to my early days in business school at UW-Whitewater, I’m reminded of freshman speech class. I like to talk, so giving speeches was no big deal. However, before we began writing, practicing and delivering speeches, much of our time centered on the topic of listening. That’s right, listening.
We?ve been getting a lot of press releases lately reporting individual airports? annual passenger counts. And the news is good!
There are certain moments in life that stick with you forever. I vividly remember my first AAAE annual conference at the Dallas Loews (or whatever it was called back in 1993). The airport industry was new to me, and it was quite intimidating to watch industry veterans interact so easily.
Over the last few months or so, I’ve detected a change in attitude, and this sense was validated at the national conferences I attended in fall. What is it, you ask? That airports and other aviation sectors are now enjoying the best of times.
Recently, I read an article about the steps Pfizer has taken to shape its internal culture. It really caught my attention that the pharmaceutical giant explicitly uses the provocative phrase “no jerks” to convey how management expects employees to behave.
Recently, I had a spirited discussion with a friend about a particular airport. After quite a bit of back and forth about what is good and not so good about the facility, my friend finally said, “I don’t know what the big deal is. It’s very functional.”
Money and airport funding are definitely vital ingredients for creating and maintaining healthy airports. But I submit that there’s another topic that should receive equal billing: innovation.
Remarkable architecture can instantly telegraph specific locations. Show many people a certain famous opera house, arch and tower, and they’ll easily name the cities of Sydney, St. Louis and Paris, respectively. Here in the airport industry, we have our own share of memorable architecture: Denver International’s iconic white fabric peaks, the distinctive curved forms around the control tower at LAX, and even the blue-green carpeting at Portland International.
I love technology. It’s the great enabler. Publishing a magazine is so much easier and efficient now that we download files rather than hand-assemble wax-coated strips of text and paper photos. And our online edition and website provide additional sources with even more content.
It’s a New Year. We have the same party in both houses of Congress, Moody’s has changed its outlook for the U.S. airport industry to positive from stable, and both enplanement growth and the U.S. economy are expected …
No Airport is an Island Events over the last few weeks have served as vivid reminders of how tightly our nation's airports are woven into the fabric of what happens nationally and locally. The challenge is how we approach, even embrace, our responses. First on the...
Spot On! There's something about face-to-face encounters for learning and networking. They invariably produce better connections and higher value than any other form of communication. Time and time again, I come away from meetings with information that wasn't...
A Shared Cause These are heady days in aviation. Industry conditions remind me of 2000 and early 2001, when new passenger records were being set every month. Thank goodness business is good once again. Airlines are reporting jaw-dropping profits (must be a lot of...
Connected! What's worse? Not having permission to obtain information or having permission but not being able to locate what you need? In today's world, we're ravenous for information. We expect it to be available (for free), and we demand that it's...
Don't Listen to Them! You've seen them: the 10 Best This and 10 Worst That lists. Magazines seem to be littered with them these days. In our industry, they often originate in consumer travel magazines and have sparse empirical data to back up their...
When playing the word association game, “leakage” would likely prompt answers about diapers and plumbing. But leakage appears everywhere. As publishers, we deal with leakage in areas such as circulation and advertising. As you’ll discover in this issue, airports deal...
The Hill, which reports on Congress and Capitol Hill, recently released its picks for Top 10 lobbying victories of 2013. Care to guess who logged in at #4? It was Airlines for America, for helping spur Congress to compel the FAA to keep control towers operating...
The other day, a friend at a consulting firm asked me about some of the articles in our October issue. She had an idea for a story, but wasn't sure whether to submit it. Naturally, I encouraged her to let us know what was on her mind. We receive recommendations...
We expect a lot from our airfield pavement - despite the continual abuse it takes from environmental factors including repeated freeze/thaw cycles and harsh chemicals such as jet fuel and deicing fluid. Factor in the incredible loads it withstands from fully packed...
You run an airport, and nobody knows its ins and outs better than you do. You know how things get done, what needs to get done, who does what and how. You have your finger on the pulse of safety, efficiency and revenue. The same is true for airport consultants and...
Usually, our trade associations are very literal reflections of who we are. But recent proposals from ACC, AAAE and ACI-NA are creating a bit of a stir. Airports are, after all, heavily regulated creatures of government origins. The status quo has deep roots in our...
When I hear about new advances in IT, my typical response is "So what?". New technology comes out on a daily basis. A steady stream of new iPhones, Facebook pages and web streaming propositions has made us numb to what is truly new and helpful. What's...
What's in a name? Well, it's a first impression. It's also a descriptor. And it should be an opportunity. Consumer product companies spend big dollars developing their names. There's a lot at stake, and the right name can help define a business and...
Between the November elections, multiple shootings and the fiscal cliff drama, 2012 was quite intense. Personally, I was more than ready to turn the calendar to 2013. But the holidays were a great respite from it all. I took the opportunity to enjoy some time with...
