Airport Revenue News year-end double issue

Mario Diaz of the Houston Airport System is our Director of the Year in the large airports category. During the interview, Diaz shared bits of inspiration from the many books he’s read and the many mentors for which he’s worked. None struck me more than this one:

“You cannot open a new front until you can cover your flank and your rear. You try to do new and innovative things when you can’t even maintain what you’ve got going, you’re doomed to fail. Make sure you’ve got a good operation and everything is working properly, and then advance the team forward.”

Diaz explains that there would be no achieving what he set out to do unless he first got his house in order. Read the entire story about Diaz on Page 20.

Our year-end issue does look back on the year that was, but the focus is on the promise of the year ahead.

Carol Ward speaks to several airport directors on Page 28 about their plans for 2014. All are undergoing a variety of enhancements either in anticipation of increased passenger traffic or simply looking to improve the passenger experience. Regardless, the carryover from 2013 that will be at the top of the list will be the issue of funding with an increase or elimination of the passenger facility charge.

Andy Tellijohn covers succession planning on Page 42. With a number of airport leaders stepping down this past year, Tellijohn writes about what organizations are doing to make for seamless transitions between the outgoing and the incoming in order to maintain stability.

On Page 38, we take a look back on 2013, a year marked by sequestration, the opening of new airport developments, the marriage of two carriers and a changing of the guard at the top of many airports.

Louis Miller of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International (ATL) sits with Ward not only to reflect on what has transpired over the past 18 months but to look forward to what is next. Read what is in store on Page 14.

After completing Terminal 2 nearly six years ago, Raleigh-Durham International’s (RDU) Terminal 1 is undergoing a similar overhaul. On Page 8, Tellijohn details how RDU has taken the older terminal to develop a sense of place for passengers.

These are but a few of the stories that you will find in this Airport Revenue News year-end double issue. Please take the opportunity to read it cover-to-cover. If you do not already subscribe, click here to get your copy!

Have a safe and happy holiday.

Stories you will read in the August issue of Airport Revenue News

In a past episode of Mad Men, Don Draper, frustrated with his agency's lack of business, snaps at account man Peter Campbell, "Just get me in a room, Pete!" Don knows full well that once he is in a room with the client, he can work his Don Draper magic to close the deal.

Airport retail programs have become more and more shopping mall-like but with a larger, more captive audience. Catering to or creating a demand for a consumer need or want is at its most basic what retailers do. Still, unlike a shopping mall, there are a far greater number of distractions at an airport that unfortunately might not have anything to do with shopping. Therein lies the hurdle: getting customers into your store. This is the Peter Campbell. But once inside the immaculately designed and decorated establishment, it is up to the Don Drapers to work their magic. It's far too easy to say that training associates to engage, inform, and sell is all that is needed. Airport retailers know and wish it was this simple. Offerings such as high-end clothing to jewelry to electronics have become staples in concession programs, further divvying up a traveler's dollars from one operator to the next and thus placing a greater premium on engagement and education.

Now comes the more innovative pieces such as touch screens and tablets to aid in transforming that traveler into a consumer. The education and the selling of the customer has indeed evolved. Once you get them to choose your store it's up to you, then, to convert them. Carol Ward's story on Page 18 delves into what a handful of operators are doing.

On Page 24, Andrew Tellijohn compares the airport retail offerings here in the United States to those offered overseas. The gap may have narrowed, but the gap still exists.

I'd like to introduce a new column on Page 32 titled Airport Perspective. Each column will be penned by an airport executive sharing a new innovation or commenting on industry issues. Since August is our retail issue, we begin with John Reeb, the acting associate deputy director of San Francisco International (SFO). Reeb spotlights the airport's Pop-Up Retail program as a way to both showcase the local retail flavors of the Bay Area and give small businesses a taste of operating in an airport.

On Page 14, Chattanooga Airport Authority president and CEO Terry Hart speaks with Ward in regards to Chattanooga Metropolitan's growth.

These are but a few of the stories you will read in the August issue of Airport Revenue News.