AirportBusiness Blogs

… and that’s a good thing. I asked Greg Principato, president of Airports Council International – North America, about this during an interview at his group’s annual convention here in Austin. His answer: “The mood seems … (pause) … it’s not grim. A year ago, the mood was grim. People still don’t think it’s great out there. It’s definitely different, though; it’s better. No more deer in the headlights.

“We’re getting our arms around it.

“As someone said, flat is the new growth.”

In the past several weeks I’ve been to three conferences – the AAAE National Airports Conference; the Boyd Group forecasting conference; and ACI –NA here in AUS. The mood has been the same … it’s better, as Greg says. There’s a light at the end of this tunnel. (It just may not be as bright.)

It needs to be said. Life seems to be turning around.

Broad brush … things that stand out from recent conferences …
… major hubs will once again be the great connectors;
… smaller communities that rely on 50- to 70-seat RJs have a challenge ahead of them – those aircraft are going away;
… FAA/system reauthorization will probably happen by the end of the year, if for no other reason than Congress feeling a sense of guilt for not addressing this sooner;
… everyone – from airports to airlines to vendors to trade association presidents to FAA – is frustrated by Congress’s inability to give some long-term financial direction.

The next step is heading to the National Business Aviation Association annual convention in Orlando next week. We’ll see if business aviation is getting its “arms around it”. I suspect the answer is that it’s beginning to.

Thanks for reading. jfi