SAN DIEGO — At the Airports Council International-North AmericaEconomic Specialty Conference held here in April, the theme was TheNew Airport Economics — Management, Technology & Efficiency.Much discussion focused on technology, including wireless, and the
changing relationship between airports and airlines, particularly with use and lease agreements, as expressed by two presenters, Jerry Olivier and Scott Lewis.

Jerry Olivier of Convergent Strategies Consulting, Inc., says there is in essence a technology adoption curve. As an example, he says, cell phones have been adopted to the point that they are now a mature technology. And while wi-fi is relatively early in the curve, he expects that within two to three years it will become an expectation in airports.

He calls for a new concession model related to wi-fi, one that focuses on sales to providers — not consumers. Olivier says concession agreements should be short-term and airports should structure minimum annual guarantees in the contracts.

According to Olivier, airports should plan on having two separate RFPs for wireless: one for unlicensed and one for wi-fi. Other requirements include competitive bid for access rights; MAG based on industry research; short-term (2-3-year) contracts; public connectivity only.

He says airports will need to foot the bill for wireless infrastructure. “Operational wi-fi is going to become increasingly critical,” says Olivier. “But money is not worth the political headache. You’re better off dumping it into rates and charges and call it the cost of operating an airport.”