Airport leaders don’t need another report telling them that change is coming.
They see it every day.
Technology is advancing rapidly. Economic conditions are uncertain. Cybersecurity risks continue to grow. Passenger expectations are changing. Airports are competing for skilled workers while simultaneously preparing their workforces for artificial intelligence and automation. Communities expect more from the airports they rely on. And geopolitical and policy changes can alter the operating environment almost overnight.
That’s the impetus behind the new 2026 AirportNEXT Futures Study: A Strategic Roadmap for the Next Generation of Airports [insert link], developed by AirportNEXT Solutions Inc. in partnership with Airports Council International – North America.
And what makes this study different is that it doesn’t just predict the future. With insights from airport leaders across North America, it provides a roadmap for navigating it.
Asking Airport Leaders What Matters
Work on the Futures Study began in late 2025 with an environmental scan spanning eight major areas affecting airports and aviation. Strategic radar mapping and AI-assisted research helped identify 55 trends with the potential to affect airports during the next three to five years.
Then we took those trends to the industry.
A total of 320 airport executives across the United States and Canada evaluated their importance. Respondents represented airports of all sizes, commercial as well as general and business aviation airports, and disciplines ranging from airport CEOs and operations to finance, IT, commercial development, human resources, and marketing and customer experience.
One finding was unmistakable: cybersecurity is top of mind.
Cybersecurity threats to operational technology systems received the highest score of all 55 trends, and ranked first across airport types, management roles, and both the United States and Canada.
Economic uncertainty was nearly as prominent. A slowing economy, constraints on government funding, and rising interest rates accounted for three of the five highest-ranked trends. Skilled labor shortages rounded out the top five.
Challenges and Risks Ahead for Airports
5G and private wireless networks, smart energy systems, cloud-based platforms, biometrics, artificial intelligence, advanced air traffic management, seamless digital travel, and personalized passenger services all appear among the study’s highest-ranked trends.
Taken together, four major themes emerged:
- Tough business conditions and economic uncertainty
- Advanced technology innovation and adoption
- Acceleration in risk management
- Shifting community expectations
And the findings become even more interesting when you look beneath the overall rankings.
Larger airports, for example, place greater importance on digital passenger experiences, while small and medium-sized airports anticipate greater effects from difficult economic conditions. Canadian and U.S. airports differ on several issues, including international aviation dynamics, sustainability, government funding, workforce challenges, and the availability of new small aircraft. Airport CEOs also place particularly high importance on local community engagement.
In other words, there isn’t one future for every airport.
From Trends to Strategies
During the 2026 ACI-NA CEO Forum, airport leaders were asked to consider the study’s preliminary findings and identify ways airports could respond. That discussion generated 126 strategies and responses that became the foundation for the next phase of the research.
The project team expanded and refined those ideas before sending the strategies to 32 AirportNEXT airports for additional review and validation.
The result is what makes the Futures Study particularly valuable: 120 airport strategies accompanied by 72 real-world case studies from 61 airports across North America.
Those strategies cover 12 dimensions of the airport business, from terminals, security, technology, and transportation access to airlines, workforce, government relations, community support, sustainability, and economic development. The study also distinguishes between actions that can be undertaken in the short term within 24 months and medium-term strategies requiring two to five years.
That turns a trends report into something airport leaders can use immediately.
A Roadmap for What’s Next
The Futures Study is the second major project in ACI-NA’s long-term partnership with AirportNEXT Solutions Inc., building on the AirportNEXT Stakeholder Engagement program.
The two efforts are designed to complement one another. AirportNEXT helps airports understand where stakeholders see strengths, gaps, and opportunities. The Futures Study can then help airport leaders identify strategies and examples for addressing those priorities while also preparing for the larger forces impacting the industry.
It can also stand on its own as a resource for strategic planning, master planning, leadership discussions, and conversations with airport boards and stakeholders.
No study can predict exactly what the next three to five years will bring. But airports can identify the forces already taking shape, learn from one another, and prepare.
That’s exactly what the AirportNEXT Futures Study is designed to help airport leaders do.