Author: MollyBabitz

By Molly Waller, CEO and co-founder, Centurion Planning & Design

Airport projects are moving faster than they did even a few years ago due to aging infrastructure and the need to keep pace with travel needs. Funding, operational requirements and increasing construction costs are pushing airports to move from planning to design and ultimately construction on much shorter timelines.

The planning process needs to keep pace.

Traditionally, airport planning has focused on identifying needs, evaluating alternatives and establishing a preferred development concept. Those things remain important, but they are no longer enough. If a project is expected to move quickly into design, the planning effort also needs to consider the engineering and operational realities that will ultimately determine whether the concept works.

That does not mean designing the project during planning. It means getting far enough into the details to answer some important questions before handing the project to the design team.

Are there geometric constraints that affect the concept? Drainage or utility issues? Airspace implications? How will the project be phased? What has to happen first? Most importantly, can it actually be constructed while the airport continues to operate?

These questions have historically been addressed later in project development. The problem is that when they change the project, the design team has to revisit decisions that were supposedly settled during planning. Time is lost, costs increase and, in some cases, the project is effectively planned twice.

There is a better opportunity to connect the two disciplines.

One example is the Project Definition Document, or PDD, process used at multiple airports, including Dallas Fort Worth International Airport. During the PDD for Runway 17L, the planning effort included meaningful engineering involvement and a greater level of technical development than is typical of a traditional planning study. Engineering considerations, project requirements, implementation and phasing were addressed before the project was handed over for design. The project subsequently advanced to 90 percent design in less than six months.

That is an important outcome, particularly for an airfield project of this scale. The design team could move quickly because it was able to build upon the decisions and technical work completed during planning rather than reopen them.

The same principle applies well beyond a runway project.

Phasing, in particular, deserves more attention during planning. Airports do not stop operating while we build. A preferred alternative may look very different once temporary conditions, aircraft movements, construction access and enabling projects are considered. In some cases, understanding how a project will be built may actually change what should be built.

This is where airport planning is evolving. Planning and engineering do not need to become the same discipline, but the line between them should be less rigid.

As project schedules continue to compress, the industry should expect planning to carry a project further toward implementation. The goal is not more planning. It is better-informed planning that allows design to start where planning ended.

Engineers should be able to design the project without needing to replan it first.

Molly Waller, CEO and co-founder of Centurion Planning & Design, has over 27 years of aviation industry experience. Her expertise includes airport planning, CIP development, funding strategies, and complex airport projects nationwide, ranging from general aviation facilities to large hub airports. Molly is passionate about strengthening the connection between planning and implementation, helping airport projects move more efficiently and effectively from initial concept through construction.

DISCLAIMER

This article was provided by a third party and, as such, the views expressed therein and/or presented are their own and may not represent or reflect the views of Airports Council International-North America (ACI-NA), its management, Board, or members. Readers should not act on the basis of any information contained in the blog without referring to applicable laws and regulations and/or without appropriate professional advice.

By Tim Walsh, Co-Founder and CEO, ThinkGov

The stack of unread leadership books on your nightstand probably grew taller this spring. Before you head out for a well-earned break, move one title to the top: Geoff Woods’ “The AI-Driven Leader.” It is the most relevant book an airport director can read right now, and not for the reasons you might expect.

Woods makes a deceptively simple argument. Most leaders who have started using AI are applying it to the wrong work. They draft emails faster, clean up spreadsheets, and summarize reports. Those are fine productivity gains, but they leave the real value on the table. The transformative shift happens when a leader treats AI not as a task automator but as a strategic thought partner, one that challenges assumptions, stress-tests decisions, and surfaces blind spots before they become costly mistakes.

For airport leaders, that distinction matters enormously. Our operating environment is unlike any other corner of the public sector. We manage FAA certification, TSA security coordination, airline negotiations, capital programs funded through AIP and PFC, noise-sensitive communities, and concession portfolios, often simultaneously. The decisions that shape an airport’s trajectory over the next decade are not the ones that can be reduced to a template. They require judgment, context, and the kind of rigorous thinking that benefits from a capable sparring partner.

Woods offers a practical framework for getting there. Assign AI a role, a board member who asks the uncomfortable question, a finance director who pressure-tests your rate methodology, a community advocate who surfaces concerns you haven’t anticipated. Engage it iteratively, one question at a time, asking it to explain its reasoning so you sharpen your own. Focus it on the twenty percent of your work that drives eighty percent of your results: strategic planning, air service development strategy, capital prioritization, workforce investment. The rest can follow.

The book’s core message resonates with leaders already moving in this direction. Dr. Perry J. Miller, President and CEO of the Richmond International Airport, put it this way: “Leveraging AI is no longer optional — it is essential to shaping and executing a forward-looking strategy.” Dr. Miller has backed that conviction with action, ensuring every employee at Richmond International Airport has access to an AI thought partner, not as a pilot program, but as an organizational commitment tied directly to the airport’s five-year strategic plan. That is the kind of leadership Woods describes: intentional, inclusive, and anchored to mission.

The practical question, of course, is where to start. Reading the book gives you the leadership mindset. Translating that mindset into an actionable governance framework for your airport is the next step. ThinkGov recently published a free AI Governance Starter Kit built specifically for airport CIOs and leadership teams. It walks through establishing an AI governance charter, inventorying the AI tools already embedded in your vendor systems, classifying use cases by risk tier, and building the policies your organization needs before scaling adoption. You can download it at https://thinkgov.ai/resources

The combination is powerful. Woods gives you the strategic lens to understand why AI matters for your leadership, not just your operations. The Starter Kit gives you the practical roadmap to bring your organization along responsibly.

Airport directors have never lacked for complexity. What has been missing is a tool that matches the pace and breadth of the decisions we face every day. AI is that tool, but only if we use it the way Woods describes: as a thought partner that makes our thinking sharper, our strategies more resilient, and our teams more capable.

Pack the book. Download the Starter Kit. And when you come back from the beach, you will be ready to lead differently.

Tim Walsh is the Co-Founder and CEO of ThinkGov, an AI-native technology company purpose-built for airports and the public sector. A former airport director, Walsh, brings firsthand operational experience to the challenge of responsible AI adoption. In 2025, ThinkGov was recognized with an ACI World Airports Innovate Award in South Korea for its work advancing AI governance and workforce empowerment across the airport industry.

By Stephanie Czaplicki, Senior Vice President of Account Management, Boingo Wireless

Twenty-five years ago, Wi-Fi in an airport terminal was a novelty. Today, Wi-Fi and cellular networks are essential infrastructure at airports of all sizes, supporting everything from biometric identity verification and digital boarding processes to real-time flight information and wayfinding. Passengers move through increasingly connected journeys without a second thought, but behind the scenes, airport networks power the systems that keep operations running. Staff credentialing, concessions, baggage handling, public safety communications and a fast-growing ecosystem of AI-powered applications all depend on secure, reliable connectivity.

When connectivity becomes foundational to airport operations, resilience matters just as much as coverage.

This summer’s FIFA World Cup provided a powerful demonstration of why that resilience matters. As 48 national teams and roughly 6.5 million fans moved through North American airports, U.S. carriers reported combined data volumes in the hundreds of terabytes across host-city stadiums and airports. GSMA Intelligence’s post-tournament analysis found that the most successful host cities approached connectivity not as a capacity challenge, but as infrastructure supporting critical services across the entire fan journey. From New York to Dallas to LA, airports managed surging passenger volumes and data demands without compromising critical services because their network infrastructure strategy was designed to accommodate growth, new technologies and periods of extraordinary demand.

Connectivity Planning Is Infrastructure Planning

That trend extends well beyond the World Cup. Airports raised IT spending to $14.8 billion in 2025, according to SITA’s Air Transport IT Insights report. Connectivity solutions have grown to match: Wi-Fi 7 for high-density passenger areas, private 5G for data-sensitive environments like the apron, and neutral-host Distributed Antenna Systems (DAS) ensuring reliable 5G cellular coverage from every major carrier, with a robust cybersecurity platform. These networks are also what make AI possible. From computer vision at security checkpoints to predictive analytics for baggage handling, every AI application is only as good as the network carrying its data. Increasingly, airports are integrating all wireless technologies into a broader infrastructure strategy.

Deploying Wi‑Fi, DAS and private wireless networks in active airport environments requires coordination across carriers, construction projects, airport operations and cybersecurity requirements. As a result, airports increasingly seek partners that can oversee connectivity as a unified system from design and deployment through long-term operations.

Powering Connectivity Across Different Airport Environments

The connectivity challenge looks different at every airport, but the underlying principle remains the same.

At Newark, JFK and LaGuardia, connectivity upgrades are being integrated into large-scale terminal redevelopment programs as part of a broader, long-term infrastructure strategy. At Hollywood Burbank, connectivity planning is being incorporated into a brand-new terminal, including one of the nation’s first airport Wi-Fi 7 deployments. At Austin-Bergstrom, where passenger traffic has surpassed original terminal design assumptions, network capacity continues to evolve alongside airport growth.

Different starting points. Same priority: building connectivity into the foundation of airport modernization.

The Infrastructure Lesson from the World Cup

Twenty-five years after passenger Wi-Fi first arrived in airports, the World Cup put real-world scale behind a shift many airport leaders have been ahead of: wireless connectivity has become critical operational infrastructure.

As airports continue investing in terminal modernization, automation, AI, digital services and next-generation passenger experiences, the most successful projects will be those that plan connectivity from the outset. Wi-Fi, DAS, private wireless networks and cybersecurity can no longer be considered separate technology decisions. They are increasingly part of the same infrastructure conversation.

The airports best positioned for today’s demand and the future are those that treat connectivity as critical infrastructure.

About the Author 

Stephanie Czaplicki is senior vice president of account management at Boingo Wireless, the largest provider of airport Wi-Fi worldwide, marking its 25th year connecting airports and transit hubs. Stephanie leads client success for more than 130 transit venues, including major airports such as JFK, LAX, ORD and DAL. With 15+ years of engineering and management experience, she helps airports design, deploy and manage wireless infrastructure.

DISCLAIMER

This article was provided by a third party and, as such, the views expressed therein and/or presented are their own and may not represent or reflect the views of Airports Council International-North America (ACI-NA), its management, Board, or members. Readers should not act on the basis of any information contained in the blog without referring to applicable laws and regulations and/or without appropriate professional advice.

By Tom Murphy, Director, Human Resiliency Institute.

Tomorrow’s airport leaders are showing, once again, that the lessons of 9/11’s aviation heroes still shape how they work and live. ACI-NA is proud to announce the three winners of the 2026 “Reclaiming the Sky” Essay Competition, which asks young aviation professionals to reflect on those stories of resiliency and what they mean for their own careers. The winners will be honored at ACI-NA’s Annual Conference and Exhibition in Philadelphia on September 17.

At the heart of the program is the book “Reclaiming the Sky,” which tells the stories of airport and airline employees who came to work in New York, Boston and Washington, D.C. on the morning of September 11, 2001, expecting an ordinary day. Instead, “just doing my job” became the creed of heroes. Those front-line workers responded with courage and selflessness that morning, and in the weeks and months that followed, they helped rebuild their industry, reclaim hope, and get America moving again.

Now in its fourth year, the “Reclaiming the Sky” Resiliency Program is a partnership between the Human Resiliency Institute at Fordham University, Airports Council International-North America, and SSP America. Young Professionals, those age 40 and under employed at ACI-NA member airports and industry partner organizations across the U.S. and Canada, receive a free e-book copy of “Reclaiming the Sky” and take part in a workshop with aviation mentors to explore its lessons. Afterward, they are invited to enter an essay competition sharing what they took from it.

Twenty-five Young Professionals participated in the 2026 essay competition. A panel of aviation leaders selected three winners:

• First Place: Camille Ramsingh, Manager, Commercial Land Development and Leasing, Greater Toronto Airports Authority
• Second Place: Leon Sniegowski, Managing Consultant, Ricondo and Associates
• Third Place: Brianna Covarrubias, Airport Compliance Coordinator, Port San Antonio

The first-place honor, the Susan M. Baer Award, is named for Susan Baer, who was General Manager of Newark Liberty International Airport on 9/11. Along with cash prizes of $1,000, $500 and $250, all three winners receive free registration at   ACI-NA’s Annual Conference and Exhibition, where they will connect with today’s aviation leaders and grow their professional networks. Their winning essays can be read at ReclaimingTheSky.com.

The other Young Professionals who participated in the 2026 competition were Lauren Brown, Robert Oliver, Caroline Wylie Hamilton, Jonathan Hanna, Sam Marsland, Soren Ceyrolles, Sabrina Khater, Alex Sterling, Jen Liu, Christa Phillips, Kyle Dorf, Kate Scott, Nakiba Karedia, Aswath Sridhar, Brianna Rountree, Julia Cypher, Aireyanna Kennedy, Antonette Chambers, Julie Boulos, Avril Shakiiira and Emalee McRae.

For more information, or for airports and industry partners interested in joining the program’s 2027 expansion, please visit ReclaimingTheSky.com.

By Cory Mathews, Sales Director Americas, Aviation Week

For years, the aviation industry has worked to answer a seemingly simple question: Where are passengers actually coming from?

While the question may sound straightforward, the answer is far more complex. Understanding passenger origins influences everything from air service development and airline recruitment to infrastructure planning and tourism strategy.

To better understand passenger behavior and market demand, airports and consultants have traditionally relied on settlement data, credit card transactions, mobile device information, and cookie tracking. While these data sources provide useful insight, they also come with significant limitations.

Corporate card and settlement data can look impressive—millions of transactions, polished dashboards, and charts that make for compelling presentations. The challenge is that billing locations are often nowhere near the actual traveler.

For example, I live on Vancouver Island. If my corporate card is registered to a company office in Sarasota, Florida, and I take the ferry from Victoria to Tsawwassen, some traditional datasets can suddenly conclude that Sarasota is generating passenger demand to and from Vancouver Island. Congratulations—Florida is now apparently helping drive Canadian ferry traffic.

Then came mobile data, arguably the biggest trend in post-COVID aviation analytics. For a while, it felt like the industry had found the silver bullet. Airports, airlines, and consultants were leaning heavily into mobile datasets to explain passenger behavior and forecast demand.

While this provides valuable insight, it also has weaknesses—especially since a device is not necessarily a passenger. Other limitations include strict privacy regulations in parts of Europe, limited representation in rural markets, small sample sizes in certain regions, and inconsistent visibility across international borders. Looking at some mobile datasets, you could almost believe the Canada-U.S. border had turned into The Wall from Game of Thrones. Except, of course, passengers absolutely cross.

After evaluating a wide range of data sources, one approach consistently stood out: search data modeling. Why? Because search behavior offers something many traditional datasets struggle to provide—global scale, strong geographic visibility, and privacy-compliant insight into traveler intent. When people search online for flights, airport parking, hotels, rental cars, or destinations, they generate valuable geographic signals about where demand originates and how travelers plan their journeys.

A good example can be seen through analysis of Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ). Using Aviation Week’s Catchment Analyzer platform, the visualization tool highlights passenger activity extending across Southern Ontario and into Western New York, demonstrating how major hub airports often draw traffic from well beyond their immediate metropolitan areas.

The dashboard reveals where passengers are located, which competing airports they use, how far travelers are willing to drive, and which international markets are generating demand. In the YYZ example, strong international demand can be seen for destinations including London, Hong Kong, Manila, Paris, Seoul, Rome, and Istanbul.

Because the information is presented visually and interactively, complex travel patterns become significantly easier to identify, understand, and communicate. This allows airports and stakeholders to move beyond static spreadsheets toward more actionable, data-driven decision-making.

For airports, this matters more than ever.

The industry continues to face operational and strategic pressures ranging from workforce constraints and infrastructure demands to changing passenger expectations and evolving airline networks. At the same time, competition for air service development opportunities continues to intensify.

The future of catchment analysis is not about choosing one dataset over another. The strongest methodologies combine multiple perspectives to build the clearest picture possible.

As airports continue adapting to changing traveler behavior, data sources that better capture real passenger intent will become increasingly important to long-term planning, network development, and understanding the true reach of an airport’s catchment area.

With over two decades of experience in aviation, travel, and data intelligence,

Cory Mathews is passionate about helping aviation and aerospace stakeholders transform data into actionable insight — and results. He joined Aviation Week, the industry’s most trusted source of data, insight, and intelligence, in 2019. As part of Informa, Aviation Week benefits from access to deep expertise and resources across a global network of industry

specialists, enabling comprehensive solutions for clients. Cory has also held senior commercial roles at Cirium, strengthening his expertise in aviation analytics, fleet intelligence, and market forecasting. He brings strong experience in commercial aerospace, aircraft leasing, MRO, OEM strategy, and defense. cory.mathews@aviationweek.com

By Clement Zhang, Founder & Managing Director, FlightBI

Airport catchment analysis has evolved dramatically over the past decade. What was once driven primarily by passenger surveys and limited ticketing samples is now increasingly powered by digital datasets capable of estimating airport choice behavior at the ZIP-code level.

Today, the most common data sources used in airport catchment studies include:

• Mobile location (cell phone) data
• Flight search data

As airports compete more aggressively for passengers and airline service, data quality has become increasingly important. Poor-quality datasets can distort leakage estimates, misrepresent airport market share, and lead to flawed strategic decisions.

Why Mobile Location Data Has Become the Preferred Source

Among modern catchment datasets, mobile location data has emerged as the strongest primary source for airport catchment analysis.

Unlike search datasets, mobile location data measures actual movement behavior. By analyzing anonymized device movement patterns between residential areas and airports, analysts can estimate:

• Passenger origins by ZIP code
• Airport leakage to competing airports
• Cross-border airport usage
• Airport switching behavior

This is especially valuable for air service development because airport choice is heavily influenced by drive time, nonstop availability, fares, and airline preference.

Flight search data has major limitations for catchment analysis. Searches may indicate travel intent, but they do not necessarily translate into ticket purchases or airport usage. Travelers may compare multiple airports, search repeatedly without booking, or search on behalf of others. As a result, search data often reflects shopping activity rather than true passenger flows.

Mobile Data Alone Is Not Enough

Despite its strengths, mobile location data has one major weakness: mobile data panels are not stable over time.

The size and composition of mobile panels can change suddenly due to:

• Privacy policy updates
• User permission changes
• SDK removals
• App partnership changes
• Data provider methodology updates

These changes can create artificial traffic fluctuations unrelated to actual passenger demand. Without calibration, airports risk making decisions based on panel instability rather than true market behavior.

Why Aviation Data Is Required for Calibration

The most reliable airport catchment methodologies combine mobile location data with aviation passenger datasets.

Aviation data provides:

• Stable passenger benchmarks
• Market validation
• Historical consistency
• Carrier-level normalization

This hybrid approach preserves the geographic precision of mobile data while correcting for panel fluctuations and sampling distortion.

The Limitations of MIDT Data

MIDT data, sourced from Global Distribution Systems (GDSs), has historically been widely used for airline planning. However, it has important limitations for airport catchment studies.

Many low-cost carriers (LCCs), such as Allegiant and Avelo, do not participate in GDS systems. MIDT also excludes much of the growing direct airline booking market because it primarily reflects agency bookings. In addition, MIDT represents reservations rather than actual flown passengers, meaning no-shows and itinerary changes can overstate demand.

For airports with substantial low-cost carrier traffic, these limitations can significantly distort catchment analysis.

DDS datasets provide broader ticketing coverage in some markets, but many LCCs still do not participate because they prefer not to share proprietary sales data with competitors.

Why DOT Data Is the Strongest Calibration Source

For U.S. airport catchment analysis, DOT Origin and Destination data remains the strongest aviation calibration source, especially following the transition from DB1B to DB1C.

DB1C increases the ticket sample size from 10% to 40% and moves reporting from quarterly to monthly.

Most importantly, DOT data includes all major U.S. low-cost carriers. This is critical because LCCs play a major role in airport leakage behavior, with passengers often willing to drive farther for lower fares and nonstop service.

The strongest modern airport catchment methodology therefore combines:

• Mobile location data for geographic precision
• DOT aviation data for passenger calibration and market validation

As airports continue investing in data-driven decision-making, the industry is increasingly recognizing that data quality matters just as much as analytical sophistication.

Dr. Clement Zhang, C.M., has more than 25 years of experience developing IT solutions and delivering consulting services for the travel and transportation industry. He is the founder of FlightBI, previously served as Director of Business Intelligence at Cirium, VP of Product Development at Diio, and Vice President at MergeGlobal. Dr. Zhang holds an MBA from Georgetown University and a Ph.D. from Xi’an Jiaotong University

DISCLAIMER

This article was provided by a third party and, as such, the views expressed therein and/or presented are their own and may not represent or reflect the views of Airports Council International-North America (ACI-NA), its management, Board, or members. Readers should not act on the basis of any information contained in the blog without referring to applicable laws and regulations and/or without appropriate professional advice.

By Jim Marousek, President & CEO, AirTera

Over the past year, one message has become clear in conversations with airports, secure facilities, and aircraft operators: These entities must stop asking for software solutions that simply check a box.

That standard is too low for the environments we serve.

Organizations often begin with a narrow objective such as improving enrollment and badging, meeting a Safety Management System (SMS) requirement, or mitigating insider risk. These are valid starting points, but they should never define the full scope of a solution. Implementation of any software should be an opportunity to solve broader challenges, improve efficiency, and prepare for future demands, not just satisfy current requirements.

This has been one of the most important lessons in the Identity Management System (IDMS) space: What industry asks for is often far smaller than what it actually needs.
For example, a modern IDMS is not just a badging system. In airports and secure facilities, identity sits at the center of security, access, compliance, workforce mobility, and operational continuity, all of which need to be built within the system. Limiting an IDMS role to enrollment and credential issuance only captures just a fraction of its potential.

Another example is Aviation Worker Screening (AWS), which is often approached as a standalone initiative to mitigate insider risk while requiring dedicated infrastructure and costly hardware. Implementing AWS within a modern IDMS, combined with secure mobile technology, offers a more flexible alternative. Badge holders can be verified at access points using mobile capabilities, reducing cost, accelerating deployment, and increasing operational agility without compromising security.
That is what meaningful innovation looks like. It solves multiple problems with the right platform, not by adding additional layers of complexity.
The same thinking applies to SMS. Too often, it is treated purely as a compliance exercise. Requirements are met, boxes are checked, and the opportunity for deeper value is lost.

However, a strong SMS implementation should function as a comprehensive feedback and improvement tool. Instead of limiting reporting to safety incidents, it should capture insights across security, customer service, facilities, and employee experience. Users should not need to navigate multiple systems, depending on how an organization is structured internally.

They experience a single environment, and reporting should reflect that.
When reporting is unified, organizations gain clearer visibility. Issues that appear isolated within one department often reveal broader patterns when viewed collectively. A facility’s concern may indicate a safety risk. A customer service issue may point to an operational gap. A security concern may emerge as part of a larger trend. Siloed systems obscure these connections; integrated systems bring them to light.

The same opportunity exists in enrollment and credentialing. Manual data entry, document review, and avoidable errors are still widely accepted, but they should not be. With biometrics, automated data capture, and document verification, the goal should shift from reducing errors to eliminating them wherever possible.
Technology should not simply make existing processes faster; it should remove friction, improve data integrity, and fundamentally redesign workflows. In secure environments, that is not just an efficiency gain. It is a security improvement and likely regulatory requirement.

What we consistently hear from the market is a desire for more than just products. Airports and operators are looking for partners: Teams that understand the environment, anticipate emerging needs, and solve problems beyond the initial scope. They want systems that unify operations, simplify complexity, and strengthen overall performance.

Meeting requirements may satisfy today’s needs. Solving the underlying problems—and anticipating what comes next—is what drives real progress.

As President and CEO of AirTera, Jiri Marousek is delivering on his vision of crossing the safety and security boundaries with a next-generation platform to enhance safety, streamline compliance, and fortify security across the aviation ecosystem. Under his leadership, AirTera is redefining industry standards by delivering integrated, real-time solutions that empower aviation operators, ground operations, service providers, and airports, while supporting regulatory agencies and stakeholders.

DISCLAIMER

This article was provided by a third party and, as such, the views expressed therein and/or presented are their own and may not represent or reflect the views of Airports Council International-North America (ACI-NA), its management, Board, or members. Readers should not act on the basis of any information contained in the blog without referring to applicable laws and regulations and/or without appropriate professional advice.

Non-aeronautical revenue remains 9% below pre-pandemic levels. Strategic commercial partnerships can help close the gap.

By Tim Harms, CEO, Enliven, LLC

ACI World’s latest Airport Economics Report put a number on what many airport leaders already feel: non-aeronautical revenue is still roughly 9% below pre-pandemic levels. Passenger traffic has bounced back. In many markets, it has exceeded 2019 numbers. But the revenue that airports generate per passenger has not kept up.

That 9% gap is not going to close on its own. And the usual playbook may not be enough.

The Recovery Has a Revenue Problem

The headline numbers look encouraging. Passengers are back. But look closer and
the picture gets more complicated.

Business travel, historically a high-spend segment, remains uneven. Dwell times are harder to predict. Rideshare adoption continues to eat into parking revenue, which for many airports is the single largest non-aeronautical line item. Concessions operators are managing higher labor costs and tighter supply chains. Advertising dollars, while returning, are spread across more channels than ever.

Each of these categories is facing structural pressure, not a temporary dip. That distinction matters, because it means airports cannot simply wait for a full recovery. They need to create new value.

Innovation Helps, but It Won’t Get You to 9%

Many airports are making smart moves: digitally enabled retail, dynamic parking pricing, expanded premium lounges and concierge services. These are worthwhile investments. But individually, they tend to produce incremental gains.
To close a gap this size, airports need to think beyond optimizing existing revenue streams and look at where entirely new revenue can be created.

The Case for Airport-Wide Commercial Partnerships

Here is what many airports can miss.

Airports serve millions of passengers every year. They are, in effect, massive consumer ecosystems. Stadiums figured this out years ago, as did universities, hospital systems, and theme parks. In nearly every one of these environments, you will find an exclusive commercial partnership with a major brand like Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Keurig Dr Pepper, where the brand invests significant capital in exchange for visibility and consumer access across the property.

Airports are the only large-scale consumer environments that has not yet tapped into this model at the property level. That represents a significant, and largely unrecognized, source of new non-aeronautical revenue.

When structured well, these partnerships deliver more than a check. They bring investment into underutilized spaces. They fund amenities like 24-hour vending with custom buildouts. They replace fragmented marketing with coordinated, terminal-wide campaigns that actually improve the passenger experience. And they improve pricing for concessions operators.

The results speak for themselves. Airports with active commercial partnerships have seen year-over-year improvements in beverage sales per passenger ranging from 5% to over 30%, driven by coordinated activation between the airport, beverage company, and concessions tenants. More sales for the tenants means more rent for the airport. That is incremental non-aeronautical revenue on top of the partnership payments themselves.

These partnerships also generate recurring revenue directly to the airport, year over year, simply for the opportunity to be part of your passenger journey.

What a Best-in-Class Process Looks Like

Airports that capture the most value from these partnerships tend to share a few traits. They run a competitive, data-driven process that brings multiple beverage partners to the table. They align contract terms with long-term passenger growth. And they treat the partnership as a core part of their commercial strategy, not a side deal managed in isolation.

The 9% gap that ACI identified is real, and it is not going away without deliberate action. But for airports willing to rethink how they approach commercial revenue, the opportunity is substantial. The partnerships that other industries have used to generate millions in incremental revenue are available to airports too. The question is whether your airport is positioned to capture them.
• • •

Tim Harms – Chief Executive Officer, Enliven
Tim Harms is the CEO of Enliven, LLC, the nation’s leading beverage deal negotiation consultancy. Learn more at enlivenllc.com.

DISCLAIMER

This article was provided by a third party and, as such, the views expressed therein and/or presented are their own and may not represent or reflect the views of Airports Council International-North America (ACI-NA), its management, Board, or members. Readers should not act on the basis of any information contained in the blog without referring to applicable laws and regulations and/or without appropriate professional advice.

By Margarida Barbosa, Consultant, Airports Council International – North America

This April, Airports Council International – North America (ACI-NA) is celebrating our airport professionals who have taken the time to continue their aviation education. The U.S. Airport Professional (USAP) Program is an e-Learning training curriculum for airport industry professionals accredited by Airports Council International – North America (ACI-NA). After completing the Program individuals will be awarded the U.S. Airport Professional (USAP) designation.

The U.S. Airport Professional (USAP) Program covers a full range of current airport management topics such as leadership development, business strategy, commercial management, finance, operations, safety, security, and air service.

Airport Professionals from around the United States have taken the program to help them grow and advance in their career. If you are interested in learning more about the USAP program, please visit https://airportscouncil.org/usap/.

Check out the experience of ACI-NA’s Margarida Barbosa with the USAP program!

How has the USAP program helped you in your day-to-day work?
The USAP program gave me a much clearer understanding of how the U.S. airport system operates, especially in areas that differ from European frameworks such as funding models, regulatory structures, and governance. Having that context has made it easier to interpret U.S. aviation terminology, policies, and stakeholder dynamics in my daily work. It’s also helped me communicate more confidently with U.S.-based colleagues and partners.

What advice would you give someone who is interested in the USAP certification?
I would encourage them to go for it, especially if they work with U.S. airports or global aviation stakeholders. The program is very accessible, and it strikes a good balance between practical knowledge and broader industry context. My advice would be to set a realistic study pace, make use of the supplementary materials, and approach it with curiosity. There’s a lot of valuable insight even if you already have aviation experience.

What challenges did you have in getting certified?
Coming from a European airport background, some aspects, like funding mechanisms (AIP, PFCs), the FAA’s regulatory role, and the structure of airport ownership, were quite different from what I was used to. It took a bit of extra time to connect those dots, but once I understood the underlying framework, everything came together smoothly.

As someone who studied aviation, how did this supplement your education?
Studying aviation gave me a strong foundation, but the USAP program added a layer of specialization that I didn’t have before. It provided real-world context on how U.S. airports make decisions, secure funding, maintain compliance, and work with federal agencies. In many ways, it filled in the practical and policy-oriented side of the industry that academic programs often only touch on briefly. It also broadened my global understanding of how differently aviation systems can be structured.

How long did it take you to get certified?
I started in July and finished my certification in December. I did not rush the course, and its flexibility allowed me to work at my own pace to be sure that it fit within my own schedule.

What is something fun that you learned during the certification process that you did not already know?
One fun discovery was how unique some aspects of airport funding and governance are, particularly the Passenger Facility Charge system and the way local authorities operate airports. It was interesting to see how these structures influence airport development and passenger experience in ways that aren’t immediately obvious. It gave me a new appreciation for how diverse global airport management approaches can be.

Margarida is a final-year BSc Aviation Management student at Coventry University with hands-on industry experience gained during a placement year at ACI–North America in Washington, D.C.

Since returning from her placement, Margarida has been focused on research exploring non‑aeronautical revenue diversification and financial resilience at U.S. airports following periods of shock, alongside working remotely as a consultant for ACI‑NA.