ACI-NA Recognizes Underwood and Ambrogio as the 2018 Airport Finance Professionals of the Year

June 14, 2018

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 14, 2018

PORTLAND – Airports Council International-North America (ACI-NA) today announced the recipients of the 2018 ACI-NA Finance Professional of the Year Award. The recipients include finance professionals from Dallas Fort Worth International Airport and Sacramento County Airport System.

“Every day, airports are challenged to do more with less,” says ACI-NA President and CEO Kevin M. Burke. “The 2018 Finance Professionals of the Year go above and beyond to ensure their airports have sustainable business models to meet today’s challenges and tomorrow’s opportunities. I congratulate these professionals on their accomplishments in the industry.”

The recipients were announced during an awards gala dinner at the 2018 ACI-NA Business of Airports Conference in Portland, OR which was attended by more than 600 commercial management, human resource, and finance executives from the North American airport industry.

Large Airport Finance Professional of the Year: Max Underwood, Dallas Fort Worth International Airport

In his role as the Vice President of Finance at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, Max Underwood has led the airport’s Finance Department with a focus on fiscal integrity and best practices. Underwood is responsible for all accounting, financial planning, and capital planning activities at the airport. In FY 2017, the airport saw a $96 million increase in net earnings and $37 million increase in operating cash flow primarily as a result of the inclusion of shortening debt amortizations in airline rates, an updated depreciation study, and mid-year cost controls. During his thirteen-year tenure in the airport industry, he has been an active member of the ACI-NA Finance Committee. He served as industry spokesperson to the Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB) communicating industry concerns to many of the GASB proposed changes in accounting rules over his five years serving on the ACI-NA Finance Committee Steering Group. He assisted in the development of the ACI-NA annual Finance Benchmarking Survey.

Medium Airport Finance Professional of the Year: Sylvia Ambrogio, Sacramento County Airport System

With more than 20 years in airport finance, Sylvia Ambrogio is known for providing sound financial oversight to support airport management in securing financial arrangements for ambitious growth plans. Under her leadership as the Chief Administration Officer of Finance & Administration of the Sacramento County Airport System (SCAS), Ambrogio has had the opportunity to improve the fiscal position of SCAS and to assess its long-term financial goals to ensure they strategically align with the organization’s mission statement. She has been a proactive member of the ACI-NA Finance Committee, serving on the Finance Committee Steering Group.

 

About ACI-NA

Airports Council International-North America (ACI-NA) represents local, regional, and state governing bodies that own and operate commercial airports in the United States and Canada. ACI-NA member airports enplane more than 95 percent of the domestic and virtually all the international airline passenger and cargo traffic in North America. Approximately 380 aviation-related businesses are also members of ACI-NA, providing goods and services to airports. Collectively, U.S. airports support more than 11.5 million jobs and account for $1.4 trillion in economic activity – or more than seven percent of the total U.S. GDP. Canadian airports support 405,000 jobs and contribute C$35 billion to Canada’s GDP. Learn more at www.airportscouncil.org.