June 12, 2024
Miami, FL – Airports Council International – North America (ACI-NA), the trade association representing commercial service airports in the United States and Canada, today announced Chris Poinsatte from Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), Chris Wimsatt from Sacramento International Airport, and Keith Granbois from Nanaimo International Airport as recipients of the 2024 ACI-NA Finance Professional of the Year Award.
“Effective airport finance professionals ensure that North American airports are financially stable to benefit future generations,” said ACI-NA President and CEO Kevin M. Burke. “Chris Poinsatte, Chris Wimsatt, and Keith Granbois embraced various financial challenges and applied strategic approaches to deliver results that positively impact their airports, employees, and the traveling public. Their leadership and ability to implement financially sound solutions will enhance the traveling public’s experience at airports.”
The recipients were announced during a gala dinner at the 2024 ACI-NA Business of Airports Conference in Miami, Florida. Nearly 800 attendees representing the commercial management, business diversity, human resources, and finance sectors in the North American airport industry attended the conference.
Large Airport Finance Professional of the Year: Chris Poinsatte, Dallas Fort Worth International Airport
For more than 20 years, Chris Poinsatte has been the Executive Vice President/Chief Financial Officer at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport. In this role, he has managed finances, tracked and measured the airport’s performance, and led strategic planning efforts. He is currently developing financing strategies for future debt issuances, streamlining accounting and procurement, and implementing DFW’s digital strategy. In the last year, Poinsatte completed negotiations that included 24 new gates and $4.9 billion in the preapproved capital program. Poinsatte also oversaw the implementation of Oracle Fusion and the Marketplace to enhance DFW’s finance and procurement operations.
Poinsatte actively participates in advancing the airport industry’s goals. In 2023, he organized two ACI-NA Task Groups: The Rating Agency Task Group and the ESG Reporting and Metrics Task Group. As the leader of the Rating Agency Task Group, he convenes industry leaders to meet with ratings agencies to discuss large airport hub financial and ratings issues. While leading the ESG Reporting and Metrics Task Group, Poinsatte wanted to increase awareness of how ESG became a disclosure issue. He spearheaded efforts to develop a White Paper that outlines an ESG disclosure framework that includes recommended and optional disclosures for airports to consider monitoring. Poinsatte also served various leadership roles in ACI-NA Finance Committee and ACI World Economics Standing Committee.
Medium Airport Finance Professional of the Year: Chris Wimsatt, Sacramento International Airport
As the Deputy Director of Finance and Administration at Sacramento International Airport, Chris Wimsatt oversees the development and implementation of the financing strategies for the airport’s capital improvement program. The program, titled “SMForward,” has a budget of $1.3 billion and seven projects. Under his leadership, Wimsatt has successfully transitioned Sacramento International Airport to an alternate customer facility charge (CFC) collection. This transition increased the airport’s average monthly CFC collection by nearly $800,000. Chris is a member of the ACI-NA Finance Committee Steering Group, serving as the Chair of the Financial Regulatory Implications Working Group.
Small Airport Finance Professional of the Year: Keith Granbois, Nanaimo International Airport
Keith Granbois is the Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of Business Development at Nanaimo International Airport (YCD). While serving in this role for six years, Granbois successfully led the airport during the COVID-19 pandemic, implemented data systems to streamline the airport’s payroll processing functions and employee records, and increased the passenger facility fee from $10 to $15. In 2023, Granbois successfully brought in Pacific Coastal Airlines, a new carrier to YCD, to offer airline services to Kelowna and Vancouver. He also served as the project lead to clear 15 acres of airport land to be renovated for future groundside development projects. Granbois revamped YCD’s marketing, website, and social media accounts to further engage with the community and relevant stakeholders.
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.
