Airports Council Recognizes 12 Organizations with ACI-NA Airport Workforce Development Accreditation

November 10, 2025

Cincinnati / Northern Kentucky International Airport Achieves Level 5 Accreditation

WASHINGTON – Airports Council International – North America (ACI-NA), the trade association representing commercial service airports in the United States and Canada, recognized 12 organizations for achieving the ACI-NA Airport Workforce Development Accreditation. The recipients were recognized on Monday, October 27, at the 2025 ACI-NA & ACI World Annual General Assembly, Conference, and Exhibition in Toronto, Ontario.

“Launched earlier this year, ACI-NA’s landmark Airport Workforce Development Accreditation is a pathway to ensure an experienced and innovative aviation workforce,” said ACI-NA President and CEO Kevin M. Burke. “Our industry is well equipped with strong leaders, made even more so by the airport teams and organizations receiving this recognition today. I applaud the collective commitment these groups have demonstrated in building a stronger workforce for the future of aviation.”

The Airport Workforce Development Accreditation provides a structured, multi-level framework to help airports and their business partners address workforce challenges. This initiative equips airports and their business partners with a strategic blueprint for workforce development by enhancing skills, elevating employee engagement, and strengthening workforce readiness across the airport industry.

Comprised of five core levels, the Airport Workforce Development Accreditation framework is designed to provide an accumulative approach to workforce development across five structured levels, each requiring increased focus as an airport or airport business partner progresses. The five levels are:

  • Level 1 – Building the Base: Participants establish foundational workforce practices and raise awareness about the airport’s pivotal role in the community.
  • Level 2 – Nurturing Talent: Participants align internal training programs with employee development opportunities through skill-gap analysis and individual learning plans.
  • Level 3 – Cultivating Connections: Participants expand community outreach and create career pathways to secure future talent pipelines.
  • Level 4 – Extending Influence: Participants formalize partnerships with educational institutions and industry collaborators for comprehensive, scalable development initiatives.
  • Level 5 – Shaping Tomorrow: Participants achieve measurable improvements in workforce skills and implement sustainable, forward-looking workforce strategies that ensure long-term adaptability.

In its inaugural year, ACI-NA congratulated 11airport members, representing large, medium, and small hub airports throughout the U.S. and Canada, and one ACI-NA World Business Partner / Associate member for attaining their Airport Workforce Development Accreditation, highlighting the shared commitment to workforce excellence across the region.

For 2025, seven airports achieved the Airport Workforce Development Accreditation at Level 1, including Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, Charlotte Douglas International Airport, Fort McMurray International Airport, Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport, Rapid City Regional Airport, San Diego International Airport, and San Francisco International Airport.

AirTera, the first ACI-NA World Business Partner / Associate member to earn its workforce accreditation, achieved Level 2. Denver International Airport, Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and Toronto Pearson International Airport achieved Level 3. Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport was the first airport in North America to achieve the Workforce Development Accreditation at Level 5.

The Airport Workforce Development Accreditation is administered by 4QD Strategy Consulting LLC, an advisory firm that provides clients with practical implementation assistance in matters of strategy, workforce development, and organization effectiveness.

Learn more about the ACI-NA Airport Workforce Development Accreditation at www.astrongerairportworkforce.org.

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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.