25 years ago, Airports Council International (ACI) was formed with a purpose to achieve cooperation among all segments of the aviation industry and their stakeholders as well as with governments and international organisations and to promote professional excellence in airport management and operations.
Today, ACI has a total strength of 592 members operating 1,853 airports across 173 countries with its headquarters at Montréal, Canada and five regional offices in Brussels, Hong Kong, Casablanca, Panama City, and Washington DC.
The current Director General of ACI World, Angela Gittens - an industry veteran has been a harbinger of change. Gittens, who began her tenure in ACI in 2008 has served on numerous aviation industry boards and committees including the FAA Management Advisory Committee, the FAA Research, Engineering and Development Committee, the National Civil Aviation Review Commission among others.
On the sidelines of the ACI Investing in Airports conference held in Goa in December, Gittens spoke to Surya Kannoth on ACI’s missions, the challenges that the industry is facing, the growing cooperation between governments and the industry and more…
Looking back at the 25 glorious years of ACI and your long standing career, how has ACI evolved and have its missions been accomplished?
The biggest difference over the last 25 years is that airports have become businesses in their own right. Originally, they were public infrastructure which provided a place for other businesses to do business.
Nowit is up to the airport to make sure that air services is provided to its community. They have to plan not just the facility but also the operation; they also have to care about the passenger journey on the ground. The airline sector, particularly, the low cost airlines, does not have the same attitude towards customer service as the traditional airlines. But the customer wants the same treatment that the customer always wanted. So,someone has to step in to provide that level of customer service again.
This story is from the January 2017 edition of The Stat Trade Times.
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This story is from the January 2017 edition of The Stat Trade Times.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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