About 90 airport officials from across the country descended on downtown Greenville this week for the Airports Council International North America (ACI-NA) Boards and Commissioners Conference.
It was the first time the annual event was held in the Upstate.
The conference began with a golf outing at the Carolina Country Club in Spartanburg County on Saturday, April 1. It ended Tuesday, April 4, with a driving event at the BMW Performance Center across from Spartanburg County-based BMW Manufacturing Co.
Sunday through Tuesday morning, attendees took part a range of activities at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Greenville.
Those activities included presentations by the Federal Aviation Administration, a government affairs presentation by officials with the American Association of Airport Executives, workshops, discussions, and a spate of other opportunities for learning and networking.
“It’s a big deal for ACI to have our conference here in the Greenville-Spartanburg area because it’s a vibrant community,” said Kevin Burke, president and CEO of ACI-NA. “The main terminal renovation at Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport is nearly complete. It’s a great testament to the impact that these regional airports have on the local economy.”
Burke said airports have a $1.1 trillion annual economic impact on the U.S. economy, support 10 million jobs and account for more than 7 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product.
In South Carolina, airports support jobs for 52,000 people and have a $5.4 billion economic impact each year, he said.
GSP Airport’s passenger traffic grew to a record 2,018,319 flyers in 2016, which was a 4 percent increase compared with 2015.
During a presentation in Spartanburg recently, Dave Edwards, president and CEO of GSP, said the $125 million main terminal renovation Project WINGSPAN will increase the airport’s capacity to 4 million people.
The airport’s market share divided among its five carriers include 36 percent for Delta, 28 percent for American, 17 percent for United, 12 percent for Southwest and 7 percent for Allegiant, Edwards said.
Based on a 2012 study, GSP has an annual impact of more than $817 million on the local economy and supports about 9,500 jobs, with an annual payroll of almost $170.5 million.
“Dave Edwards and his team have done an amazing job in building out a brand-new terminal, making GSP an attractive place for airlines to fly out of,” Burke said. “In terms of how airports are judged, there are a lot of reasons why people want to come to the Upstate. The economy is strong. We hope that continues. Having a modern airport is a necessity… This has been a fabulous conference. It was the perfect place to have it.”
Burke said participants included commissioners from airports across the country.
“These are folks from the governing bodies of these airports,” he said. “They’re the ones who have the most clout.”
In addition to some of the most important regulatory and economic issues facing airports, conference-goers had an opportunity to hear the latest on infrastructure, safety and security issues, drone regulations, and a new program helping veterans find work in the aviation industry.
“Drones are really a disruptive technology,” said Peter Kirsch, a partner at the firm Kaplan Kirch Rockwell, who specializes in drone law. “We don’t really know how to regulate them… For lawyers, it’s a very scary time. But the potential for the technology is absolutely mind-blowing.”
Kirsch mentioned the categories of drone uses, including public, recreational, and commercial.
He said the number of licenses issued by the FAA for commercial use has continued to grow.
Kirsch said companies like Amazon, Uber, FedEx, and UPS are all in the hunt in what he called an “arms race” in deploying drones to do everything from delivering packages to passengers.
“Whoever is first is going to help define the rules of the road,” he said.
While federal regulators continue to work to find ways to strike a balance pertaining to issues like safety and privacy, Kirsch said local airports and governments will also have a role to play in helping define regulations.
He said anyone not clear on the rules should visit drone page of the FAA’s website, www.faa.gov/uas. Kirsch also mentioned the B4UFLY smartphone app, which enables drone operators to determine whether there are any restrictions or requirements in effect for where they want to fly.
Tom Murphy, author of “Reclaiming the Sky: 9/11 and the Untold Story of the Men and Women Who Kept America Flying,” spoke to attendees about a new program for veterans that will be introduced April 20 at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).
Murphy worked to craft the program, entitled Edge4Vets, through the Human Resiliency Institute at Fordham University.
He said the program was created to help bridge the gap between veterans and industry, the airline industry in particular.
Photo courtesy of Adam Snider.
“Vets don’t know how good they are, they don’t know how badly industry needs them, and they don’t have any networking support available to them,” Murphy said.
Murphy said the program is geared to help veterans returning from service make the transition from the “we culture” of the military to the “I culture” of the civilian world.
“They’re taught to sublimate self and think about the team instead of themselves,” he said.
Edge4Vets provides a platform for veterans to map out the values and skills honed during their military service and come up with an action plan that will help them accomplish the vision they have for their long-term career and life goals.
Murphy said pilots of the program have had about an 80 percent success rate in helping veterans find gainful employment.
He said the goal is to create an ongoing pipeline of talent between all branches of the U.S. military and airports by expanding the program nationally in partnership with ACI.
Murphy said he is working on a second installment that will be introduced in Houston, possibly later this year.
He is exploring the possibility of bringing the program to South Carolina in one combined effort that would include airports in the Upstate, Columbia, and Charleston.
“I think South Carolina would be a great place to have it because of the population of veterans and the strength of the industry,” Murphy said. “Vets come with training in emergencies and stress. They enhance the quality of your workforce. They enhance safety. They raise the level of work and that increases the enjoyment of travelers.”
Edwards has served as chairman of ACI-NA and is on the board of directors for ACI World.
GSP commissioner Leland Burch is chairman of ACI-NA commissioners committee.
Burke said both men were instrumental helping bring the organization’s conference to the Upstate.
For more information, visit www.aci.aero.
