General Session I

Driving more innovation will be an important aspect of the future as it is “critical to the effectiveness of … all industries,” said ACI-NA Chair Candace McGraw, during her introduction at the General Session, which set the stage for keynote Leonard Brody’s intriguing and debatable (though also inspiring and thought-provoking) approaches to innovation that were to come. She also shared some news related to Hurricane Florence, which was particularly hard on the airports in the storm’s path. A total of $47,500 has been raised to help these airports, she said. This generosity is a reflection of the airport industry and ACI-NA, which is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year and has solidified its value to the industry more each year. As McGraw succinctly put it, ACI-NA has the “ability to bring together the industry to find common sense solutions for the challenges we face.” 

Also speaking during the General Session was Douglas Kreulen, CEO of Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority, who said, “We’re excited to learn from you and we share your goal to be the #1 airport in North America.” And he had one request (other than to “enjoy yourself”): “Find someone with a BNA shirt and share your experiences so we can learn from you.” Mayor David Riley warmly welcomed everyone to Nashville and had the audience chuckling over his comment about driving a Winnebago to Nashville and everyone’s ears perked up to hear that Nashville is investing $1.3 billion in BNA right now. 

When ACI-NA’s President and CEO Kevin Burke stepped up to the podium, he said the conference is a place to “meet and forge strong partnerships for the betterment of YOUR industry. "Remember it is your industry," he said. He also gave a state of the industry address, highlighting recent successes for airports, and ACI-NA’s mission-focused work to advance the industry. To read his full speech, which includes quite a bit of good news, check out ACI-NA’s new website.