Angela Gittens on her time as ACI World Director General

I am proud of what ACI, World and Regions, has become, as we have evolved in step with the dynamic changes in the airport business environment. We all have engaged boards, members, and skilled staff that have given us their insights and time; contributing to giving ACI a strong voice on world and regional stages.

Looking back at the World office, I see two key milestones in our maturation. The first was the relocation to Montreal in 2011. The physical proximity with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) assisted both organisations to work more closely with each other and allowed ACI to provide support for significantly more fit‑for‑purpose decisions; benefitting both airports and their regulators.

The other milestone was the launch and success of the Airport Excellence (APEX) in Safety programme, which solidified ACI’s status as a respected solution provider. Not only did the programme help our members, but it also helped ICAO and regulators achieve their goals of raising safety standards worldwide. This was followed by APEX in Security and, in 2019, we began piloting an APEX in Environment programme.

Even now, as airports and aviation face the challenges of COVID-19, ACI continues to be led by its members’ needs. We have been diligently providing relevant data and guidance to help airports survive and recover from the global crisis. ACI is also working with ICAO, IATA, WHO and other global organisations; advocating for airports’ interests in the response to COVID-19 and laying the foundation for re-start and recovery.

Of course, we stand on the shoulders of those that came before us. Our two largest services, the Airport Service Quality (ASQ) programme and Global Training, were put in motion by my predecessors and reflected the evolution and growth of the industry.

ASQ is a response to the growing sophistication and customer-centric nature of an industry that evolved from being mere providers of infrastructure to businesses in their own right. As such, airports seek data and measure their performance, assessing the return on their investments and seeking competitive advantage.

Alongside this, the growth in demand for air services put great pressure on airport managements’ ability to recruit and develop a skilled workforce. Responding to this challenge, ACI developed and has grown its educational offerings, in multiple channels.

We can expect more innovations in the weeks, months and years ahead to help us manage the challenges confronting the industry. We have new ones, like the crisis we currently face, and we have perennial ones, like climate change.

Even before COVID-19, we looked ahead to what the airport world could be in the future and how services might evolve. On-going projects such as Smart Security and NEXXT started before the pandemic, but they will help our industry transform to meet the needs of the next generation of passengers, and improve the way in which baggage and cargo is processed, and aircraft handled. We will soon publish the Smart Security Vision 2040 which had envisioned a “touchless” passenger journey before this became a health talking point.

As someone who was an ACI Member in three different regions, who was an airport member and a World Business Partner before coming to work for the organisation, my faith in, and support for, Airports Council International is boundless.

I look forward to becoming a part-time participant in our industry and wish the best for all of you