PBIA on track to see record number of arrivals, says airline group executive
Palm Beach International Airport is on track to set a record this year for the number of arriving passengers.
Nick Calio, CEO of the Washington, D.C.-based trade association and lobbying group Airlines for America, told guests at Monday's Palm Beach Chamber of Commerce meeting at The Breakers that 3.7 million deplanements are expected at the West Palm Beach airport this year.
That figure eclipses the previous record of 3.5 million deplanements set in 2019, Calio said, and is a good example of how important the airline industry is to a town like Palm Beach.
"It's a great little airport," Calio said during his presentation. "A lot of people like to use it. It's absolutely vital to our existence here. That airport is part of what makes Palm Beach so special."
More: Guy Harvey, cancer specialist to kick off Palm Beach Chamber's 2023-24 season
Airlines for America, created in 1936 as the Air Transport Association, advocates on behalf of its members to shape policies and measures that promote safety, security and a healthy U.S. airline industry, according to its website. Members include Southwest, United, Delta, American Airlines, JetBlue, Alaska Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, UPS, FedEx Express and Atlas Air Worldwide.
Calio, a former assistant to the president for legislative affairs in the George W. Bush and George H.W. Bush administrations, touched on a variety of airline-related topics during a question-and-answer session with Darren Hirsowitz, The Breakers' senior vice president for finance and the Palm Beach Chamber of Commerce treasurer.
What changes came about to the airline industry after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks? "It's all about security. If you think about pre-9/11, for those of you who are old enough, you could just walk through kind of a basic magnetometer. You could take all the liquids you wanted to, and do anything you pretty much wanted to. All that changed. We started the Department of Homeland Security. We started the Transportation Security Administration. It's risk-based security. We're trying to make improvements in terms of the liquids and all that, in terms of the equipment. But it changed our lives forever. It's an inconvenience, but it's totally necessary. The No. 1 priority for flying is always safety."
Where are the airlines in the post-COVID-19 pandemic world? "Airline travel is very strong right now. We'll see that this Thanksgiving. But right now, we are flying passengers at pre-pandemic levels, and actually above. People are very happy to get out. We've got a lot of new flyers."
What keeps airline executives up at night? "What really keeps us up, always, is No. 1, safety, and that comes in all sorts of forms. Everybody in the airline industry will always say the same thing. Safety is always our top priority. No. 2 is air traffic control. We have very outdated equipment. We're still flying on World War II radar. We worked closely on air traffic control reform in 2018. We couldn't get it done. There was substantial opposition in some quarters. Currently we are short 3,000 air traffic controllers across the country. It's a very difficult job. It takes a lot of training. We are at a crisis point, and we need to do something about it."
What is the economic impact of the aviation industry across Florida, and how important is Florida to the aviation industry? "Florida is the No. 1 destination for U.S. domestic airlines. Across this state, $124 billion a year comes from airline activity, and there are over 1 million employees. It's very, very significant and important to us. Without air travel, people like me and (his wife) Lydia could not fly back and forth. We're here one day, we're back home, we're back here the next day. It's incredibly important to our industry and the state. PBIA is the greatest. It's just an accessible, clean, fun airport."
Major airlines are expecting record travel over the Thanksgiving holiday. What causes the pain of air travel? "It's going to be a big week. First of all, we're expecting to fly 30 million people over the 10-day period from the 17th to the 27th. That will be a new record, and that's all good from our perspective. We think we're ready. The pain points come in with the air traffic controller shortages, with weather. I always tell people to pray for good weather. That's the key all the time. Pack your patience."
The Palm Beach Chamber of Commerce will hold its next membership meeting Dec. 20. The featured presentation is "Local Leading Entrepreneurs Pave a Path" by Jeff Sophir of West Palm Beach-based Coastal Garden Professionals.
Other presentations include: Karen Murray and Ivey Leidy, "Two Palm Beach Professionals Forging a Palm Beach Business Renaissance" (Jan. 8); Ghislain d'Humières, "The Norton Museum Leading the Visual Art World" (Feb. 12); former U.S. financial diplomat and Palm Beach resident Michael Greenwald (March 13); sports industry (April); Transformation Director and Head of Ackerman Pick n Pay Foundation Suzanne Ackerman (May); and The Breakers CEO Paul Leone (June).
For information on the Palm Beach Chamber of Commerce, visit www.palmbeachchamber.com/.
Jodie Wagner is a journalist at the Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at jwagner@pbdailynews.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: 'Pack your patience' for air travel, CEO tells Palm Beach Chamber
