Interview: Mark Gale, CEO

Smart service

Technology is helping to make flying more user-friendly but a full-on tech experience is still in the future

Mark Gale

CEO & Director of Aviation – Fort LauderdaleHollywood International Airport

How has smart technology impacted the airport and what does that mean for the future? One of the things that everyone wants to see is a contactless environment. When I last spoke to Invest, we had almost 37 million patrons come through our facility. We have a wide audience of individuals who we need to serve equally across the passenger spectrum. Sometimes, the speed of technology and innovation surpasses the speed of understanding or acceptance by individuals. It is important to not lose sight of that. One user friendly amenity we have installed is biometric boarding technology. As you leave for departure on an international flight, your picture will be taken. When you return, you’re going to be able to come up, take a photo of your face and automatically verify your identity. This is part of a “simplified arrival” process.

As we come out of the pandemic, it will be interesting to see what new practices or technology will remain in place, or will we revert to something more traditional as restrictions ease. I don’t think we’ll swing entirely to a contactless, tech-savvy world overnight.

How has your master plan shaped up given the impact of the pandemic? It is a 20-year lookahead on how FLL needs to be developed to serve the needs of the region. We were identified as one of the fastest-growing large-hub U.S. airports for several years running. In 2019, we dropped down from around 12% annual growth to about 2-3%, not from lack of demand but because we reached terminal capacity. Prior to the pandemic, we had been working on the master plan for several years. I was with the CEOs of JetBlue Airways and Spirit Airlines when I gave the final presentation to our commissioners and sent the documents to the FAA. That’s when the pandemic hit. The expenses incurred to survive may have initially lessened the appetite for major capital projects.

Still, as airlines are looking to return to pre-pandemic levels of travel we’re seeing significant signs of recovery and a desire to get back to a growth/expansion mode. Terminal 2 is under construction with Delta Air Lines, and Terminal 3 is under construction with JetBlue. We’re hoping to complete those programs by early 2022.

The high efficacy rates of the vaccines and associated impacts on air travel will also assist us in finalizing critical financial and infrastructural decisions. FLL is one of the largest and most significant economic engines for Broward County and a large part of South Florida.