Human Capital - Career Trends

AVIATION EXPERT PANEL

Luis Felipe de Oliveira, Director General ACI World

AVIATION INDUSTRY: EXPERT PANEL

Luis Felipe de Oliveira, Director General, ACI World was interviewed by Danilo Dias, our COO.

Luis Felipe de Oliveira has led Airports Council International (ACI) World as Director-General, based in Montreal, Canada, since June 2020, applying his vast experience in commercial and technical aviation. He believes that aviation has a crucial role to play in fostering social and economic growth worldwide and is committed to helping ACI members and business partners sustainably recover from the impact of the pandemic.

Luis Felipe’s career in aviation began after serving 12 years at Shell (Latin America and Europe) when he joined the International Air Transport Association (IATA) in Switzerland to lead fuel and airport campaigns, in collaboration with governments, oil companies, fuel service providers and airports for diverse world regions. His service at IATA lasted a decade before joining World Fuel Services as Vice President of Supply Development for Latin America and the Caribbean.

Just prior to joining ACI World, Luis Felipe successfully led the Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association (ALTA), between 2017 and 2020, where he led a complete restructuring of the organization.

This enabled it to be more effective and efficient, attracting members and strategic partners to support industry development in the region.

He is a Chemical Engineer graduate from the Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro and has a postgraduate qualification in Finance from the University of São Paulo, an MBA from Dom Cabral Foundation in São Paulo, and a Post MBA from Kellogg University in Chicago.

He currently serves on the Air Transport Action Group (ATAG), and is particularly dedicated to the sustainability of the sector.

"We're doing this for a reason: fostering social and economic growth worldwide".

Luis Felipe de Oliveira Director General, ACI World

Airports are economic engines of growth for the communities they serve, providing critical social and economic impacts beyond the runway. Over time, they have evolved from infrastructure providers into diverse, complex businesses and sophisticated service providers. Recently ACI numbers show a relevant growth in U.S. airports, eight of the top 10 airports, for passenger traffic, are now located in the United States with only two remaining in China. Do you consider that those airports like Denver, Charlotte, and Orlando experienced a “momentum” because of China’s lockdown, or was this an expected growth?

This is part of the reason. Many US airports prior to the pandemic were experiencing significant growth. For example, in 2019, DFW and DEN experienced +8.6% and +7.0% growth rates, respectively.

However, the main reason for the preliminary 2021 ranking results, is that the US (especially fuelled by its domestic passenger traffic) experienced a stronger and quicker recovery than China, Europe, and the Middle East regions did.

We expect, however, that following the pandemic, airports like Beijing (PEK), Shanghai (PVG), as well as Tokyo (HND), London (LHR), and Dubai (DXB) will return to the Top 10 and replace airports like Charlotte and Orlando.

How does the airline pilot shortage affect the airports’ growth plans?

Many industries, including aviation, are experiencing staff shortages and high turnover rates. A large number of workers have left the industry during the pandemic, either being made redundant, put on long-term furlough, or asked to take early retirement schemes. In parallel, the socalled “Great Resignation,” which is resulting in many workers changing jobs and industries, is significantly decreasing the available number of aviation workers needed to meet the increasing demand in passenger, cargo, and aircraft movements.

On a global level, there are no immediate significant safety or security concerns related to the shortage of aviation workers that have been reported or identified.

However, to mitigate the negative impacts on the overall efficiency and reliability of the aviation ecosystem, as well as potential latent safety and security risks, ACI has developed an Advisory Bulletin for its airport members that seek to provide background information and short-term considerations to identify and mitigate potential safety and/or security issues caused by staff shortages and higher turnover rates.

In addition, ACI, through the Task Force on Airport Workforce is currently working on the development of a White Paper seeking to address medium- and long-term solutions to the evolving aviation workforce situation.

For someone willing to specialize and grow in this industry, which advice could you give them?

Although this is a challenging time for aviation as it recovers from the impact of COVID-19, it is also a very exciting time.

There are many opportunities to build back better and be part of a quickly evolving sector that is fully committed to economic, environmental, and social sustainability.

Airports are already aerotropolises and the airport of tomorrow will see many new jobs, particularly in the field of technology and automation. For instance, new entrants such as advanced air mobility will undoubtedly attract and retain a large number of high-quality, technology-focused people to work at airports.

For those looking to invest in their airport career, ACI’s Global Training provides high-quality, comprehensive training solutions to build the capacity of airport professionals and foster airport excellence worldwide.

As the global leader in airport education and training, boasting graduates from over 1,800 airports in 175 countries, it offers in-person, live virtual, and online courses and programs on aviation standards and best practices led by international experts and industry leaders. Our subject matter experts are continuously tailoring the course offerings in parallel to evolutions in the industry to both influences and stay abreast of change.

Two initiatives worthy of mention are the ACI-International Civil Aviation Organization’s Airport Management Professional Accreditation Program (AMPAP), which focuses on developing airport management practitioners in all functional areas of the airport business, and the Airport Executive Leadership Program (AELP) program which focuses on further developing the leadership and strategic management skills.

Airports Council International (ACI) represents the collective interests of airports around the world to promote excellence in the aviation industry. We do this by working with governments, regional ACI members, experts, and international organizations like ICAO to develop policies, programs, and best practices that advance airport standards globally.