Between June 8 –10, the members of the ACI World Facilitation and Services Standing Committee (WFSSC) met in Montreal for its 42nd meeting. It had been more than two years since the committee last met in person in San Francisco back in January 2020.
Outcomes for airports and the aviation industry
The in-person meeting provided the opportunity to physically meet some of the new members for the first time, to review 2021 achievements, and to tackle 2022–2023 priorities. The on-going objectives and achievements of the members of the three working groups (i.e., airport performance, airport accessibility, and future of travel) was also emphasized, and breakout sessions were penned in to advance on several initiatives identified as priorities for 2022 and beyond.
It was also a chance to discuss opportunities for further collaboration with other ACI Standing Committees, primarily with the ACI World Airport IT and the World Economics Standing Committees.
In addition, the group addressed the challenges and opportunities related to airport workforce, and updates on the joint committee task force on airport workforce was provided to the members. 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.
A variety of presentations were given on topics such as the outlook for passenger traffic and recovery, accessibility surveys and barriers to travel, awareness engagement towards combatting human trafficking, innovative projects in customer experience, and insights on ACI’s training activities, to name a few.
Collaboration with ICAO and industry partners
The group was also briefed by Sylvain Lefoyer, the ICAO Deputy Director of aviation security and facilitation on the latest facilitation and cyber security initiatives and objectives, along with a list of priorities for the upcoming 41st session of the ICAO Assembly. Furthermore, Karine Boulet Gaudreault, IATA Senior Manager of Passenger Facilitation, presented on facilitation-related initiatives such as the One ID, Mobility Aids Action Group and API/PNR recent developments.
WFSSC Chair handover
The meeting ended with a chair handover as the WFSSC Chair, from Houston Airports System, will step down in August to give her seat to Jan Metsovitis from Hamad International Airport as the new Chair for a term of two years. The group also congratulated Robyn McVicker from Vancouver International Airport for her appointment as the new Vice-Chair of the committee.
Those interested in a tour of the ICAO building had the opportunity to do so on Friday 10 June, courtesy of Michael Rossell, ACI Senior Vice President, International Relations and Corporate Secretary, who provided insights on ICAO’s history and its main activities, as well as ACI’s advocacy efforts.
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