With a record 310 delegates - a surge of 20% from last year - the 2018 event was bigger and better than ever before. Among the delegation were nearly 70 representatives from 30 different carriers, while the exhibition soared to 31 suppliers in IT and GSE, up from last year’s 23.
Networking, as always, was a resounding success, with 1,135 one-to-one meetings taking place across three days, complemented by the return of GHI’s new Meet the Airline speed-networking forum, which debuted in March at the GHI Asian Conference.
Presentations tackled a broad range of important, topical and regional issues, with pragmatic discussion as to their improvement. While staff attrition remains high in North America, delegates heard from corporate culture coach, Desiree Perez, that accommodating the changing motivations of the new millennial-dominated workforce could be part of the answer. The growth potential of the LatAm region was examined and the emerging trend of the pretend PRM received the attention of a panel, of which the greatest concern surrounded exactly who should be liable to fund the added expense.
Day two saw legal and financial analyses, as well as the latest development strategies from Miami International airport, before sessions divided into North American and Latin American streams, addressing the respective regional challenges.
Following a lively delegate dinner cruise, the final day heard about the benefits of blockchain and data-sharing to the industry, with Rohit Tomar of KPMG asserting that “the way we do business is going to change”. Handling in the Bahamas received some airtime before, finally, a panel considered the eco-friendly trend towards the electrification of GSE and the ramp of the future.
By no means an exhaustive account of the packed three-day agenda, look out for the August issue of GHI magazine for the full report.
