SWIFT NEWS

Following the success in North America over the past three decades, renowned aviation Conference & Expo, SWIFT begins an exciting new chapter in its legacy. Crossing the Atlantic, SWIFT Europe launches in London on 18th and 19th of June, hosted by international hub London Heathrow Airport.   SWIFT has long been the pulse of the industry in North America, encouraging collaboration, knowledge sharing, and propelling airside excellence between airports and governing bodies. Now it’s time for European airports to join the discussion.   The SWIFT Executive Committee, as always, will be overseeing plans and offering their valuable experience and understanding of airside operations and maintenance, while the newly appointed SWIFT Europe steering group will curate speakers and content.    Delegates will be invited to deep dive into technical and operational insights, decisions and factors that shape management, learn from industry experts and exchange ideas with peers, as well as having up-front access to new airfield technologies.     Be sure to mark your calendars for the inaugural SWIFT Europe: Monday-Tuesday 18-19th June  Renaissance London Heathrow Hotel   Tickets will be available to purchase at the early bird rate from March 2024, and include access to all sessions, lunches, coffees as well

  SWIFT ATTENDANCE UP 40% September 26 – 28th, Winnipeg Hosted by Winnipeg Airports Authority, the SWIFT 23 conference took place at the Winnipeg Delta Hotel while the first full ‘equipment year’ expo (since 2017) was held at YWG’s magically transformed Combined Services Building.  SWIFT continued its long-term partnership with CAPTG (the Canadian Airfield Pavement Technical Group) ensuring strong technical coverage of asphalt and concrete runways, airport aprons, and taxiways. Headline sponsors Team Eagle hosted delegates at their legendary ‘Eagle Night’ at Rudy’s Eat & Drink on Tuesday evening as well as donating prizes, including a $1,000 travel voucher, to three lucky winners at the 2023 ‘Expo Social’ on Wednesday afternoon. During the two conference days (Tuesday sponsored by Tradewind Scientific, and Thursday sponsored by Aebi Schmidt) opened with Tom Ruth’s keynote on sustainability with a detailed look at ESG megatrends. Other stand-out sessions included the The Evolving Winter Ecosystem, People & Resourcing, and Net Zero Fleet Strategy. This year’s expo (sponsored by Boschung and Airport Technologies Inc), saw a large space around YWG’s Combined Service Building receive a temporary exemption from its regular ‘airside’ designation. The day was enhanced by a series of live demonstrations including a ‘RoBird’ drone

It’s testament to the strength of the SWIFT community that in the months leading up to SWIFT 22 the demand from both delegates and exhibitors outstripped all expectations. Culminating in an exceptional 394 attendees, 83 joining online and 311 coming together at YUL.  The blended physical and virtual airfield conference and expo, hosted by Montréal–Trudeau International Airport from Sept 13th – 15th, was the first full SWIFT since 2019,  delivered by Aviation Events Group. Despite the devastation inflicted on the industry during the Covid pandemic, the Marriott Montreal Airport In-Terminal Hotel was jam-packed with delegates from Canada, the US and Europe. Donald Desrosiers, SWIFT chair and Main Director Airfield and Building Infrastructures Maintenance at ADMTL,  highlighted this in his closing remarks “when we first thought about this event, we were not sure how many people would be here  [yet] more stayed to the end than we originally expected would show up… It was fun to be back face to face and talk to industry peers.” During the three-day ‘stepping stone’ event, delegates enjoyed a balanced mix of presentations from military and civil airports, regulators and industry experts. As well as the traditional CAPTG (Canadian Airport Pavement Technical Group) workshop, SWIFT

SWIFT 22 is to be held at YUL in Montréal, and already a number of incredible speakers have been confirmed to present. The schedule for the first day has six sessions, including two presented by the Canadian Airfield Pavement Technologies Group (CAPTG). The sessions will cover topics ranging from the psychological safety of staff, to methods of best practise for maintaining airfield pavements. The first session, commencing at 09:00 EST, will be the Welcome Session, hosted by host airport’s Donald Desrosiers, Main Director of Airfield & Building Infrastructures Maintenance. Donald will be joined by YUL’s President, Philipe Rainville, CAPTG and the Department of National Defence’s Myron Thiessen, and Thomas Romig, Vice President Safety, Security & Operations for ACI. Philipe Rainville commented. Donald returns to chair the second session of the day: Psychological Safety/Our People, focusing on HR to people strategy. The first presentation will be from Kim Hobbs, Director of Health & Safety at YVR, and Susan Sawatzky, the President of In-Scope Solutions, a consulting firm specializing in Human Risk Factors for high-risk industries across North America. The second presentation of the session will come from the host airport’s Talents and Transformation Team, Marie-Félicité Gignac, Director, and Natasha Audette, Business

After ten years at the helm, Roy McLeod has announced that he will be stepping down from the role of SWIFT committee chair. The move coincides with his departure from Calgary International Airport, where he worked as ‘Director of Airfield Operations’ since 2012. With over 38 years experience in the industry, Roy worked in many roles across airport operations and has sat on various aviation committees. His insight, understanding, and connections within the sector have been an invaluable asset to the organisation of SWIFT events.  Roy comments, “This is an exciting year for SWIFT, returning to a physical conference, blended with virtual for those who cannot attend. We have an exciting line-up of speakers as all delegates have come to expect from SWIFT. “There have been so many great venues, and so many gracious host airports in my time as chair, that it’s impossible to pick anything other than all of the connections I have been fortunate enough to make over the years as my SWIFT highlight. I will definitely miss the committee and the sheer level of excitement that comes with day one at the conference.” The committee will be left in the capable hands of Donald Desrosiers, Vice

SWIFT, the industry’s premier airfield conference is coming to Montreal in 2022, from September 13-15th at the Montreal Airport Marriott In-Terminal Hotel and will provide the excellent Airfield Studies visitors have come to expect. In addition to the core conference, delegates can meet suppliers in the expo area at the main venue, and experience demos in a dedicated external space while those unable to attend face to face can still participate in sessions virtually. SWIFT and CAPTG (the Canadian Airport Pavement Technical Group) continue to partner by expanding specialist sessions exploring technological developments in the design, construction evaluation with maintenance and operations of airfield pavements. Roy McLeod, SWIFT Committee chair, is enthusiastic about this  ‘blended’ event: ”We received fantastic feedback from delegates and sponsors on our first virtual ‘SWIFT September’ and are delighted to provide the airport community an opportunity to come together again in Montreal, with the option to join virtually for SWIFT 22.  The hybrid nature of this event ensures that any members unable to travel can still interact with sessions and meet with suppliers and peers.” Steve McKeown, President of 2022 headline sponsor Team Eagle: “We are pleased and excited to accept this opportunity to support the

Throughout September, airports from across the US, Canada and Europe met up on Wednesday afternoons and tuned in to virtual SWIFT and CAPTG sessions.  The nine niche sessions featured forty-five speakers and covered topical aspects of airfield operations and best practices, as well as a detailed look at airfield pavements courtesy of two CAPTG sessions. So how did the industry react to the first-ever ‘virtual SWIFT’? According to the 2021 post-event survey, top marks as the average rating from delegates and sponsors was 8 out of 10. The comments made in the survey painted a great picture. Here are a few: Great sessions – extremely professional online experience Great event. Good idea to spread the virtual sessions over the month of September Thank you. Great topics and really enjoyed short sessions and ability to joint CAPTG and SWIFT Great conference – an online conference with so much more than a zoom call could ever offer AEG did a great job putting on this show. I thought it was as good as a virtual event could be This virtual SWIFT benefited greatly from industry support, most notably headline sponsor Team Eagle who got behind the endeavour from the outset. According to