SWIFT NEWS

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

SWIFT WELCOME SESSION | SEPT 1st 2021 Meet some of the airside ops professionals who will be sharing their thoughts on how the pandemic has affected them and how they feel about the future of the industry at the SWIFT 2021 welcome session on Sept 1st: With thanks to Alan Sherwood, Greater Toronto Airports, Barbara Rupert and Billy O’Brien, Ottawa International Airport Authority, Karl Rioux, Montreal-Trudeau, Mark Miller, Minneapolis−Saint Paul International and Sarah Steves (pictured) Denver International Airport. SWIFT 2021 PROGRAMME Join us at the 30-minute Welcome Session on 1st September Hear more from these airside ops professionals Meet your 2019 SWIFT SEPTEMBER hosts Meet the chairs of SWIFT and CAPTG Network and integrate – virtual SWIFT induction Get a full precis of each session and plan your SWIFT RESERVE PLACE Airlines, airports and regulators $47.50 CAD Suppliers $290 CAD

Our SWIFT September session on Asset Utilisation and Rehabilitation at looks into the topics of asset lifecycles, sustainability in asset management, fleet parts management, tendering and TCO, and asbestos management. Led by Sarah J. Demory, AAE, ACE, Assistant Aviation Director City of Phoenix Aviation, she will be joined by Lisa Gahm of Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), Nicolas Bernard from Paris CDG, Jon Dueck, VP Technology at Evergreen Solutions, and Gabriel Nevarez, Deputy Aviation Director at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport When asked why he thought the SWIFT Conference was so important this year, Nicolas said: “This conference is an opportunity to allow us to progress by discovering and sharing good, innovative practices. Given the difficult context of COVID and having to find new solutions for the maintenance of our infrastructures, this will be a great chance to discuss our ideas, as well as expanding our professional networks.” You can register for any, or all, of our nine 90-minute sessions running throughout the course of September, here: https://lnkd.in/eHWqRN4

The Winter Operations session at SWIFT September will be held at 09:10 CDT, 15th September. Three speakers have joined the panel for this discussion: Charlie Beuning, Field Maintenance Manager at Minneapolis−Saint Paul International Airport, Richard Brannan, Assistant Director of Field Maintenance at Denver International Airport, and the SWIFT Committee’s very own Roy McLeod, Airfield Operations at Calgary Airport. Charlie has twenty-five years of airport operational experience within four different departments.  He was instrumental in the creation of MSP’s runway snow/ice removal playbook.  His passion is coaching the snow/ice removal teams.  Charlie believes you “play like you practice” and execution is critical to our success, which gives us an advantage over mother nature. In his current role he is responsible for the day to day operations of Field Maintenance, Richard oversees asphalt and concrete projects, perimeter and security fence repair, assisting with special events, erosion and MS4 control, mowing operations, emergency response, PAR 139 compliance and all airside snow removal operations. Turning his attention to the benefits of SWIFT September, Richard says: “With the pandemic and the world having basically been on hold for the past year, it’s good to get our industry back together and reconnect with one another. I’m

The first of two sessions at SWIFT September to be hosted by CAPTG (Canadian Airfield Pavement Technical Group), this session on Climate Change and Asphalt Pavements will be hosted by CAPTG Committee, Richard Blommers of Tetra Tech, who will be accompanied by Dave Anderson, Project Manager at Associated Engineering. Joining the session from National Research Council Canada is Dr. Omran Maadani, Associate Research Scientist who has developed Climate Adaption and Asphalt Selection Tool (CAAST) to do climate parameters analysis and climate resilient asphalt selection for flexible pavement roads. Mohammad Shafiee, Research Officer also from National Research Council Canada has since 2018 focused his research on climate resilient pavements and sustainable infrastructures. Mohammad comments: “Reconnecting with airport community after a challenging year and staying informed about how the community is adjusting to the changes is going to be inspiring for me. I look forward to sharing and exchanging ideas with airport community the impact of climate change and extreme weather events of asphalt selection .” Omran and Mohammad will be speaking alongside Dr. Lukas Arenson from BGC Engineering Inc. Lukas is a Principal Geotechnical Engineer at BGC Engineering in Vancouver with twenty years of expertise in permafrost Engineering. He is also currently

SWIFT September’s ‘When the Noise Stops’ is a topical session on business recovery from crisis. It will be the first session on September 8th, 09:10 CTD, chaired by Neil Pritchard, Head of Business Change for Heathrow Airport. Neil will be joined by guest speakers Regional Manager for Western Canada from Transportation Safety Board, Jon Lee, and Director of Operations at Halifax International Airport Authority, Jeff Macmillan. When asked about this year’s virtual conference, MacMillan explained the value. “The industry has been adversely affected by the pandemic in many ways. SWIFT provides the opportunity to reconnect and see best practices for a strong airport recovery, this year very significant.”  This session is sponsored by Tradewind Scientific, and registration is now open. Sign up here: https://swiftconference.org/attend/