News - Swift Airfield Conference and Trade Show

Resilience – the recurring theme as SWIFT 22 sells out

September 16, 2022

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 Day 3 – Program Announced

August 17, 2022

The third and final day of SWIFT 22, hosted by YUL airport in Montréal, has a jam-packed schedule. The first of six sessions is CATPG’s Gravel Runway Evaluation & Design, chaired by Richard Blommers of Tetra Tech. Richard told SWIFT organisers “As I recently read, only 11 airports in the Yukon Territory, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut have paved runways. The other 75 runways are unpaved. Canada-wide, there were 944 airports with unpaved runways as of 2013. It’s a highly relevant topic!” He continues, “I think we’re all tired of the computer, the mute/unmute, and the awkward waves to finish a virtual meeting. I’m looking forward to the in person social interaction which allows people to connect on a much more personal level.” Joining Richard will be Riley Siroishka, Projects Engineer, Airports Group for Tetra Tech, Mike Boyle, Aviation Technologist for CBR Tech, and George Nowak, Deputy Practise Lead – Airports for HATCH. The Drones & Habitat Management session will be exploring the role & relationship between airport operations and construction as design, planning, approval and works. Chaired by Waylon Godden, Manager of Airfield Maintenance for YVR, the session will also feature presentations from Dean Ervin, Director of Aerodrome Operations

SWIFT 22 Day 2 – Program Announced

August 1, 2022

The second day of SWIFT 22, hosted by YUL airport in Montréal, is set to be an exciting one! A morning of winter demos at Aeromag 2000, followed by a winter-themed afternoon of sessions, before buses will transport delegates downtown to St Henri for the Eagle night out sponsored by Team Eagle. The winter morning will be hosted at Aéro Mag 2000, with showcases from: Aebi-Schmidt, Aéro Mag 2000, Airmark, FOD Commander, Graco, Larue, Overaasen, Polar De-icer and RCAM (Team Eagle). Demos include: Glycol capture and recovery, Line painting (and removal), Wildlife management – including Drone flight and Airsoft gun demo and trial. After lunch our two sessions will be Winter & Infrastructure chaired by Neil Pritchard, Head of Business Change at London Heathrow, and Winter Operations & Coordination straight after, chaired by Mike Carlson, Assistant Director Airside Operations at Denver International Airport. This session is sponsored by JCAII. In the Winter & Infrastructure session, sponsored by Commercial Emergency Equipment, Neil will be joined by Gabriel Lepine Regional Manager of Aéro Mag 2000, Joseph Chen, Director of Planning & Engineering at YYJ in partnership with Stantec and Ha Vu, Project Engineer/Aviation with HATCH. Winter Operations & Coordination will feature Robin

SWIFT 22 Day 1 – Program Announced

July 31, 2022

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

Roy McLeod Steps Down from the SWIFT Committee

April 26, 2022

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 2022 comes to Montreal Airport

December 1, 2021

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

SWIFT September – A Soaring Success

October 21, 2021

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 September 2021: Session Previews

September 7, 2021

On September 1st, SWIFT September launched with the first of nine sessions, the Welcome Session. The thirty minute introduction to the new format of the conference was hosted by Myron Thiesson, Airfield Pavements and Standards Office from the Department of National Defence, Roy McLeod, Director of Airfield Operations at Calgary Airport, and Steve McKeown of Team Eagle, Headline Sponsor of SWIFT 2021. Amongst other insights from industry professionals, the session heard from the remaining eight session leads of what was to be expected from their upcoming sessions over the next four Wednesdays. Airfield Incidents – Prepare, Respond, Recover – 08 September 09:10 CDT Hosted by Neil Pritchard from Heathrow Airport, with Stuart Matheson of IATA/ICAO, Jeff Macmillan Director of Operations at Halifax International Airport, and Jon Lee, Regional Manager for Western Canada at the Transportation Safety Board (TSB) of Canada. Climate Change & Asphalt Pavements – 08 September 11:10 CDT Hosted by Richard Blommers of Tetra Tech, with Dr. Lukas Arenson, Principal Geotechenical Engineer for BGC Engineering, Dr. Omran Maadani, Associate Research Officer for National Research Council Canada, Mohammad Shafiee, Research Officer at the National Research Council Canada, and David Anderson, Project Manager for Associated Engineering. Winter Operations – 15

SWIFT September Has Launched! Watch the Welcome Session

September 3, 2021

Roy McLeod, Steve McKeown and Myron Thiessen launched SWIFT September 2021 yesterday with the Welcome Session, hosted virtually in an interactive format. We heard from a number of airfield maintenance operatives discussing how they survived in their roles and airports following on from the COVID-19 pandemic, and how optimistic they were feeling about the future. Poll results showed that 71% of Welcome Session attendees were also feeling positive about the future, 20% cautiously optimistic, with only 9% of attendees saying they did not feel positive about the future. SWIFT September 2021 session leads also previewed their upcoming sessions, of which there will be two a day for the remaining four Wednesdays in September. There is still time to register for the eight SWIFT sessions: ATTEND SWIFT The session was by Team Eagle, headline sponsors of SWIFT SEPTEMBER 2021 A selection of comments made by delegates during the session: Thank you Swift Committee, great to be part of this new platform and initiative Great initiative and presentation show the quality and Professionalism of our Association! Looking forward to participating in all the sessions!!! thank you!! Great welcome session, thank you Very happy to see the SWIFT team again and to be

Covid 19, Travel Restrictions and Recovery

August 10, 2021

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

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