Centerlines - September 2008 - (Page 25) ACI-NA 60TH ANNIVERSARY Aviation Week 4/14/48 Change the Only Constant In existing in an extended period of change, Reilly said, “it is hard to distill out a myriad of challenges and which were the most corrosive. The mix certainly has to include aircraft noise that stigmatized airports as bad neighbors. Airport funding, in general, was always a prime target for the airports during those years I was with AOCI, and that included the whole gamut: Airport Improvement Program (AIP), airport development bonding and the basis for usage fees and charges. “Another challenge was the dual frustration of implementing airport capacity expansion improvements and streamlining aircraft operation delay reductions.” In other words, “things don’t change all that much,” recalls Deborah Lunn Cooper, who succeeded Reilly as interim president from 1988 to 1989. Impact of Deregulation “Beyond question, the overwhelming success of deregulation had an enormous impact on airports across the country,” Cooper said, noting that not only airport, but airway capacity was a large issue in the early 1980s when she initially joined AOCI as vice president of public relations. “The biggest focus for us was creating enough capacity to let the marketplace reign and let consumers govern which airlines fly from here to there, when they flew and what prices they would charge. So the benefits available from a fully competitive air transportation system clearly was the biggest challenge we had.” Now serving as an executive with Turner Private Networks, Cooper continued on page 27 REILLY COOPER HOWARD PLAVIN PRINCIPATO ACI-NA’s presidents. Don Reilly (1968-88), Deborah Lunn Cooper (1988-89), George Howard (1989-95), David Z. Plavin (1996-2005), Greg Principato (2005-present). 1980 1989 George Howard hired as president 1985 1991 AOCI and International Civil Airports Association merge to become Airports Association Council International (AACI) 1990 1992 ACI becomes Airports Council International, AOCI becomes ACI-NA 1996 David Z. Plavin hired as president 1995 1998 ACI-NA celebrates 50 years 2000 2001 ACI-NA calls on Congress to focus on airports after terrorist attacks 2005 2003 First woman, Gina Marie Lindsey, elected to chair ACI-NA Board 2005 Greg Principato hired as president 2008 2008 ACI-NA marks 60 years www.aci-na.org | CENTERLINES 25 http://www.aci-na.org
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