Recorded live at Routes World 2024 in Bahrain, former ACI World Director General Luis Felipe de Oliveira shares his toughest moments and lessons learned from nearly five years representing the world’s airports.
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Rush Transcript
Victoria Moores:
Hello everyone, and welcome to Window Seat, our Aviation Week Network Air Transport podcast. I'm Air Transport World Europe and Africa Bureau Chief Victoria Moores. Welcome on board. This week, I'm joined by former ACI World Director General Luis Felipe de Oliveira. Welcome to the show, Felipe.
Luis Felipe de Oliveira:
Thank you. Happy to be here.
Victoria Moores:
So you're here, basically, as a free man right now. So back in November 2023, we heard that you were going to be stepping down from ACI World. And you left just one week ago, after four and a half years representing the world's airports. And at the beginning of September, you handed over to your successor, who is Justin Erbacci. So I'm curious, what prompted that decision for you to leave ACI World? Why now?
Luis Felipe de Oliveira:
Well, first of all, I think, after 30 years in the industry, I have the privilege to work in different parts of the industry and different opportunities with the different people. And one thing that I realized that, sometimes, we need to take tough decisions in life, because not only is all the work—the work was fantastic, work was great—but the years of pandemic especially, turns the life a little bit more tough and difficult in certain ways. A lot of lessons learned from that, as well. But I, basically, with the family, want[ed] to move back to Switzerland, it's one of the decisions I need to take in advance, in order. So I basically planning that one year in advance, planning that we have my family back to Switzerland in July for my kids to start university in this school, was one of the first decisions. And the second one, to have a time to dilute it, this decision, as well, to understand what I took as a decision. And to give time to ACI, that is a great organization, to find a great person to continue this journey. And they did, finding Justin as well.
Victoria Moores:
What have your toughest moments been as ACI World Director General?
Luis Felipe de Oliveira:
I think the toughest moment was when I arrived that, unfortunately, we didn't have ACI prepared for a pandemic. Basically, we didn't have funds, we didn't have reserves. And that turns our lives a little bit more difficult because, basically, the things you need to do are usually not popular. You need to cut salaries. You need to cut people. You need to reduce the benefits and other things. That is always affecting the morale of the team, especially in the moment that the morale of the world, of the aviation sector, was a little bit down. So it was tough moments to keep the organization alive. And, basically, I think, at the end, we did well, in terms of these [pandemic] years. The right decisions were taken that time and, basically, the organization is very strong and very well managed today, thanks [to] the decisions you take during the term pandemic time. However, with staff was not easy, reduce a lot of people, take some tough decisions that sometimes are not very popular, as I mentioned, is not nice, and is not really pleasant to take.
Victoria Moores:
Sounds as though that human challenge was just as big as the operational challenge of COVID.
Luis Felipe de Oliveira:
Yeah. And, basically, the people that know me, I'm very personal person. I'm very easygoing in terms of the way that I deal with the team. That's why, when I arrived, I put my office in the middle of the office as well. And, basically, I took one year to meet my team. And I remember one of the members of my team now, in my farewell, he mentioned that I was so crazy to meet the people that we booked a meeting in a park, that everybody bring their chairs, in the middle of one year after the COVID started, we are in the park in Montreal, having the first face-to-face meeting after one year in the job. And for someone that likes people, I spent one year sometimes without seeing my team was really tough, as well.
Victoria Moores:
I'm hoping that that first meeting was during the summer, not during the Montreal winter in a park.
Luis Felipe de Oliveira:
Exactly. It was exactly during the summer. I think it was July 2021, something like that. That was a good time to be outside, as well.
Victoria Moores:
Yeah, absolutely. So any other moments that were really impactful during your time as Director General?
Luis Felipe de Oliveira:
Yeah, I think there is a lot of good moments as well. And I think when we did the big [restructuring] of the organization, we created a lot of new programs. We invest a lot in technology. That's why we see the developments of the organization. And I have two moments that I think was really great for the organization, for myself, especially with this staff beginning, as I mentioned, especially in this personal touch with the team. We finally won the Great Place to Work two years in a row. In the second year, that was last year, was with 88% of the approval. That's why I think that shows the leadership, the right approach of the organization.
And the second one, we just opened a new office that is amazing. And, of course, I didn't have a really good enough time to enjoy the office, but basically a new office, completely new office, with a lot of new technology involved, with a lot of open space, with a lot of interaction among the teams. And I think that was a great achievement as well, because that shows as well that we are listening to the team, in terms of how we can improve the organization to deliver our job in a better way. And I think having a good work space is fantastic. Our office was nice but was very old style, very dark with a lot of closed rooms. And, basically, we now have a clean office with a lot of open space, a lot of interactions among the teams.
And I think that was a great achievement, as well, answering the request from the team, the team who really deliver well during these years. Because we, as an executives, we are not alone. We are not there to deliver the job alone. We need to have the involvement and the support of the team. And the team did very well for us to put ACI in another level. And I think ACI is really in another level, compared what it was in the past.
Victoria Moores:
It sounds as though you're stepping out just at, possibly for personal timing, the right time. But for that office environment and that connectivity and that human element, it's a shame that you're not going to get to enjoy that project that you've been working on. So that's reflecting on ACI as an organization. I'm thinking that now you're no longer a representative of ACI World, obviously, that gives you an opportunity to comment personally on the industry and the way that things are developing. And I'm wondering what tough questions do you think are not being asked of the aviation industry and aviation executives?
Luis Felipe de Oliveira:
I believe that one of the things that we are not really addressing well is how we will tackle the right approach of sustainability. Because one thing when you think about Europe, you have a lot of different alternative modes of transport that you can replace for the aviation sector. But in a lot of parts of the world, aviation will play a key role in terms of the development of the countries, as well. I always mention in some of my interviews the example of Medellín and Bogota in Colombia, that is you have one hour flight, and the second alternative mode of transport is 12 hours by bus, or 10 hours by car. There is no way that you build a train that you cross the Andes to connect these two cities. And I think that is the part of the social economic development that is the part of the ESG, environmental, social, and governance, that I think we need to imply in how we can implement that around the world.
So there basically exists a gold standard. I think, in Europe, we have the gold standard, but I think the rest of the world needs to adapt to the reality of the world. And how we can bring the social economic developments, helping these people to be more educated, to treat sustainability in more a serious way. That's why it's not that you don't need to compromise with sustainability, but you need to understand in building blocks how the sustainability will be applied in different parts of the world. How that you bring social economic development again, that you bring these people more awareness about sustainable aspects of the industry, in terms of the waste, in terms of the social understanding of the impacts of their acts as citizens. And I think that's something we need to change in how we can build up this sustainable world that we all expect, not base it all in gold standards, but based it in the realities of development of the people that you need to see around the world.
And I think, if you see the growth of the sector, [it] will come from the Southern Hemisphere, basically. You see India, we see Indonesia, Thailand, you name it, all the countries that you grow. And I think how the world you perceive with this shift on the aviation sector that turns China, the first market in the world, a strong third market as India, new markets coming on the top 10, like Indonesia and others, that say, "How we can convey the sustainability with the growth and with the development of these people?" That's why it's a lot of questions that need to be answered, but they need to have an understanding from the governments. Needs to have understanding from the industry, that is very important to think about the future and how we can address that, as well.
Victoria Moores:
So it sounds like it's the idea of the fact that different markets are at different stages in their development, particularly of their aviation sector. And you've got Europe, which is a mature market really, perhaps leading the way on the world stage, in terms of pushing forwards the sustainability agenda. But that has to take account of the fact that different countries, different regions, are in quite different places. And the infrastructure that you have to support that transition to sustainability is different in different places.
Luis Felipe de Oliveira:
And in certain ways, the good part is we have a lot of greenfield. That's why new investments in this region will be able to cope with this reality. That's why the sustainable reality in the different way because you don't need to rebuild things. You are building things that is already maybe addressing the sustainable half of the industry. My biggest concern is about the people, about how we can engage these people in a more sustainable world. And the only way to do that is bringing education, bringing social and economic development. That's why it's not that we don't need to follow the leaders, in terms of what we need to do in sustainable aspects of industry, but how we can adapt to this new reality of these people that are now engaging in the social and economic development—with the economic development of their countries—and how they can learn to improve that in the future. It's better to have a tourist sector booming in one country and helping these people to not deforest their forests, or not putting waste on the streets, because they are already aligned with the future that is more sustainable.
Victoria Moores:
So it's the idea of everybody coming together and it being a shared agenda, but also it being an opportunity there for these developing markets to start from the bottom up with that. And I'm wondering, that's the view on the global scale of sustainability as an issue across the entirety of the industry, what do you think is the most pressing issue for airports?
Luis Felipe de Oliveira:
In the airports side, we are an ecosystem, as I always mention. And the ecosystem means that we have a lot of different companies that are part of this ecosystem. And, basically, we need more people to [work] with us. We need more people to supporting the development of the airports. And certain parts of the industry are not attractive anymore. That's why how we can continue to attract people to deal with people in our airports, and manage this growth, and manage the customer experience that they expect, and how we can bring the technology to play the role to replace certain positions, but also to turn the life of the travel easy. That's why the mix of people [and] technology advance the industry in the future is that the challenge that you need to figure out how we will make that happen. And I think it's crucial for us to continue to invest, to continue to focus in people and in technology to play a key role in terms of the future.
Victoria Moores:
So far in our interview, I'm picking up on the theme of people, people, people. You were talking about the impact on the people of the pandemic, and of those difficult conversations you had to have. The reconnection of people, that social aspect of mobility for developing countries. And, now, this idea of the education and the dissemination of sustainability among every single stakeholder in the value chain as well. So it's a common thread right the way through. And I'm wondering whether that's going to tie into the next question. It's, what's your most fun memory from your time with ACI World? Is there anything you look back on and it comes to mind?
Luis Felipe de Oliveira:
Well, the fun memories I always have is the opportunity to meet people from different parts of the world. That's why learning a little bit about the culture that I never visited before, or having different food in a restaurant from one of our members that invited me to go there. That's why all again about people, all again about connections, and how we can turn this world better with a better connectivity, better interaction, and a little bit of fun, as well. I think a good smile bring a good opportunity for us to continue to develop this work.
Victoria Moores:
Yeah. And I'm back to imagining that meeting in the middle of the park. There's got to be an element of fun to that.
Luis Felipe de Oliveira:
Exactly.
Victoria Moores:
My final question for you, because we are just about to wrap up, is, what now? What’s next for you, professionally?
Luis Felipe de Oliveira:
After 30 years in the industry, and in different sides of the industry that I don't consider different sides because I think we are all in the same, but I believe that I create, I develop a brand, in terms of my personality in the way that I deal. And I think this brand, this Felipe that everybody knows, could help to do different things in different parts of the industry. And I think that's my intention, continue to support the industry. I cannot go too far from the industry, because I love this industry. And how I can help the industry continue to develop? That's why different projects in different parts of the supply chain, different parts of the industry, I think are my objective from now. And how I can continue to support the development with my personal brand.
Victoria Moores:
And that very, very human focus as well. I'm sure that this is not going to be the last time that we'll be speaking to you about aviation issues. But for today, we need to wrap up the interview. So, thank you very much for joining us, Felipe.
Luis Felipe de Oliveira:
Thank you, Victoria.
Victoria Moores:
Thank you to our producers, Cory Hitt and Guy Ferneyhough. And, of course, a very big thank you to our listeners. As always, please make sure that you don't miss our weekly recordings by signing up via Apple Podcasts or wherever you like to listen. So until next time, this is Victoria Moores disembarking from Window Seat.
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