‘Light at the end of the tunnel,’ new airport CEO declares

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This article was published 23/02/2022 (1690 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Tuesday was the first day on the job for Nick Hays as the new CEO of the Winnipeg Airports Authority.

Hays, an industry veteran who was based in Vancouver for the past five years, has worked in many places around the world including several temperate Asian locations.

So perhaps it was fitting that his introduction to his new posting would be on a bone-chilling Winnipeg winter day.

On the cold weather, Hays said, “It will be an adjustment but it has been a very warm reception and I’m very glad to be here.”

Hays takes over roughly two years into the pandemic that has wiped out close to 75 per cent of the WAA’s revenue.

But rather that talk about running an enterprise that’s in the middle of a downward spiral, Hays is looking to the future and with the pandemic subsiding, it will trigger improved projections for the industry.

“The whole industry has been severely impacted by the pandemic,” he said in his first media interview since his appointment was announced at the beginning of the month.

“The Winnipeg Airports Authority is no different. We have not been immune to that by any stretch of the imagination. But there is light at the end of the tunnel.”

His most recent posting was as the Canadian head of Vanderlande, a global market leader in logistics automation solutions for the aviation, courier/express/parcel, e-commerce and warehousing sectors.

That makes him very familiar with the air cargo business, perhaps the one element that differentiates the Winnipeg airport more than anything else.

Hays said that cargo offers plenty of opportunities for it to continue to play a key role for the airport in its job as an engine for economic growth.

“There are certain investments and projects under way in order for us to continue to tap into that opportunity and grow that market and grow our position as a cargo hub and fundamentally to support the economy here,” Hays said

In addition to being introduced to Winnipeg on a classically cold day, he also was greeted by an announcement from Air Canada about the launch of new services on four transborder and three domestic routes, as well as the restoration of 41 North American routes this summer.

But the only Winnipeg addition is a weekly flight to Ottawa.

Asked about the prospects of attracting new routes and new airlines, Hays said it is a process that will take time.

“Every airport has seen a dramatic drop in connectivity in air service,” he said. “We are no different. The key is to continue to have a good, open, collaborative approach with the airlines and to work with them closely, understand their needs and supporting them and helping them to re-open and restore connectivity.”

Like everywhere else, Winnipeggers are itching to travel. Hays said it’s his job and the job of the airport to ensure “that we can facilitate that in a safe and secure way with a great experience for the passengers and for the carriers.”

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca