Candace McGraw, CEO of Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International (CVG), took over the position of chair for the Airports Council International – North America Board of Directors earlier this week at the trade group’s annual meeting.
McGraw takes over from Bill Vanecek, director of aviation at Buffalo Niagara International (BUF).
McGraw will be the first ACI-NA chair to serve for a two-year term. She has led CVG as CEO since July 2011. Prior to this role she held leadership positions at Cleveland Airport System, Cleveland City Council and the Ohio Lottery Commission.
“ACI-NA remains committed to our mission to advocate policies and provides services that strengthen the ability of airports to serve their passengers, customers and communities,” said ACI-NA President and CEO Kevin Burke. “Under Bill’s leadership, airports have made significant progress in advancing airport priorities in Washington and Ottawa. We appreciate his dedication to our association and the airport industry.”
“Though airports have made recent progress, our work is far from over,” continued Burke. “As the CEO of one of North America’s highest-rated airports, Candace will bring broad industry expertise and a deep understanding of the unique challenges our industry faces. We look forward to further advancing the airport industry under Candace’s leadership.”
McGraw expressed her eagerness to take on the role. “Airports and our stakeholders — airlines, government regulators and community members— are all partners that want the same goal of safe and efficient transit of passengers and goods to grow the economy,” she said. “During my time as chair, I would like to focus on working collaboratively and collectively with our stakeholders to accomplish shared goals that move the aviation industry forward.”
Lew Bleiweis, executive director of the Greater Asheville Regional Airport Authority, moved into the vice chair position, and Vanecek will now serve as the immediate past chair. Lance Lyttle, managing director of Seattle-Tacoma International (SEA), was elected to the ACI-NA Board of Directors, and Brian Ryks, executive director and CEO of the Metropolitan Airports Commission, was re-elected to serve for another three-year term.
Elected to the U.S. Policy Council were Ricky Smith, CEO of Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall (BWI), and Jim Gill, president and CEO of Gerald R. Ford International Airport Authority.
New leadership of the 2017-2018 ACI-NA World Business Partners/Associates Board of Directors was also announced during at the conference, with Laddie Irion of HNTB Corp. to serve as chair and Ana Sotorrio of Aviation Strategies & Trade Solutions as vice chair. Other members newly elected include Monica Newhouse-Rodriguez of Newhouse & Associates, Stephen Pelham of Jacobs and Ben Zandi of Fraport USA.
