9th Americas GHI Conference

Orlando boom

A record-breaking GHI Americas conference was held in Orlando on 3-5 June. The Editor tells us more.

Disney World in Orlando was built upon Walt Disney’s dream to create a place “where the young at heart of all ages can laugh and play and learn together.” Ironically the same can be said about the 9th GHI Americas conference held just minutes away from Universal’s mega-entertainment hub — minus the roller coasters.
Held at the luxurious Rosen Shingle Creek hotel on the Universal Boulevard, the conference attracted 575 delegates on 3-5 June, surpassing 550 in Toronto in 2024. Plus there were sixty two exhibitors and 55 airline carriers registered, which again were new records set for the growing regional event. More impressively was that over 2,300 One-to-One meetings were held across the three-day conference.
Welcoming and thanking delegates for their support on the opening day of the conference, Max Gosney, GHI Conference Chairman and Portfolio Director, said: “For me looking back, it doesn't seem like a long time ago that I joined my first GHI conference, the second Americas [conference] in Miami, in 2016. We had about 180 people and 20 exhibitors, so to see the event growth and scale that we have here in Orlando today is both extremely exciting and satisfying to see and a reflection on the growth in the wider Americas aviation market. That kind of expansion really doesn’t happen without your kind support. Many of you have been with us since the start of Miami and have been with us on the journey and pushed us along the way to develop the event on the scale that we see here in Orlando, so I just wanted to start by saying thank you all very much.”
Gosney then offered special thanks to the event’s sponsors including Platinum Sponsors: AGI and Wilcox GSE, Gold Sponsors: Avro GSE, dnata and Samsic Assistance and WFS, Silver Sponsors: ASAK and TLD as well as a number of their special sponsors such as Abomis, ACT, Mercury GSE, TCR, Avro GSE, Textron GSE and Fortbrand. John Meisterl, Economist at IATA, began the first conference session on Market Outlook: The Americas market — boom time or a bubble about to burst. He discussed global economic trends, including the impact of trade tariffs, made reference to a ‘front loading’ effect of industries racing against Trump’s measures being implemented, and the backlog of aircraft deliveries.
There was a slowdown in North American growth, a decline of 1.1% for March compared to the previous year in RPK terms in contrast to continued expansion in Latin America, an 8% increase for the same period. Meisterl said that we could a expect a buoyant growth period in the second quarter of 2025 because of summer time but capacity in Europe was a major challenge. “On the cargo side it has been a little bit more resilient in some markets,” he said. “However, in Africa and the Middle East it has been falling. Latin America has been growing and North America is not falling because we are still seeing part of that front-loading effect.”

Next up in the Big Debate: Ongoing boom or economic gloom? The outlook for the Americas and a ground handling strategy to fit, Gosney asked the panel what advice business leaders would give the industry at this time of economic volatility and high staff attrition rates.
Nelson Calmacho, CEO NOAM, Swissport, said: “We all understand the history that we've gone through post-Covid when it comes to human capital, so I think the prioritisation of people and culture during these moments is a winning strategy, and one that fits to pay off.”
Roger Larreur, Chief Commercial Officer, AGI, told delegates while AGI monitors trends and forecasts as a business they have operational flexibility thanks to the diversification of their lines of business. “We need to continue to be agile,” he said.
Atul Kumria, VP – Airport Services, Spirit Airlines, agreed about diversification and also resource management, adding: “Manpower is key for us and of course, technology plays a role and cost stability. How do we make sure that we stay aligned with all the dynamics which are changing in the market?”
Morgan Gresens, VP & GM, Textron GSE, stated the importance of knowing the customer irrespective of the environment, and added: “As Roger mentioned, being operationally flexible, it's very important for us to stay in line with what our customers are experiencing, so that we can respond and help them as well. So we really tried to ramp up the customer interactions we have, the communications we have, and also just creating as much transparency as we possibly can to drive stability in an incredibly unstable environment.”

All-electric GSE pooling at JFK Terminal
Marisa Von Wieding, Vice President of Operations, the new Terminal One at JFK led the panel discussion alongside Kevin Constant, Commercial Director Americas, TCR, on transformation of JFK Terminal 1 and the world’s first 100% pooled electric ground support equipment (GSE) system in line with net zero emissions reductions by 2050. TCR will be managing and maintaining the equipment which involves 700 more GSE, including gate-allocated and shared assets.
Von Wieding said: “We will be the first terminal in the world to commit to 100% pooled electric ground support equipment. This initiative supports our partner Port Authority's goal to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. As a result of this decision, our approach to ground handling will be a game changer. Another really key component is the engagement of all the stakeholders, and how critical everybody is in working together, terminal operators, the NCO. I obviously entered into an agreement with TCR as a polling provider, and I also have agreements with airline partners, airline use agreements and we are now actually engaged in an RFP for ground handling.” Constant from TCR, which is in located in more than 200 countries and manages roughly 50,000 assets today, told the audience: “We're looking at roughly 700 motorised and non motorized assets as of day one in a fully electric operation, so every single operation, every single gate of Terminal One is going to be fully electric, which is obviously a unique setup.”
TCR will be monitoring the operations 24/7 alongside the other stakeholders and decrease emissions that New Terminal One has set in terms of the overall operation. “All assets will be fully equipped with automatics. But we're also going further in terms of the allocation of the GSE, especially the charging sessions for the equipment,” he added.
Desirez Perez, an Operations, Leadership Development and Change Management consultant, was up next to speak on Skills: AI vs Attrition, alongside Cecilia Guillen, Head of Business Development, Moonware.
Perez encouraged delegates to think about AI as an amplifier. “What if we could actually create an environment where we have more analytics, more data, and actually our supervisors and frontline leaders have the opportunity to coach more, to be more present with our employees to actually build relationship and build connection, and then therefore drive employee engagement and retention.”

Day 2
The following day David Barker opened the session talking about the ‘Station of Tomorrow’ in Orlando, explaining each facet of the turnaround and the unique players making it happen, from Oshkosh AeroTech with its JetDock technology to deploying all-electric GSE to using LiDAR collision proximity technology from Evitado and Vision AI for turnaround checklist monitoring.
“We’ve worked with Evitado closely, and we actually created a mount to the pushback of every pushback that actually allows you to pushback aircraft in danger situations, do hard turns at remote stands. If anything enters the circle of safety, alarms go off, and we can shut down the pushback. So what does that mean? When I talk about optimization, innovation, our biggest aviation accidents in the US, by far, were remote tows. Since we've installed these [mounts], we've had zero remote tow incidents. So guess what? We are now saving up 38% on insurance costs”.
Following Orlando they hope to establish a ‘Station of Tomorrow’ in San Diego and then Boston and at the new JFK, T6.
Another aspect of the ‘Station of Tomorrow’ in Orlando are wireless ramp headsets, provided by dBD Communications, which dnata Gino told delegates “dBD communications has been a fantastic partner along the way.”
Wireless headsets significantly improve safety by reducing fatalities and incidents and allows for real-time communication among ground crew members and the flight deck, enhancing coordination and response times. However as David O’Connell, MD of dBD Communications, explains there is still resistance from companies to go wireless completely. “From my perspective, because there isn't an overarching governance that says this is the safe way to do it, therefore you have to use wireless, there is still this reluctancy, which is actually more prominent in Europe than it is in America where it does seem to be moving towards wireless at a much faster pace, but certainly in Europe, there’s a reluctancy to go wireless and stay with an old method of wired [sets].”
The afternoon conference session focused on PRM services and aviation accessibility, featuring a panel of experts. William Neece, Director of Airport Solutions from Ozion highlighted the importance of seamless passenger journeys, mentioning a 30% daily adoption rate for their passenger companion app. Margo von Bokhoven, PRM Solutions Manager from Inform, discussed their software's role in planning and real-time operations, emphasising the need for efficient resource management. Adam Richards, Senior Manager, Strategic Sourcing from American Airlines noted a 25% increase in PRM services from 2019 to 2024, stressing the importance of partnerships and technology. And Brett Heising, Principal, BH Accessibility Consulting, underscored the economic impact of people with disabilities, citing $175 billion in discretionary income. They all agreed for the need for better training, technology, and collaboration to improve PRM services.
Heising encapsulated the dilemma that many staff members face when interacting with people with disabilities, speaking from his own personal experience. He said: “It doesn't matter why the passenger needs the service. If they request the service, they know why. Nobody knows the passenger's disability better than that individual. For example, I can’t tell you how many times during any given journey from airport A to airport B, I have to answer the question, ‘Do you need an aisle chair?’ And then I wait, pause, ‘I do not’. And then their minds are blown. But wait, ‘you’re in a wheelchair’. ‘Correct, but I have cerebral palsy, I do not have a spinal cord injury, and, you know, the amount of time that it takes to explain that, and they go, after I eloquently explain it, they go, ‘you sure?’ I go, ‘Yeah, I'm sure’. So that’s where the customer service training comes in. It’s about learning to acknowledge the customer. The customer knows better than anybody, right? And there's no malice there. There’s nobody’s trying to be repetitive, like they’re all trying to do their best. And I think that’s critically important. That’s why I say there's strength in kindness. But you've got to trust that the passenger knows best, and if they’ve recently had a stroke or they're incommunicative, typically, they'll be with somebody who can answer those questions for them.”

Exhibitors
Speaking after the event, Gosney told GHI: “Thank you to all of our friends in the Americas who got behind the GHI Conference in a big way. We’re delighted to have achieved a new attendance record and also hit a new benchmark for the number of attending airlines, exhibitors and on-site meetings. This wasn’t just about the numbers, the quality of the networking and discussion on site were also exceptional according to attendee feedback and that is what GHI strives for. It’s both exciting and hugely satisfying to see the growth in this Americas Conference and we’re confident that there’s more to come. Thanks everyone and see you in Panama next year." David Dick, President of Wilcox GSE, who sponsored the GHI golf tournament, said: "The GHI Americas Conference continues to be the most valuable event we attend as a company. It brings together the right people—buyers, suppliers, and decision-makers—and creates an environment that’s efficient, focused, and productive. In Orlando, we had over 30 productive meetings, and the feedback on Wilcox GSE products was outstanding. We’re already seeing strong momentum from those conversations. It’s a great opportunity to share what we’re working on, introduce new products, and build relationships across the industry. We were proud to sponsor both the golf tournament and the conference as a Platinum Sponsor, and we’re looking forward to supporting future events, including Panama in 2026."
Pertti Mero, CEO of Airport College International, said: "The GHI Americas Conference 2025 in Orlando highlighted a major change in the mindset of our industry: training is no longer just a necessary obligation; it is now at the heart of strategy. In our discussions with aviation professionals, it became clear that training is about more than just meeting compliance requirements. It’s about building a competitive advantage, enhancing operational safety, and supporting long-term sustainability goals.” John Boult, Managing Director of Damarel, said: "GHI Americas consistently delivers on its promise to bring together key players in the ground handling sector, making it an indispensable event for our business development and relationship building. We look forward to future editions!"

The next Americas GHI Conference will be held at the Panama Convention Centre next year from 2-4 June.