I love working here!

I was over at Spanish Landing during my lunch break the other day and witnessed a charming interaction. (How lucky are we to work right across the street from such a lovely park, right on San Diego Bay?!)

While I was eating my lunch, I couldn’t help but overhear an excited family next to me. They had just dropped dad off at the airport and were anxiously awaiting his plane’s takeoff so they could wave goodbye. Isn’t that sweet? You don’t see as much of that as you used to, now that flying has become such a routine part of most of our lives.

It was rewarding to hear the family’s awe and wonder as they watched the enormous machines take flight. I think we take for granted sometimes just how awesome aviation is.

Not to mention how many lives we touch. Whether it’s dad going off on a business trip or a friend visiting San Diego for vacation, everything we do here at the airport is making a difference in people’s lives. What a great incentive to give our best every day!

Lights ... camera ... Shamu!

In early June I spent close to eleven hours at Gate 1 and 2 working on the new TSA Security Tips Video for San Diego International Airport that was unveiled on this blog July 7. The experience was a total blast, and it was rewarding being involved with a project you know will have a lasting impression on our customers.

I wanted to step back and talk about the “behind the scenes” of the filming and give some more details.

1. The pioneer in "infotainment" TSA videos is Las Vegas' McCarran International Airport, which has a video featuring “celebrity” travelers drawn from Las Vegas icons like the Blue Man Group, Carrot Top ... and even “Elvis.” You can watch the video here (after linking, click on 'Traveller T.I.P.S Videos' to the left).

2. Our regional partners in this project were incredible. These agencies were a pleasure to work with:

• Transportation Security Administration (TSA)
• San Diego Padres (The Friar)
• San Diego Zoo (Bamboo Panda)
• Lego Land California (Johnny Thunder)
• Sea World (Shamu)

3. Filming takes a ling time. I have a new sense of patience. The scene where Johnny Thunder empties the coins from his pocket and takes his shoes off -- we must have done those takes fifty times! The TSA agents featured in the video are real live people. Make sure and say “hi” if you see them around SDIA. Also, there are a number of Authority staff in the background -- who can you spot?

4. The internal people who made this project possible need to be recognized: Landside Operations; Marketing; Public, Community & Customer Relations ... plus the TSA and support from Southwest Airlines.

5. And finally: There are no small parts, only small actors (unless your name is Shamu).

A short summer break for the Ambassablog

The Goodwill Ambassablog has been quiet for that last couple of weeks.  Consider it a brief summer break for the Ambassablog.  (Blogs, like people, need a break once in a while.) But stay tuned for fresh posts from the Ambassabloggers in the next week! In the meantime, take a look around, scroll down and visit the archives in the right-hand sidebar. You'll find a wide variety of information and perspectives on life at San Diego International Airport. 

All about EONS

One of the biggest buzzwords we’ve been hearing in recent years has been “sustainability”. As the 1990s helped everyone get a greener consciousness, business practices have moved towards a more sustainable operation model, realizing that taking care of the environment goes hand in hand with helping the bottom line.

The Airport Authority is no late-comer to this trend. In fact, I think we’re pretty pioneering in terms of extending the concept of sustainability to encompass more than just being green.

In February of this year, the Airport Authority Board adopted a Sustainability Policy based on a concept called EONS -— a recognition that what we do as an organization impacts many generations to come. Developed by a working group of the Airports Council International - North America (ACI-NA), EONS is an acronym (and businesses love those!). Each letter signifies one of the four elements of sustainability as it relates to airports and the aviation industry:

· Economic Viability

· Operational Excellence

· Natural Resource Conservation and Preservation

· Social Responsibility

I think EONS is yet another component of what makes us such a dynamic organization. It helps us all look in broader terms about what it really means to be sustainable.

Look for more posts from me on this topic, since it’s a subject near and dear to my own interests as a professional community planner for the Airport Authority!

Where are we going? Destination Lindbergh!

Through some earlier posts I have alluded to one of the newest, most exciting projects that I am working on – Destination Lindbergh: The Ultimate Build Out. The endeavor is a multi-agency initiative to plan the long-term future of the airport.

The cornerstone of the project is the daily collaboration we at the airport are having with our regional partners (namely the City of San Diego and SANDAG). San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders is Chairman of the Ad Hoc Airport Regional Policy Committee, which is guiding the project to the February, 2009, finish line.

Other regional partners represented on this important committee are the Port of San Diego, the County of San Diego, the Metropolitan Transit System, the North County Transit District and the U.S. Department of Defense. The Ad Hoc Airport Regional Policy Committee meets every three weeks on Thursdays starting at 7:15 a.m. at the Airport Authority Board Room in the Commuter Terminal. In fact, they're meeting tomorrow!

Also supporting Destination Lindbergh is a Technical Committee and a special subcommittee of the Airport Advisory Committee, which both provide valuable input to staff and the consultant team at every step of the project.

A new Destination Lindbergh website has agendas, meeting notes and presentations for each of the meetings, as well as other information about Destination Lindbergh.

In planning the long-term future of the airport, the goals Destination Lindbergh are to:

• Analyze and consider economic and environmental sustainability
• Optimize operational efficiency
• Integrate multiple modes of transportation
• Evaluate the entire airport, as well as adjacent properties

In the Airport Planning Department, one of the things we’re currently working on to support Destination Lindbergh is an updated passenger forecast for the airport. We are also starting work on various intermodal transit concepts.

As Destination Lindbergh progresses, I’ll give you updates. In the meantime, If you’d like to really delve into the process and the data, you can visit www.destinationlindbergh.com.

And the next time you are asked, “Where are we headed?” – now you know the answer: DESTINATION LINDBERGH!