"Sea-Tac chief leaving on a high note"

Tuesday, May 18, 2004

Airport chief leaving on a high note 
BY JOHN GILLIE
The Tacoma (WA) News Tribune 


In the more than 10 years since Gina Marie Lindsey began her tenure as
Sea-Tac Airport's managing director, the aviation world has changed
dramatically. 

A score of airlines have come and gone, victims of aviation's
ever-changing business environment. Security has become a huge and
expensive concern following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and
the vaunted hub-and-spoke system that once helped major airlines
dominate the industry has been successfully overcome by low-cost
airlines flying smaller planes from point to point.

With airline traffic building quicker than airport capacity could match
it at the end of the last decade, Sea-Tac launched a $4 billion capital
construction plan that included a major terminal expansion, a new
concourse and a controversial third runway.

Even as most of those projects were well under way, the aviation
business staggered into a slump and traffic dropped. Now the airport
faces a future where its costs will rise dramatically just as airlines
try to pare expenses to survive.

Lindsey, by most accounts, has been successful coping with those swift
changes in what until the last decade was considered the "man's world"
of aviation management. In 2003, she was elected chairwoman of the
Airports Council International, the first woman to hold that job.

But the death of her son, Tulane University student Jeremy Houk, under
mysterious circumstances last year and her husband's promotion to a
senior executive position with the world's largest cruise-line company,
Carnival Corp., caused her to rethink her career plan.

Lindsey this month announced she will leave her $196,000 Sea-Tac job in
mid-August. She discussed her decision and the challenges facing the
aviation industry and her successor with The News Tribune.

Q: You're leaving Sea-Tac this August after 11 years as its chief
executive. What prompted you to move on?

A: Tom (Dow, her husband) and I had talked about doing this since he
took his job (as vice president of public affairs for Carnival). Tom
travels a lot in his job, and we could have lived either in Miami (where
Carnival has its headquarters) or in Washington, D.C.

Both of us had long talked about wanting to do a stint in Washington,
D.C., before we retire, and this presented that opportunity.

I need to put a future life together that doesn't have the same
centerpiece that it used to. A different job, a different town and a
different house - that will facilitate that kind of evolution.

I told (Port of Seattle CEO) Mic (Dinsmore) early this year to start
thinking about my successor.

Q: Now that you've made the decision, how do you feel? 

A: I have quite ambivalent feelings about leaving the airport.

I love the job, and I'm very pleased with the team we've built. But I
will have worked there 11 years by the time I leave this summer.

Leaders have a shelf life, and mine is about up.

I've given about all I have to give to the airport, and it's time to
bring in someone fresh. I'm ready for new challenges.

Q: And the leadership team that you're leaving behind?

A: Fortunately we have a very deep bench at the airport.

Mark (Reis, the new airport director) is very competent and ready to do
the job. I gave him my very strong endorsement. He's been very involved
in every aspect of airport management for quite a while now.

I feel I'll be leaving Sea-Tac in good hands.

Q: What are the biggest jobs facing Reis and his team? 

A: His most immediate job will be finishing up our major capital
expansion projects.

When we open the South Terminal in June, we'll be about halfway done
with the major projects at Sea-Tac. But we're well along with
construction (of the Central Terminal Expansion Project) and planning
for the third runway.

The trick will be keeping the airport self-sustaining after a major
expansion while keeping the costs down for our airline customers who are
still struggling to make money.

Q: Airlines are still scrambling to stay alive in the post-9/11 era.
What problems will airports such as Sea-Tac face as their main customers
adjust to a changed business climate?

A: I think it's very important for Sea-Tac and other major airports to
remain self-sustaining with user fees. That may mean a shift in our
priorities.

In the past, we've catered to the airlines, who were our major
customers. But we're learning that airlines can go away and take planes
with them.

We're very fortunate that at Sea-Tac we're a strong origin and
destination airport. About 76 percent of our passengers either originate
or end their trips here. The hub airports are much more vulnerable to
changes in the airline industry. An airline that is a major user at
those airports, like Pittsburgh has found, can go away almost overnight
and the traffic falls steeply.

At an origin and destination airport, the names on the airplane tails
may change, but the customers will be there.

Q: What about yourself? What will you do?

A: I honestly do not know. I'm drawn to the public policy area. Of
course, I'd want to take advantage of my background in aviation.

I'll go where there's a need, either in the private arena or in
government.

Gina Marie Lindsey

Position: Sea-Tac Airport managing director

Salary: $196,000

Age: 50

Education: Bachelor's degree in communications, Walla Walla College

Career: Lindsey was director of Anchorage International Airport before
coming to Sea-Tac in 1993.

Family: Husband, Tom Dow, an executive with Carnival Corp.

Attached Photo:
 
"I'll go where there's a need, either in the private area or in
government," Gina Marie Lindsey says of her plans after she leaves her
job as Sea-Tac Airport managing director in August. "I'm ready for new
challenges."

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