Steps to recovery
Challenges and opportunities in aviation

On March 25th we're joined by a panel of aviation professionals from across the globe, to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing the aviation industry as we take the next few steps towards recovery!

meet the panel

Vancouver, Canada

Curtis Grad, President of Modalis Infrastructure Partners Inc. 

Curtis Grad has over 25 years of international executive-level experience in airport development, planning, divestiture and privatization, spanning Canada, United States, Jamaica, Cyprus, Jordan and Panama, with extensive hands-on background in complex Build-Operate-Transfer/Public-Private-Partnerships.  He is the president, CEO and founding partner of Vancouver-based Modalis Infrastructure Partners Inc., strategic investment advisory and professional services company specializing in international transport infrastructure privatization, investment, development and operations. Curtis will be the moderator of the event.
Orlando, United States

FIN BONSET, DIRECTOR OF AVIATION SERVICES, VHB

Fin is an accomplished airport development consulting professional with both technical and managerial/leadership experience spanning 22 years. Fin has worked on both domestic (U.S.) and international stages and is well-versed with both FAA and ICAO recommended practices, rules, and regulations. In the spirit of promoting aviation, Fin enjoys teaching and has held an adjunct professor position at the Florida Institute of Technology College of Aeronautics for the last 15 years. He also holds a FAA commercial pilot license with instrument rating for both single and multi-engine aircraft.

As Director of Aviation Services, Fin leads a core team of aviation professionals in various regions across the VHB footprint and is responsible for promoting and leading strategic company initiatives on all aviation-related disciplines within VHB including planning, environmental, transportation (roadway, rail, and other multi-modal elements), applied technology, and sustainability/resiliency. Strategic focus areas include: overall aviation business development, new market initiatives (UAS, Commercial Spaceport, Modeling/Simulation, IT), core discipline market enhancements, and building VHB’s overall market presence.
West Lafayette, United States

SARAH HUBBARD, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR,
School of Aviation and Transportation Technology at Purdue University

Sarah Hubbard is an Associate Professor in the School of Aviation and Transportation Technology at Purdue University where she teaches airport management, research methods and business process improvement and conducts research related to airports and supporting transportation modes.  
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Dr. Hubbard is a licensed professional engineer and a Certified Member of the American Association of Airport Executives.  She serves on the Airports Subcommittee of the Research, Engineering and Development Advisory Committee, which provides advice and recommendations to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and two aviation committees of the Transportation Research Board.  Dr. Hubbard has conducted research for a variety of sponsors including FAA and the Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP); she also recently completed a project to support local agency operations during contagious illness outbreak. 
The Hague, Netherlands

ANNA FANTONI, Senior Planner and Operations specialist, NACO

Anna is a Senior Planner and Operations Specialist. She recently joined NACO after having held management roles at both Sydney and San Francisco international airports and senior roles at an airport consultancy firm in the U.S. She has more than 20 years of experience in airport planning, operations, technology applications, customer experience, and commercial development. 

NACO is a world-leading airport consultancy and engineering firm with over 65 years of experience in the aviation and air transport industry. NACO's range of services extends to all aspects of airport development, from project initiation, traffic forecasting and economic feasibility studies, to due diligence and business consultancy, site selection, master planning, preliminary and final design, preparation of tender documents, pre-qualification of contractors, construction management and supervision.
Amsterdam, Netherlands

Marcel Lekkerkerk, Director route & Business Development
​Amsterdam Airport schiphol

Marcel is an aviation professional with 31 years’ experience in the airport industry, serving airlines and passengers. He spent the first seven years of his career at BAA in the UK as an Airport Planner, working on the development of BAA’s own airports in England and Scotland, as well as BAA’s overseas airport acquisition projects. Marcel joined Royal Schiphol Group in 1996 as a Consultant in their international division, and in 2000 he transferred to Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. In his position as Director Route & Business Development Marcel is responsible for attracting and retaining business from airline customers from Europe and North America. 

​Amsterdam Airport Schiphol is one of the world’s busiest airports, welcoming a record of nearly 72 million passengers in 2019. AMS is also one of the oldest airports in the world, celebrating its centenary in 2016 with King Willem-Alexander granting our parent company Schiphol Group the right to use the prefix “Royal”. As the home base of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol is a major hub for the SkyTeam alliance.
Washington D.C,
​United States

ANDREW NDOLO, Airport planner, project manager & commercial pilot
Metropolitan washington airports authority

Andrew Ndolo's background is in Airport Master Planning Processes, Knowledge of transportation management, air traffic rules and procedures, airport operations, aircraft characteristics, airport facilities, parking, utilities, and infrastructure. He has also been working with evaluating feasibility of improvements for airport facilities and air- and landside transportation. Andrew provides technical analysis and advice regarding airfield issues such as: FAA airfield planning and design standards, Aircraft Design Group, runway/taxiway/taxilane design standards, apron layouts, and airfield geometry. 
Gothenburg, Sweden

ben van leest, senior vice president aviation, Transoft Solutions

Ben van Leest holds a MSc Civil Engineering from Delft University of Technology in The Netherlands and heads the Aviation business unit at Transoft Solutions. After working in an airport project management role with the Royal Dutch Airforce, Ben spent more than 10 years with Netherlands Airport Consultants (NACO), including 3 years stationed in Thailand and Laos. After returning to The Netherlands and a 2 year on-site placement at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Ben moved to Sweden where he has spent the last 22 years involved with the development and sales of software solutions for the airport planning sector.
Please note: This webinar has already been held. A recorded version is available in our webinar library.
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