Louis Miller, named this week as Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed's pick as the next general manager of Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, said he plans to assess how the airport functions and get to know its key players before proposing changes.
"I think it would be unfair to me to come in and say we want to immediately do things. I want to find out why things are being done the way they are," Miller said.
He added, however, that he sees potential for bringing new competition to the market -- perhaps including Texas-based discounter Southwest Airlines. He also plans to focus immediately on the new international terminal project, which needs a successful sale of construction bonds this fall to stay on track.
Miller, 62, spent the last 14 years running Tampa International Airport and before that was the top executive at Salt Lake City International. He plans to start in his new, $221,000-a-year post on Sept. 27. In his first interview since Reed announced the selection, he spoke with AJC staff writer Ernie Suggs:
Q: First of all, what does this move to Atlanta and Hartsfield-Jackson mean to you?
A: I have been running large airports for 20 years and working in them for 30 years, but to actually have the privilege and the honor to come and run the largest airport in the world in terms of passengers processed and handled -- in one of the best cities in the world – I consider it an honor. The airport is already a great airport. The airport already does things extremely well, but I think there is a process that we can go through to find out how we do things, why we do things and go through and see if we can’t enhance the level of services provided by the airport.
Q: As someone in the airport business, was Atlanta always looked at as someplace special? To aspire to?
A: From my position, I love the airport and it is a great place to be. The airport has done a fantastic job managing what it has done and the growth. To me, it is an opportunity to come here and see if I can improve on that. I told the mayor that my number one goal is to exceed your expectations. Whatever they are, if I can exceed your expectations, we are going to be okay. But I can’t be specific about things other than two things I know need to be looked at – the completion of the international terminal and the financing for it.
Q: Are there any changes you want to implement immediately?
A: I don’t think so. I think it would be unfair to me to come in and say we want to immediately do things. I want to find out why things are being done the way they are. I want to take a systematic approach and I think maybe my first six weeks here will be working with the people who are out there. Not only the employees, but the tenants, the airlines, the concessionaires and working with the Transportation Security Administration and working with Customs and Border Protection. To get to know those folks and find out how they do it, what is the reason and is there a better way to do it. That is the process. If you can get collaborative efforts coming back together – not just my ideas, but their ideas – we can come back and say, maybe we can speed up this process. But never sacrificing safety and security. Customer service is up their equal to them, but safety and security comes first.
Q: What are some of the things in your past that will help you in this position?
A: Construction. Getting things done on budget. Relationships with the airlines. I have a tremendous relationship with the airlines and that is very, very important – they are your major tenants. My involvement in the community. I was very involved in the community in Tampa and Salt Lake City and I plan on being very involved in the community here. Then you have to worry about the citizens. I created a community noise consortium in Tampa. And finally, we have to look long-term. If this airport continues to grow as it has, it is not going to have enough capacity to handle whatever the future is going to be, on the airfield side or on the terminal side. Do we need a new runway? Where are we going to put it? Those are the kind of things you look at long term.
Q: You mentioned your relationship with some of the airlines. How important is that going to be here?
A: I am going to be very aggressive. What you want to do is put together a study that shows that there is a market and you want competition in that market. Then, you can bring in a Southwest Airlines. Fortunately, Atlanta already has AirTran, which is a great airline that has come in here and competed very well. We can bring other airlines in here, but we have to treat them all the same. I have negotiated two long-term airline use agreements, but in Salt Lake City and Tampa. Totally redone the agreements with 100 percent commitment from all the airlines. We are partners.
Q: Is there anything that worries or scares you about this job?
A: Nothing scares me. What would worry me is if we have enough room to expand the capacity and handle the level of growth that is going to come forward. The big issue is to significantly increase international freight. That is a very important issue, but you have to make sure you don’t sacrifice anything else in the growth potential.
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