Tuesday,
November
15,
2022
7:30
AM
-
9:00
AM
7:30 AM Check-In and Breakfast | 8:00 AM Presentation
Keynote Speaker:
Michael A. Giardino, C.M.
Executive Director, Peninsula Airport Commission
Peninsula
Workforce
Development
Center
600 Butler Farm Road • Hampton, VA 23666
TICKETS $25 • SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE
For more information, contact Allie Carson at allie@vpcc.org or (757) 325-8157
Register for event
Michael
A.
Giardino,
C.M.
Commander
U.
S.
Navy
(ret.)
Executive
Director,
Peninsula
Airport
Commission
Mike
retired
after
a
26-year
(13
in
Virginia)
Navy
career.
He
made
numerous
at-sea
deployments,
was
in
the
Pentagon
on
911,
deployed
twice
to
Afghanistan,
and
was
awarded
the
Air
Medal
for
rescuing
110
people
in
the
Tar
River
Valley
of
North
Carolina
in
the
aftermath
of
Hurricane
Floyd
in
September
1999.
He
concluded
his
career
as
Executive
Officer
of
Naval
Air
Station
Key
West,
FL
with
over
2,400
mishap-free
flying
hours
primarily
in
the
H-46
Sea
Knight
helicopter.
After a brief stint as Village Manager/Treasurer in Brockport, NY, Mike was named Director of Aviation at the Greater Rochester International Airport. During his tenure, the airport kept all legacy air carrier service during four airline consolidations, maintained daily non-stops to Toronto on Air Canada, and added ultra-low-cost service on Allegiant Air. In five years, he lowed airline costs by 30%. In 2016 the airport entered a statewide airport revitalization competition for a maximum award of $40M. Mike conceived the project and authored the grant application that was the first competition winner. Bolstered by a $39.8M award, the eventual $79M debt-free project installed innovative technologies that enhanced the passenger experience and specifically made accommodations for passengers and employees with disabilities. The project earned the very first Medium/Small Hub Innovation Award from the American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE) and six additional awards including Mike's two Community Service Awards from the Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA).
Mike came to the Newport News / Williamsburg International Airport (PHF) in November 2017. Prior to COVID, despite the lowest passenger totals in recent memory, PHF's aeronautical revenues were up 12% and load factors were routinely in the high 80th percentile. Although airline traffic picked up in the Summer of 2020, circumstances beyond the control of the airport have caused passenger traffic to decrease further. At present PHF passenger traffic is below 50% of 2019 counts and only 15% of what it was in 2010. The latest challenge has been a regional airline pilot shortage. All that said, the future looks bright as the airport was awarded an $847,000 federal grant to support non-stop service to Dulles International Airport on United Airlines and Avelo Airlines will begin non-stop service to Orlando and Fort Lauderdale International Airports in October 2022.
Mike is the immediate past Chair of the Airports Council International-North America (ACI-NA) Small Airports Committee and served on the ACI-NA U.S. Policy Council. He served on the AAAE Northeast Chapter Board of Directors, is a past president of the New York Aviation Management Association and he is a member of the Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organization Board. He has been featured on local and national television as well as Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) panels on the recent pandemic, Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS), and noise. He holds a B.S. in Meteorology and a M.A. in National Security and Strategic Studies from the Naval War College.
Mike met his wife Janice at their 10th year high school reunion. Their oldest son Kyle is a United States Marine Corp Veteran who deployed to Helmand Province, Afghanistan in 2012 and their son Dominic is a Fulbright Scholar who studied in the Netherlands. Mike and Janice are very happy to be back in the Commonwealth and are proud to call the Virginia Peninsula home.
In Partnership
