Flying high

Unbeknown to most travelers who are ferried across the country by commercial passenger airlines, a separate but no less important transportation ecosystem bustles with activity around Fort Worth, Texas.

The city owns three world-class airports: Perot Field Alliance, a hub for billions of dollars’ worth of cargo delivered each year by companies like Amazon and FedEx; Meacham International, which serves charter airlines and the business aviation sector; and Spinks, a fast-growing option for private aircraft and a reliever for the area’s larger airports.

Overseeing the three airports is Roger Venables, a longtime Texan civil servant. Despite having no professional aviation experience until about four years ago when he was appointed the Director of the City of Fort Worth Aviation Systems, the airports have reached new heights under his leadership.

“Mine was not a traditional path to aviation,” he tells The CEO Magazine. “I spent a good majority of my career in real estate, particularly for governmental entities.”

For nearly 30 years, he held real estate and planning roles at the nearby City of Arlington, acquiring properties that would be developed into roads, parks, fire stations and other public utilities. He played a key role in acquiring the land used to develop AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys football team, which was completed in 2009.

After coming to work for the department in 2016, Venables helped develop two capital bond programs worth close to a billion dollars that were invested into critical public infrastructure projects for the city. In these high-stakes roles, he proved himself a capable leader, so when the City of Fort Worth Aviation Systems needed a new leader, he was asked to step in.

Not having technical aviation experience himself, Venables leaned into his preferred style of management.

“I surround myself with really smart, bright, intelligent people and I sit back and listen,” he says. “They handle the technical aspects of the airport operations. All I really need to do is provide the leadership for them to be able to accomplish our shared mission.”

Five-year plan

Leadership that empowers workers and an appropriate division of labor are now more crucial than ever as the City of Fort Worth Aviation Systems embarks on a five-year capital investment plan for the three airports.

“I don’t have a problem when people want to leave the department. Where I would have a problem is if they leave because of the culture,” Venables says.

“I want to build a culture where when things go right, they get the credit and when things go wrong, I take it on the chin.”

In collaboration with

Hillwood Development Company

AllianceTexas marks 35 years of innovation, growth and public–private partnership success. AllianceTexas marks 35 years of innovation, growth and public–private partnership success.

The first aim of the investment plan is to shore up the quality and availability of the airport facilities. This will involve US$165 million worth of capital investments. The second aim is self-sufficiency.

“All our revenues should be paying for all our expenses,” he explains. “As a system and as individual airports, we need to be self-sustaining so we don’t have to rely on anything from the City of Fort Worth’s general fund budget.”

The third aim is to improve customer experiences at the airports.

“All the people or businesses that use our services, whether they’re based at the airfield or transient aircraft owners moving through, they’re all customers from my perspective,” Venables points out. “I want them to have a great experience in Fort Worth.”

Next generation

Like other businesses that rely on heavy capital investment, the City of Fort Worth Aviation Systems has been grappling with the rising costs of goods and labor since the COVID-19 pandemic.

“What we may have budgeted four years ago for a project might cost 40–50 percent more today,” Venables admits.

His solution is to always be “shovel ready” when seeking state or federal funding.

“We’re getting the design work done as early as we can in order to accelerate project delivery,” he says. “So when I go to ask for funding, say for discretionary funding for an improvement on the airfield, I come to them prepared with the design. That also helps them prioritize that funding.”

It also helps to be financially healthy. The City of Fort Worth Aviation Systems’ revenue has grown by 88 percent under Venables’ leadership, reducing operating expenses from 71 percent to 58 percent of revenue.

The department maintains essential partnerships, such as with the Dallas-based development company Hillwood which, through a subsidiary company Alliance Air Management, manages Perot Field Fort Worth Alliance Airport.

“We want to be maximally efficient in our operations and grow revenue at the same time,” he says. “My goal since I’ve been here is to grow revenue 10 percent per year.”

Venables says these achievements will bolster his department’s efforts to introduce advanced air mobility technologies, like unmanned and vertical take-off and landing aircraft, to the three airports over the next few years.

To ensure innovation in the long-term, the department is investing in educating the next generation of aviation experts and enthusiasts. Every weekend, the two aviation museums at Meacham International host students from across Texas, introducing them to the facility and its collection of vintage aircraft.

“I’m a big proponent of education,” Venables says. “When students get out on the airfield and we take them on tours of our facility and the aircraft, our rescue response facilities, you can see the excitement on their faces.”

In collaboration with

Hillwood Development Company

AllianceTexas marks 35 years of innovation, growth and public–private partnership success. AllianceTexas marks 35 years of innovation, growth and public–private partnership success. Read More