CEO Mark Gale at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.  JOCK FISTICK

By Matthew Arrojas – Reporter, South Florida Business Journal, February 5, 2020

Mark Gale’s first foray into the world of aviation came right out of high school when he joined Altair Airlines. But after weeks of training, his instructor called to tell him he didn’t need to come into work the next day.

The airline folded, and everyone lost their jobs.

He now calls that moment the catalyst for the rest of his career.

Undeterred and still hungry to navigate a career in aviation, Gale packed his bags for Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach.

After three weeks of a work-study internship at the Philadelphia International Airport midway through his studies, Gale fell in love with the idea of running an airport.

Where does your love for aviation come from? I made acquaintance with my [high school] guidance counselor, whose office happened to be across the hall from my first-period Spanish class. He was a [former] pilot and knew that I liked aviation, and he would call me over every time that he would learn of an aviation college that he thought I should keep my eyes on. I would go to his office and he’d just show me these books on different aviation colleges. It set me on a greater path for an aviation career. The bad part was that I missed so much Spanish class, I don’t think I can speak any Spanish as a result.

When you started at Embry-Riddle, what did you see yourself doing? I came [to the school] with the intention of becoming an air traffic controller, but one night I just happened to be sitting next to a couple of air traffic controllers from Jacksonville [Air Route Traffic Control] Center. I spent the better part of the night talking to them and, by the end of it, I didn’t want to be an air traffic controller anymore. Not that they said it was a poor profession, but I had a desire to be out and about and involved in a whole bunch of different things.

How do you keep the job from feeling stale? You should walk in our shoes one day. One of the absolute best things about being an airport CEO – regardless of the size of airport – is that virtually every single day is different. I bounce around from meeting to meeting and topic to topic. I can be talking about something on a public relations side or a guest experience issue, and now I’m over to financial discussion, over to capital development, over to a security issue, then jump downtown to the government center to engage with elected officials.

Why did you decide to come work at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport? I would say that the opportunity to grow was definitely part of the appeal. I think that everybody saw there was opportunity there, but I think everybody underestimated it.

Do you have a favorite aviation-related movie? I don’t even know where to begin. I’m a real big fan of the movie “Airplane!” There’re too many lines in that movie that I can quote. “Air Force One” with Harrison Ford was another one that I liked.

Is there a place you like to travel to the most for leisure? I’ve been fortunate that both my wife and I have been able to do a lot of personal traveling through the years, particularly through Europe. Our favorite place, I’d say, to visit outside of the United States is Italy. We’ve been there probably six or seven times, and I don’t think there’s any part of the country that we don’t like.

What day in your FLL career sticks out to you the most? The day that everybody will remember at this airport is Jan. 6, 2017, when we had a shooting where five people lost their lives, six additional people were shot and dozens more were injured running for safety. People went running across runways, jumping fences, walking across railroad tracks and hiding in the parking garage under cars. There’s not much at an airport that I haven’t seen or experienced, but that day was the hardest. But it’s also when the rest of our team really demonstrated who we are. They rose to the occasion.

What changed as a result of that day? We spent a lot of time talking to other airports and preaching that it can happen to you. It will happen to you. You won’t know when, you won’t know why, you don’t know where, but it seems to have become part of who we are as a society, and it’s going to continue to happen. If they can learn anything from us, in terms of how to be prepared, we hope to be that resource from them.

___________________
MARK GALE
Age: 57
Birthplace: Levittown, Pennsylvania
Residence: Fort Lauderdale
Current position: CEO, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport
Previous position: CEO, Philadelphia International Airport
Education: Aviation management degree, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Boards: American Association of Airport Executives, Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance, Greater Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce

Florida Airports

Ranked by Total passengers, 2017

Rank  Airport (Code)                                                                                               Total Passengers

1        Orlando International Airport (MCO)                                                                        44.61 million
2        Miami International Airport (MIA)                                                                            44.07 million
3        Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL)                                               32.51 million

4        Tampa International Airport (TPA)                                                                             9.62 million
5        Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW)                                                           8.84 million
6        Palm Beach International Airport (PBI)                                                                     6.32 million
7        Jacksonville International Airport (JAX)                                                                     5.59 million
8        Orlando Sanford International Airport (SFB)                                                              2.92 million
9        St. Petersburg/Clearwater International Airport (PIE)                                                 2.06 million
10      Pensacola International Airport (PNS)                                                                        1.67 million
11      Punta Gorda Airport (PGD)                                                                                       1.29 million
12      Sarasota Bradenton International Airport (SRQ)                                                         1.18 million
13      Destin-Fort Walton Beach Airport (VPS)                                                                     1.18 million
14      Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport (ECP)                                                    897,679
15      Key West International Airport (EYW)                                                                            763,557
16      Tallahassee International Airport (TLH)                                                                          730,919
17      Daytona Beach International Airport (DAB)                                                                    720,825
18      Orlando Melbourne International Airport (MLB)                                                               467,096
19      Gainesville Regional Airport (GNV)                                                                                 443,795
20      Northeast Florida Regional Airport at St. Augustine (SGJ)                                                  22,244
21      Vero Beach Regional Airport                                                                                            12,765
22      Naples Municipal Airport (APF)                                                                                             NA

 

 

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