New Airport Boss Happy To Be Here

Friday, July 17, 2009 03:03 PM

Prince George, B.C.- The new President and CEO of the Prince George Airport, John Gibson, (in photo at right) says he is into a 90 day plan “The first 30 days is to listen to the story, not coming in with a sort of preconceived idea of what are our advantages, disadvantages, what market conditions are. In the next 30 days the management team, along with the Board will start o see if there are areas that we can restructure, that we have to take a different tact or if we have to look for a kind of different strategy. In the third 30 days, its basically let’s get the action plan rolling.”

Gibson brings more than an excellent contact list with him to this job, he says he brings a wide range of experience ( click on photo at right for brief video)

Gibson, his wife Corrine and his youngest of four children (son Jon, aged 19) made the move from Hamilton where he had been the Vice President of Marketing for the past 8 years. “Prince George is a wonderful place, it has a small town feel with all the big city amenities. “ He also noted there is a real “can do” attitude in the region.

He has been in the aviation business for most of his career, first with Pacific Western Airlines, then Canadian Airlines international before moving to Hamilton. He sees Prince George Airport as being a place where aircraft exchange cargo rather than carry goods that are manufactured in this region.

He is optimistic Prince George will fulfil its plan to become a centre for transhipments. He says the Port of Prince Rupert, the rail lines and highways all bode well for Prince George to become a real transportation hub “Once we get enough air cargo flights operating through her, then logistics firms know they’ve got the road networks in place, they know the rail comes through and we know we’ve got the deepest port on the west coast about 9 hours away so it gives the logistics firm a lot of ways of moving freight in a timely fashion.”

Gibson is a returning westerner, so his move to Prince George is more of a “welcome home” event than a “welcome to” situation. He received his Masters in Business Administration from UBC, and is a long standing Lions and Canucks fan “When I made my first move out of B.C. to Edmonton, I knew I could not see myself cheering for the Eskimos, I could never give up my B.C. Lions.”

Gibson says Prince George is a great place to move to “You can’t underestimate the impact of the people in the community and how they welcome you and not just by saying welcome, but by treating you nicely.”

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Posted on Friday, July 17, 2009 03:03 PM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: Anastasia on July 17 2009 3:56 PM

Welcome to PG and we do hope you enjoy your stay!!

Posted by: diplomat on July 17 2009 8:01 PM

Welcome and Good Luck in everything you do!

Posted by: Palopu on July 17 2009 8:28 PM

Prince George is already a Transportation Hub. It has been for the last 50 years.

It was the junction and interchange between the CN and BC Rail since 1965.

The rail line from Prince Rupert to Jasper and then East, and South to Vancouver has been there since 1918. BC Rail line from North of Prince George to North Vancouver has been there since 1965/1970.

We have had Highway 16 East and West for Years, along with Highway 97 North and South since the early 1940's.

The Prince George Airport has been a functioning Airport since the 1940's and was really busy handling Air Cargo in the 1960's 70's and early 80's, before the airlines downsized to smaller planes.

Prior to all the above we had Paddle Wheelers running up and down the Fraser River and up to Huble Homestead with freight.

To have these dudes come to Prince George and make an assinine statement that this Airport Authority that may or may not have a few Cargo Planes fueling and doing some transhipment will somehow make us a ***Real*** Transportation Hub, when we have been one for years is an insult to our intelligence.

Having the Port of Prince Rupert 500 Miles West of Prince George will not have any effect on the Prince George Airport. Its time these dudes quit telling this stupid story. Does anyone really beleive that you would bring Freight into Prince Rupert by Container, Rail it to Prince George and then load it on a plane to fly it somewhere else??? Or who in their right mind would fly Air Cargo into Prince George and then load it in a Container, or truck and send it elsewhere???? Answer **No One**

There is a small possibility that you could fly Air Cargo into Prince George and Transfer this Cargo to other Planes and fly it out to other destinations,however these types of operations require lots of Airline Participation, and lots of infrastructure. This is presently being done on a large scale in Anchorage, and it is highly unlikely that Airlines would relocate to Prince George.

Insofar as Air Cargo flights stopping here to fuel, or using us as an alternative if Anchorage has problems, this is a long shot at best.

Even if Planes did stop to fuel there is very little money to be made by the Airport Authority. All they get is a landing and take off fee, based on the gross weight of the Aircraft when it takes off. The Oil Companies would make some money selling Jet Fuel, and that would be it.

So at best you can expect very little if anything from the Airport Expansion, and we may as well move on to something else.

Posted by: Eagleone on July 18 2009 3:17 AM

Sounds like the right man for the job at this point in time... I wish him luck because if he is successful the airport has a lot of potential for positive impact on this region.

I like Palopu's comments... a dose of realism lol, but I think he is wrong about the potential. I think one thing leads to the next and this man is another brick in the wall so to speak.

I think the logistics will speak for themselves when all is said and done.

Posted by: gus on July 19 2009 9:22 AM

"He sees Prince George Airport as being a place where aircraft exchange cargo rather than carry goods that are manufactured in this region."

I hope that attitude is not prevalent in the community or that that attitude will not affect others in the community. Very limiting!