In this episode of The Capital Runway, we sat down with Board Director Walter Tejada to discuss his role on the Authority's Board of Directors, the local Latin American Community, and Hispanic Heritage Month.
In This Episode:
In this episode of The Capital Runway, Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Board Director Walter Tejada joined us for a aconversation centered around the Latin American community in the DC Metro Area, Hispanic Heritage Month, and Director Tejada's many contributions to the Airports Authority since beginning his term in 2016.
Have questions for us? We'd love to hear from you! Send us an email at info@thecapitalrunway.com
For more information, please visit our website at https://thecapitalrunway.com.
Staff:
Tanisha Lewis, VP of DISI
Jaimini Erskine, VP of Marketing & Concessions
Charles Wilson, Co-host/Co-producer
Amanda Ohbayashi, Co-host/Co-producer/Social media producer
Ryan Burdick, Editor/Co-producer
Bong Lee, Graphics
Brian McCoy, Digital Strategy/Co-producer
Sagia Depty, Marketing Lead/Co-producer
Adam Lawrence, Web producer
[music]
[00:00:02] Amanda: Hi, I'm Amanda.
[00:00:03] Charles: I'm Charles. We are the co-hosts of the Capital Runway Podcast.
[00:00:07] Amanda: Charles, did you see we have a new edition of FlyWashington Magazine available now?
[00:00:13] Charles: Yes, I did, and I look forward to opening it up, and see what's inside.
[00:00:17] Amanda: This month, I think it's focused on the Virginia wine country. It's got this beautiful cover image of some grapes, and some destinations that are highlighted are Puerto Rico, Tokyo, Denver, and South Florida.
[00:00:34] Charles: Nice, I look forward to reading it.
[00:00:35] Amanda: Yes, can't wait to dive in.
[00:00:36] Charles: I was so excited that a friend saw our pictures in the last issue.
[00:00:42] Amanda: Oh, really?
[00:00:43] Charles: Yes. We were featured as the co-hosts of the new podcast at the Airports Authority that all of our listeners get to listen to.
[00:00:50] Amanda: That's so fun. Actually, my aunt saw it as well when she was flying through, and she [laughs] sent me an email that was like, "I saw a familiar face when I picked up the magazine, it was so exciting." That's fun to be recognized.
[00:01:05] Charles: Felt like a little bit of a celebrity.
[00:01:08] Amanda: Yes. Right. [laughter] Who are we talking to today, Charles?
[00:01:12] Charles: We have Director Walter Tejada. He's one of the Board of Directors here at the Airports Authority. He's the first Latino member of the board. It's going to be exciting to hear from him, get his perspective on the directions of the airports, and just being an active member of the Latino community.
[00:01:30] Amanda: We're also going to talk a little bit about Hispanic Heritage Month, and everything that he has really done to promote Latin American flights from Dulles, and the involvement of the community. I'm really looking forward to sharing this conversation.
[00:01:46] Charles: Yes. Let's get to it.
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[00:01:49] Amanda: Today, we are joined by Director Walter Tejada. Thank you so much for joining us.
[00:01:55] Walter Tejeda: Oh, it's a pleasure to be here. Thanks for inviting me.
[00:01:57] Charles: Oh, thank you for coming. We look forward to the conversation today.
[00:02:01] Amanda: Tell us a little bit about the role of a board member here at the Airports Authority.
[00:02:06] Walter: Sure. The board has 17 members, and we're all appointed by the different jurisdictions. We refer to this area as the DMV, the District, Maryland, and Virginia, but there's another partner, the United States Government, so the President gets to appoint three individuals. The District of Columbia gets to appoint a number of their representatives in Maryland as well. The governors of Maryland and Virginia, in the case of Virginia, 7 of us are appointed to the board for a total of 17.
[00:02:37] Amanda: Wow.
[00:02:37] Walter: I was appointed in 2016 by Governor McAuliffe, and I've had the privilege to serve on the board since then. Our role here, as members of the board directors is not to micromanage, [laughter] it is to provide guidance and set policy on the important issues that help the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority thrive.
[00:03:01] Amanda: Great.
[00:03:01] Charles: Great. You're Co-chair of the ESG Committee.
[00:03:04] Walter: Yes.
[00:03:04] Charles: Just talking to you and hearing you, I hear your passion for community. What type of impact would you like to see the Airports Authority have on the broader community?
[00:03:15] Walter: Yes, I know that's an excellent question. I'm very happy you've asked me that. This has to be rewinded [chuckles] quite a while back, because I have roots. I had the privilege to be the first Latino elected in the state of Virginia, and one of my agendas was sustainability, environmental-friendly initiatives, walkability, reducing our footprint for the environment, and reducing green emissions of green gasses, and all kinds of stuff.
We in Arlington County, I served as a Chair of the county board for a couple of periods, and served on the county board. We pass what we called the Community Energy Plan, where we look to reduce what the county uses, in terms of power, and then make it more a clean energy, and focus on all kinds of things, and reduce and recycling, all kinds of-- I already came from that background, and thoroughly enjoy it.
The little things I saw, I came with that already. I was reviewing policies and what the plans were here at the Authority. There were already some good things that were being done. Replacing our light bulbs with energy efficient light bulbs were being done already. I also noticed that they seem to be scattered around in different areas. Sometimes the left and the right-hand weren't necessarily talking, like if we got rid of emergency vehicle.
Will we get one that may be electric, instead replacing gasoline vehicles, and things like that. I thought with a former colleague that was on the board at the time, Bob Lazaro, that we ought to look at the sustainability aspect, and see maybe there ought to be an opportunity for us to improve as an enterprise, as an institution, and take a look, and maybe can we create a sustainability plan?
Sure enough, I think that once we encourage staff, knowing that other departments were already doing some things, and when we put it all together, actually, we were ahead of the game quite a bit, but now we have some coordination, established on specific goals, and where to improve, become more electrifying, more electric vehicles, and things of that nature.
Then, look at what the best practices are, and can we improve and all that. I still, to this day, think that we've done so much progress that, we should be given some kind of award. [laughter] The staff deserve a lot of credit. We've moved from sustainability now, to ESG. When I first heard the expression, I said, "What on earth are they talking about? Now we got to deal with this. What is this?"
Essentially, is a little bit more of the same. It was just a few other components. Environment, social governance, responsibility. Environmental part, I think we were ahead of the game already, and there were a lot of good things that we are doing. We got to continue to do more and improve on the social aspect. It's not that hard to look at how, I guess, we were saying early, just saying that we value diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Okay, that's nice, but is it reflected on how much staff, and the type of staff we're hiring? Are people given opportunities? Mobility. Do we have enough people of color, do we have women in leadership roles, and those kinds of things from all backgrounds. As an institution, there were some good progress being made already by staff, but it doesn't hurt to have the [unintelligible 00:06:15] directors nudge a little bit and say, "Hey, more needs to be done," [laughs] or, "We can sit on our laurels."
We have changing demographics continuously, and then it has to be reflected here, especially, when workers are competing, or employers are competing for a shortage of workers. We must then make that more enticing, and make it environmental friendly, and they could feel good about it. Of course, the governance part is not negotiable. We have got to have the best practices for governing as an institution.
Part of it is what I mentioned, maintaining our sound financial stability. As people get more comfortable understanding what ESG means, it will still be attacked by some who don't feel those are good things in other parts of the country, [laughs] perhaps, but here at MWAA, we don't look at the partisan politics, and when it comes to that, try to be responsive and represent our jurisdiction as the best way possible.
[00:07:09] Charles: Great. Thank you.
[00:07:10] Amanda: Have you met a lot of pushback in the efforts that you're trying to do to push the Latin American community forward here on the board, or has it been mostly met with open arms?
[00:07:22] Walter: I think I was pleasantly surprised that people were open to hear what some ideas and thoughts, and why. One of the things I learned, having had the privilege to serve an elected office is that, if you try to explain to people why you want to do something, if you bring them in along and show them, and why this might be good, or listen to their perspective, and try to incorporate things.
I never have thought that I had the perfect solution. I am willing to accept that someone has a better idea. Okay, so be it. I'm not going to be shy from saying, "No, this community hasn't been heard, and we need to figure out how to get into the table of opportunity, and elbow your way in and say, 'Excuse me, excuse me, we're here. We're not leaving.'" As I say in Spanish, [Spanish language].
[laughter]
The community is part of-- The census today has over 63 million Latinos in our country. We have millions of Latinos in this region that probably-- The number's probably larger than what people might officially say in some of the census, because a lot of times people don't want to be counted, so may have a gross undercount sometimes. The numbers are there, the economic power is there.
It's just not just, I don't want it to be just this nice pet project for Walter Tejeda, so, no, it's just about the interest of the enterprise as a unit, and if my colleague can know about it. Once you tell people, inform them, and let them know as best as you can, give them data. I don't believe in alternative facts. [laughter] I do believe in having the source where you got your information.
That's why I made it a point to cite the US Census, and a Pew Research Center, all this thing give you raw information, and of course, you know about a multitude of data that helps airports and so on. I'm always citing data from our reports, for example. I'll give this one, it's really good. [chuckles] Over $24 billion economic output.
[00:09:14] Amanda: Wow.
[00:09:14] Walter: The overall airports here produce over 187,000 jobs related to the airports in our region. I start going through these numbers, and talking [unintelligible 00:09:23] "How do you remember all that stuff?" Well, it's important. You have to know your facts.
[00:09:30] Charles: Great, what's one lesson you've learned in your career that you think other people should consider for success in theirs?
[00:09:40] Walter: I know this might sound a cliché, but you have to have a positive mental attitude. By and large, most Latinos are optimistic. It's part of my trait. You would think that, after all the different challenges we've had in life, as we've come here in this country, and having to learn the language, and I'm having to move a multiple times, you would develop kind of like a negative attitude, but you learn.
Hey, you have to make it, and you develop, especially, in the public arena, you have to develop some thick skin sometimes, because sometimes some people might tell you're the greatest thing that ever happened, and at the same time, might say, you're the worst thing that ever happened. [laughter] You never know. I think that we have to be optimistic, and I know there's a lot of negativity these days, you can see it on social media, and all that stuff.
You can't be naïve. You have to, of course, keep in mind as much as you can be aware of, but the American Dream is alive and well, and everyone has their own version of the American Dream. I consider myself a person who's living the American Dream. Who would have thought that some 13-year-old kid who came here to the United States, growing up in El Salvador, would someday be the first Latino ever to serve in the Board of Directors or the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, given those numbers that I just cited to you. The effects that it has in our region, the possibilities of opportunities that can be opened for a lot of people.
There are a number of ways. I mentioned, I was one of the first Latinos elected in Virginia. I think it's, don't give up, keep a positive attitude, don't give up.
[00:11:11] Amanda: You're one of the first elected Latinos in the state of Virginia, what does it mean to you to be the first Latino member of the Board of Directors?
[00:11:21] Walter: I was born and raised in my native, El Salvador. Came to the United States at age 13, not knowing the language, learn a new culture, had to go through all that. A single mom with three teenagers in New York city, made her way, push us to get educated, and find careers, and so on. For good or bad thing, for good maybe I've been first of this, first of that.
I'm the first Latino ever to serve here at MWAA, as well in the Board of Directors. I found that a little bit puzzling at first. I thought, "How on earth could that be?" It gets to a point where I hope we get to the point soon, where it's no longer the first. It's a continuation of things and so on, so that we truly reflect our population in our region. Yes, there's a significance. I'm also quick to that, "Well, it's nice to have the individual mention." It is also about a team effort, and one of the things I've advocated for when I first came in here is that, to have more Latino staff hired by the authority.
I think we made some progress on that. There's more work to be done, but we are heading in the right direction, and all I can do is really encourage and push people to be given an opportunity. Yes, we are competing with a shortage of staff, and particularly, staff that's bilingual. It is tough, but it's not impossible.
[00:12:32] Charles: Being on the board since 2016, what do you like most about our airports?
[00:12:37] Walter: That's a good question. There are many other aspects of the airport. Well, it's fascinating, but there's always also a way to advocate for things you believe in. As we celebrate proudly, Hispanic Heritage Month, no one was surprised, [chuckles] that I came here advocating for more flights to Latin America, and not necessarily connectivity. That's nice, but what about direct flights?
[00:13:03] Amanda: Yes.
[00:13:04] Walter: That was another way. There's always a way we can advocate for those things, so our efforts, collectively, to focus on the market in Latin America prior to the pandemic, making sure that we did the study. This is one of those for me, where I asked staff to do some analysis. This, to me was like a lawyer in court when you asked the question, because you know the answer already. [laughter]
People need to find it out, and so when the market analysis was done, sure enough, it did seem that we have a large numbers of the Latino community, and that there's economic power within the community. We began trying to form a task force, and do efforts to create more direct flights, and trying to model it to the Tel Aviv effort for Israel that was done, was a big task force and so on, and then, boom, the pandemic hit.
We already had started a lot of efforts, from staff, reaching out to different airlines, different partners, and with the different tourism groups, get that awareness going, and sure enough, during a pandemic, guess which market, traveling market around the world had the most economic benefit to the authority?
[00:14:09] Amanda: Latin America.
[00:14:10] Walter: That's right. [laughter] It's a leading question, better than the Asian market, better than the European market. I think that's something that staff should feel proud of. Yes, of course, I feel good about it, because I was gung-ho, and that we're going to move in that direction, but another reason say that it is good for the bottom line. Turns out, that value and diversity and inclusion is good for the bottom line. It's good business.
[00:14:34] Charles: [laughs]
[00:14:35] Amanda: Absolutely.
[00:14:35] Walter: Is this going to be work in progress, there's more work to be done. I think we need to look at a couple of other places in Latin America, where maybe Mexico, we already have some service there, but there may be other opportunities there. Lima, Peru could be another one that could be a natural, and Lima can serve as a hub for direct flights from Dulles, perhaps, and then there, they can go to Buenos Aires to Argentina, Cali in Colombia, or La Paz, Bolivia or Santa Cruz, Bolivia.
The Bolivia market, I will highlight also something that we ought to look at more. Northern Virginia is referred to sometimes in Bolivia as the 10th state, because Bolivia has 9 states. [laughter] There's a large Bolivian community. I know sometimes the numbers may not be there, but I hope that we keep that in the back of our heads, and not rule that out for down the line.
The other day I was telling someone, "Look, my role is to put the foot in the door, and try to have you come in. Once you're in, you need to swim." [laughter] You need to have the tools and-
[00:15:34] Amanda: You need to fly.
[00:15:35] Walter: -facilitate. You need-- Yes. I like that. [laughter] I like that. Yes. You need to be able to fly. That's right. You need to be able to navigate, [chuckles] and so long as I'm here, I think that will continue to be my role. I want to also say, at this moment, a special thank you to the staff for buying into, for elevating how we celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month.
Ever since I began saying, "We ought to take a look at that," I think things have gotten better. In several areas. This is important. In the food that we serve at the airports, in the staff that's being hired, in the service that we're-- With the flying public, the traveling public can have, all of those things are of benefit to the enterprise as an authority. Beyond the feel-good thing, that's nice. It's good, but it is good for the bottom line. I know it's a long-winded way to answer the question, but it's tough to answer that one in a short way.
[00:16:29] Charles: No, appreciate it.
[00:16:30] Amanda: Final question, and we like to ask all of our guests this question. Where are you flying to next?
[laughter]
[00:16:39] Walter: That's the beautiful thing about the airports. You get connected, and as I mentioned earlier, I consider myself a lifelong student, so I want to always continue to learn more about the world of airports. I attended, for instance, the US Chamber of Commerce Aerospace Summit, and learned more about vertical aircrafts, and vertiports, and all that stuff, that's really fascinating. I am going to Long Beach, California-
[00:17:04] Amanda: Ooh.
[00:17:05] Walter: -at the end of this month, and the first week in October to the ACINA Conference, the Airports Conference International North America. Then, for Thanksgiving, I'm hoping to fly to Guatemala.
[00:17:18] Amanda: Ooh.
[00:17:19] Walter: Visit my brother where he lives with his family, with his Guatemalan wife and family there. I haven't seen him in a while, so we're planning to. Long Beach, California, and Guatemala. [laughs]
[00:17:30] Amanda: That's awesome. That'll be a fun trip.
[00:17:34] Charles: Well, here's another question. Any parting words for our audience that you want to leave us today?
[00:17:42] Walter: I would say, the world of airports is fascinating. There's a lot to learn, and a lot of satisfaction to be gathered from participating in it. I would say that, as I attended conferences, sometimes I've asked questions that have caused some long -pauses, because I see panels, and our audiences, the attendees, they're not diverse. Especially, lacking Latino participation. There have been a few times when a room packed with people, [chuckles] I have asked, "Why is it that we have more Latino participation?" A way of answering your question in that, you get involved in the world of airports, and you never know where opportunities might come.
It is another way of getting good trouble done, and making sure people think about that there ought to be some changes to be made, that will benefit everybody. I continue to be fascinated by the progress of technology, and what we might have in the future. I will continue to learn as much as I can, so I can use that to provide guidance as a member of the Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority.
[00:18:53] Charles: Great. Thank you.
[00:18:54] Walter: Thank you for inviting me.
[00:18:56] Amanda: Thank you so much for joining us. This has been a really great conversation.
[00:19:00] Walter: Muchas gracias.
[music]
[00:19:02] Ad: We travel to escape life, we travel, so life doesn't escape us. We dream of a place anywhere in the world, and in the blink of an eye, we're there. That's the wonder of flight. All you have to decide is, where to? Dulles International Airport. Let your imagination soar. Book your adventure today at flydulles.com/nonstop.
[00:20:21] Charles: Yes. That was a really great conversation.
[00:19:31] Amanda: It was fascinating.
[00:19:32] Charles: Yes. What do you like most about it?
[00:19:34] Amanda: I really liked how he talked about his passion for helping Latino community, and just a lot of the underserved communities throughout the DMV region.
[00:19:45] Charles: Yes. His passion for diversity, equity, and inclusion was really key, and I really enjoyed hearing that.
[00:19:51] Amanda: Yes.
[00:19:52] Charles: I can't wait to hear about his trip to Long Beach in Guatemala. [crosstalk]
[00:19:55] Amanda: In Guatemala. Absolutely. I don't think we have any nonstops to Guatemala.
[00:19:58] Charles: Yes.
[00:19:59] Amanda: Not yet. Maybe soon. [laughs] If you have any questions for us, we'd love to hear from you. You can send us an email at info@thecapitalrunway.com. That's a wrap for us. Thank you all for joining us, and we want to wish everyone a happy Hispanic Heritage Month.
[music]
[00:20:16] Charles: Yes. Enjoy the month.
[00:20:17] Amanda: Yes.
[00:20:22] [END OF AUDIO]