Ever walk through the airport and wonder how the restaurants and shops came to be there? Well the answer is through conferences like the Airport Experience Conference! This annual conference is a three-day event where brands and airports can meet, learn about each other, and network with industry leaders. The 2025 AX Conference just so happened to be in National Harbor and hosted by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority! (That's us!) We sat down with Airport Experience Network VP Melissa Montes as well as our own Concessions Dream Team Peggy Garcia and Carol Gabriel to learn all about what goes down at AXC!
Interested in a career at the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority? See what we have available here: https://www.mwaa.com/careers
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
[music]
[00:00:04] Amanda: I'm Amanda.
[00:00:05] Charles: I'm Charles.
[00:00:06] Amanda: This is The Capital Runway podcast.
[00:00:09] Charles: Hey, Amanda. How's it going today?
[00:00:11] Amanda: Not bad. How are you, Charles?
[00:00:11] Charles: Good, good. Are you looking forward to today's conversation?
[00:00:15] Amanda: Yes. We have a very exciting conversation today. We are talking to Melissa Montes from the Airport Experience Network, and she runs the Airport Experience Conference. We are also chatting with two of my favorite people, and that would be Carol Gabriel and Peggy Garcia, who run our concessions programs here.
[00:00:37] Charles: I think this is going to be a fun conversation.
[00:00:39] Amanda: Yes. I am looking forward to it. Let's jump in.
[00:00:42] Charles: All right.
[00:00:45] Amanda: Okay. Today, we are joined by Mel Montes, who is the Vice President and Publisher of the Airport Experience News. Welcome.
[00:00:56] Melissa Montes: Thank you for having me.
[00:00:57] Amanda: Why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself?
[00:01:00] Melissa: Again, thank you for having me. Mel Montes, VP of AXN and Publisher. I am from Chicago, Illinois. I am a diehard Chicago Bulls fan. I grew up there in the '90s, which was-
[00:01:12] Charles: Great time.
[00:01:12] Melissa: -the best place to grow up in a city. I guess my love for aviation started early. My father worked for United Airlines for 35-
[00:01:22] Amanda: Oh wow.
[00:01:23] Melissa: -out of O'Hare. Those that are familiar with O'Hare and those beautiful lights that are in the terminal, I actually got to see those built as a little girl-
[00:01:32] Amanda: Wow.
[00:01:32] Melissa: -because my dad took me to work with him. Every time I go in and out of that airport, it's a moment for us. What else? I am a proud dog mom, and I have a lovely partner, and I'm also a yoga instructor.
[00:01:46] Amanda: A little bit of everything.
[00:01:47] Melissa: Yes, a little bit of everything, but definitely a lover of airports and the airport concession industry.
[00:01:54] Charles: Your job title sounds fun. What exactly do you do?
[00:01:59] Melissa: As the publisher, I actually call myself a circus director. [laughter] We make sure that everything is on time and that the circus opens and closes when everyone needs it to. For the magazine, and she is not going to speak on the podcast, but my wonderful editor-in-chief, Carol Ward, is here. She keeps me in line with all of our content and making sure that everything runs appropriately.
I like to be more of the cruise director fun, but Carol makes sure that we have integrity with all of our media. The circus part is really the event, and that is just making sure that all of our sponsors, our exhibitors, our airport partners-- shout out to MWAA, because I think this is actually going to be one of the best AXCs yet, but just making sure that everything goes on time, the right time, and is a good time.
[00:02:51] Amanda: Yes.
[00:02:52] Charles: As the circus director of the event, what is AXN for people who are listening for the first time?
[00:02:58] Melissa: AXN, I'm going to break that down into two different pieces. Airport Experience News, the airport concession industry's premier media outlet. We have a bimonthly magazine where we feature insights and trends. We have a weekly newsflash. We have a dynamic website where we break news and talk about everything that's going on in the airport concession world.
For airports, we're a trusted source for RFP postings. Then one of the things we're best known for on the media side is our annual factbook, which is a really important industry resource that talks about sales and planements, square footage, dwell times, dominant airlines, anything you need for planning.
On the event side, we're the organizers of what we consider the airport concession industry event of the year, which is, again, why we're here in D.C. with all of you. One more shout-out to MWAA, because your team has just been phenomenal to partner with marketing and the behind-the-scenes stuff and giving us feedback, so it's been amazing. We're really excited about the event that we put on. It feels a little bit like summer camp. Everybody's excited to be together every year.
We call our hall an experience hall as opposed to an exhibit hall, which other trade show organizers do, because you're experiencing what you would have if you partnered at the airport with a lot of the brands and the exhibitors that are on our floor.
If you come to the conference over the next few days, you can expect to see pop-ups. You can expect to see kiosks. You can expect to have the same sort of drip coffee that you would have at an airport, see all the retail that you would have in the airport. It's pretty exciting, and I hope everybody has an opportunity to experience our experience hall.
[00:04:48] Amanda: Yes, I feel like the average traveler does not know how much time and effort goes into all of these little things and these decisions and the whole experience. They're just trying to get to their gate, and that's it, and they're not really recognizing everything that concerns them.
[00:05:05] Melissa: Oh, 100%. I'll tell you. I've been with the team now just over 12 years, and when I was interviewing, it was a friend of a friend that had introduced me to someone and said, Take the interview. This is interesting." The person that I was having the interview with explained it to me, and I was like, "Okay." I traveled quite a bit, but then you start looking at it through this different lens, and you're like, "Oh my gosh, I need that mimosa before I take off. I need my People magazine, my neck pillow."
You're absolutely right. The average person does not think about how much work and thought, and consideration went into how much time they're at the gate, what they're going to need. When you start thinking about the technology and how much things have changed, how many airports have absolutely nailed that sense of place and that local, where the minute you land, you know where you are. This isn't what it was 30 years ago, where everything was the same.
It is. It's an incredible industry, and you're absolutely right. I don't think that people stop to realize how cool it is, and 12 and a half years ago, I had no idea. I hope that people will continue to realize it's an amazing industry to be a part of, to work in, and to learn more about.
[00:06:20] Charles: If I attend AXC, what can I expect?
[00:06:23] Melissa: I think AX is really known for our unmatched networking opportunities. I want to give a shout-out to the whole AXN team. This team works 365 days a year on the next event. One of the things, we have the industry's first-ever matchmaking sessions called Schmooze.
[00:06:47] Amanda: Like speed dating?
[00:06:47] Melissa: It is like speed dating, exactly. The bonus line is always very long, and people are so excited to sit down again with the airports and find out what's coming. Again, our experience hall, that experiential piece, what you would experience going through the airport, our insightful sessions-- again, I'll give a shout out to my editor-in-chief who's here with me. She really takes the time to curate. We have a committee that we work with as well that gives us insight on what's important to them, what keeps them up at night, what they are planning for the future.
Then we're also, I think, a good educational tool for people who want to come into the industry or are just dipping a toe and saying, "How do I get further into the industry?" Then fun. Let's keep it real for a second. Everybody wants to have a good time. AXC is fun. It's just that. It's seeing people that you want to see year after year. It's meeting new people. It's those bespoke networking opportunities that I don't think that anyone else has.
[00:07:53] Amanda: Yes. We have one question left that we like to ask all of our guests. That is, where are you flying to next?
[00:08:01] Melissa: Whew. Okay. A lot of domestic travel. Of course, I'm going home. Shout out to my home airports, O'Hare and Midway. That'll be first. Then after that, I have Atlanta, Indianapolis, and Fort Lauderdale-
[00:08:14] Amanda: Wow.
[00:08:15] Charles: Wow.
[00:08:15] Melissa: -in the next couple of weeks.
[00:08:17] Amanda: Those all for work or vacation?
[00:08:19] Melissa: A little bit of pleasure. I have folks that are in Boca Raton, so I'll be helping them out with a couple of things, but the rest is all business.
[00:08:26] Amanda: Nice. That's awesome.
[00:08:27] Charles: Sounds like fun.
[00:08:28] Amanda: Well, thank you so much for joining us. We look forward to seeing you this weekend.
[00:08:33] Melissa: Thank you for not only having me, but being amazing partners. We're really excited about making this the best AXC yet.
[00:08:40] Amanda: Awesome.
[music]
Okay. Today we have some very exciting guests. The very dynamic duo of Ms. Peggy Garcia and Carol Gabriel representing our concessions team today. How are you?
[00:08:59] Carol Gabriel: Hello, my friends.
[00:08:59] Amanda: Hello.
[00:09:00] Peggy Garcia: It's A Peggy, Carol show.
[00:09:01] Carol Gabriel: It's the Peggy and Carol show.
[00:09:03] Amanda: Yes. Well, before we jump into AXN, why don't you guys both give us a brief intro to who you are, what you do, why you love concessions?
[00:09:12] Carol: Okay. Construction queen here. I am Carol Gabriel. I have been with the Airports Authority for 22 years, but I've actually been working at DCA six years prior. I've been around a long time. I oversee the construction and the operations for our food and beverage locations and some other contracts, such as Dulles Duty Free and Smarte Carte, things like that.
[00:09:38] Peggy: Okay. I'm Peggy Garcia, and I will be 15 years with the Airports Authority next month, which I'm pretty excited about. I have been at Dulles Airport since 1994.
[00:09:52] Amanda: Wow.
[00:09:53] Peggy: Yes. That's a long time.
[00:09:54] Carol: Were you guys born yet?
[00:09:55] Amanda: I was born.
[00:09:56] Charles: I was.
[00:09:58] Peggy: Just checking. Just checking. I work for a couple of airlines, so I've got a lot of aviation experience.
[00:10:05] Amanda: Cool. What do you do here?
[00:10:07] Peggy: Concessions. Basically, I work more on the finance and admin side and overseeing most of the contracts that we have, such as our concession fee manager, which is all of the concessions at the airport, the food, beverage, retail. Of course, a few others, such as duty-free and currency exchange, we still have that.
[00:10:31] Amanda: Awesome. Awesome.
[00:10:33] Carol: We kind of intertwine. Peggy's more on the financial administrative side, I take the operational and the construction side. Yes.
[00:10:42] Amanda: Okay. We are going to talk a little bit about the AXN Conference.
[00:10:47] Carol: Ooh, yes.
[00:10:48] Amanda: Yes, which is being hosted by MWAA this year. Yay, very exciting. Can you guys just tell us a little bit about what AXN is?
[00:10:59] Carol: Yes. Well, it's the whole airport experience.
[00:11:01] Amanda: Sure.
[00:11:01] Carol: It's being in the airport and what that experience could be for the traveling public.
[00:11:07] Charles: All right. For someone who's never been, like myself, what is the experience like?
[00:11:12] Peggy: The exhibition hall might be a little bit overwhelming because once you walk in there, you're going to see all of these booths set up. You can go from Starbucks to Potbelly's, and you can have like a taste of these things. Probably five years ago was the first time I tasted Half Moon Empanadas. Now we have two of those in our airport.
[00:11:36] Amanda: You're saying there will be free samples?
[00:11:37] Carol: Yes.
[00:11:38] Peggy: Free foods.
[00:11:39] Amanda: Yes. I'm in.
[00:11:40] Carol: Yes.
[00:11:40] Peggy: Okay. Stop by the MWAA booth and you're going to get free M&Ms.
[00:11:44] Carol: Whoa. That's right. That's right. Last year, they had these big vending machines, like one had the Sprinkles Cupcakes. You know have to try that.
[00:12:00] Charles: Yes.
[00:12:00] Amanda: Yes.
[00:12:01] Carol: You have to try that. Then the other had these-- it's a Carlo Bakery vending machine. You know what Carlo's Bakery is?
[00:12:08] Peggy: Carlo's Bakery in New Jersey?
[00:12:10] Amanda: Oh.
[00:12:10] Carol: New Jersey.
[00:12:11] Peggy: The Cake Boss.
[00:12:11] Carol: The Cake Boss.
[00:12:12] Charles: Oh. Yes, yes. Okay.
[00:12:12] Amanda: Ooh.
[00:12:13] Peggy: Cake Boss.
[00:12:13] Carol: These massive slices of cake.
[00:12:15] Amanda: Wow.
[00:12:15] Charles: Wow.
[00:12:17] Carol: Where this one wasn't-- she had a wedding to go to and all that. She wasn't partaking. I had no problem getting that cake out of that machine, sitting down, one fork, and every bite was worth it.
[00:12:32] Charles: Nice.
[00:12:34] Amanda: This is an opportunity for vendors to really talk to airports.
[00:12:38] Carol: Sure. Yes.
[00:12:39] Amanda: Airports to talk to vendors and see what is out there in terms of offerings.
[00:12:45] Carol: Absolutely. There are also breakout sessions where airports-- there are different topics that are discussed. If there's a panel on the stage or at the front of the room talking about the pluses--
[00:13:01] Peggy: What's trending?
[00:13:02] Carol: What's trending?
[00:13:02] Amanda: What's trending?
[00:13:03] Carol: What's new? Yes, exactly. Of challenges.
[00:13:08] Peggy: One thing in particular that we particularly enjoy and will really like this time around is the property manager's lunch.
[00:13:14] Carol: Oh, yes.
[00:13:15] Peggy: We really like that because it's only airport property managers that will be there. It's an opportunity for people to really see what's going on in your airport. You can ask questions, and we'll ask questions of you. Guess who are doing the show, baby?
[00:13:33] Carol: Oh, I'm MCing.
[00:13:34] Amanda: Oh, boy.
[00:13:35] Carol: Yes, I am. Another chance in front of the microphone.
[00:13:40] Amanda: We'll have to get you a golden mic.
[00:13:41] Carol: I would like that. If Scott seems to think he can have the only one. No, Carol would like one, too.
[00:13:48] Peggy: I asked for one for the bus so that when we do the tour, I can start the tour of the Gaylord Hotel.
[00:13:53] Amanda: Oh, yes.
[00:13:54] Peggy: We are doing the airport tours. Guess who are tour guides?
[00:13:59] Amanda: Yes.
[00:13:59] Carol: Here we are again. I don't think I need a microphone. I told her she didn't need one either. With that property manager's luncheon, it is just airport folks only. We get in a room. No one else is in there. To have those peers in that room and we just talk about things that are, again, trending-
[00:14:26] Peggy: Challenges in our airports.
[00:14:26] Carol: -challenges and all of that. Yes. Peggy will be in the audience, passing around the microphone. I'll be in the front running the show.
[00:14:37] Amanda: What do you think are trends for this year or emerging trends?
[00:14:41] Peggy: I know vending is an emerging trend, which is interesting to us since we had just done a lot with vending in our airports, and you'll be seeing new vending in our airports, including-
[00:14:52] Charles: Cupcakes.
[00:14:52] Peggy: Sprinkles Cupcakes.
[00:14:54] Carol: That's right.
[00:14:56] Charles: I did see the cupcake vending machine in Chicago.
[00:14:58] Carol: Yes.
[00:14:58] Peggy: Yes. Sprinkles.
[00:14:59] Charles: I was just surprised. I didn't expect it would-
[00:15:04] Peggy: Be that good.
[00:15:05] Charles: -have been an actual fresh cupcake.
[00:15:06] Carol: Yes. They only have those machines in areas where there is a store. There's a store in Georgetown where they can get that and they can get the--
[00:15:15] Peggy: They fill it every day.
[00:15:16] Carol: They fill it every day.
[00:15:17] Charles: Yes. I was expecting a stale cupcake.
[00:15:19] Peggy: No. Every day it's filled, so it's fresh.
[00:15:21] Amanda: Fresh.
[00:15:21] Carol: Vending is not what it used to be. Kind of the used car market it's just not what it used to be. You can really get some good items out of the vending machine, like Farmer's Fridge. How do you not love that? Have you ever had that?
[00:15:35] Charles: No.
[00:15:37] Amanda: It's like salads.
[00:15:38] Carol: Yes. It's a real-
[00:15:39] Amanda: Fresh food.
[00:15:40] Carol: -quality product. Yes.
[00:15:41] Charles: All right. I'll put on the list to try.
[00:15:43] Carol: Yes. They will be next to the MWAA booth at AXN.
[00:15:46] Amanda: How perfect.
[00:15:47] Carol: I know.
[00:15:49] Peggy: M&M's and salad.
[00:15:49] Carol: Sell it for once, everybody.
[00:15:51] Amanda: M&M's and salad. Maybe not in the same bite, but you know.
[00:15:54] Carol: Yes. Exactly.
[00:15:55] Charles: You touched on this earlier. What's your favorite part about the conference?
[00:16:01] Carol: I don't know. It's all pretty good. Some of the breakout sessions are really good. You've got to admit, the exhibit hall that's where the fun is. That's where the fun is. It really is. Just meeting all the people that you haven't seen in a year.
[00:16:18] Peggy: Yes. It's a great networking opportunity.
[00:16:20] Carol: Meeting other people.
[00:16:21] Peggy: It's more than networking just with colleagues. We get to see our vendors, our tenants. It draws a lot of people.
[00:16:29] Carol: You know what, another cool thing about AXN is there's a-- what's it called? We call it the speed dating.
[00:16:37] Peggy: A schmooze session.
[00:16:38] Carol: Yes, it's a schmooze session.
[00:16:38] Peggy: Now look for us at the schmooze session-
[00:16:40] Carol: We're always schmoozing.
[00:16:41] Peggy: -because we're there.
[00:16:42] Carol: We're always schmoozing.
[00:16:44] Peggy: At the same table.
[00:16:45] Carol: Anyway, it's a room full of small tables. These folks get-- what do they get? Five minutes? 10 minutes? They're different rounds. They're assigned a table at each round. They sit and they give us their spiel for that bit of time. There's never enough time. The buzzer goes off. Here comes another round. We're in there for like-- what is it? An hour?
[00:17:15] Peggy: Yes.
[00:17:16] Amanda: Wow.
[00:17:18] Peggy: It's a lot of fun.
[00:17:19] Amanda: Do they also bring snacks for you guys?
[00:17:20] Peggy: No.
[00:17:20] Carol: No.
[00:17:21] Amanda: Bummer.
[00:17:23] Carol: No, there's plenty to be had. Exactly, exactly.
[00:17:27] Amanda: How many times have you been to this conference?
[00:17:30] Peggy: I have been five times. I will tell you, I have been to New Orleans, Vegas, Orlando, Denver, Dallas.
[00:17:40] Amanda: Wow.
[00:17:40] Peggy: Really looking forward to having it here in our backyard. It's just a great opportunity for us to showcase our airports. We're very proud of our airports. We are very proud of what we've done in terms of construction, redevelopments. It's very cool that we're going to have an opportunity to show that off.
[00:18:03] Carol: The thing is-- and I've been to several of these, including one up in Calgary a thousand years ago. I've always wondered, how does it all get put together? That's going to be the coolest thing. I know we're going to be exhausted and it's going to be well worth it. To see how something like this comes together. Get behind the scenes.
[00:18:21] Amanda: You guys have been working on it for months.
[00:18:24] Carol: Yes.
[00:18:25] Amanda: Awesome. You guys have hyped this up. I am jazzed to attend this. I will be there this weekend as well.
[00:18:33] Charles: It's awesome.
[00:18:35] Amanda: This is a question that we like to ask all of our guests. Where are you flying to next?
[00:18:41] Peggy: I'm going to answer that.
[00:18:42] Carol: Yes. You can answer good on that point, anyway.
[00:18:44] Peggy: You're not flying anywhere. Okay. I'm heading to Boston in May, and it is my niece's college graduation.
[00:18:51] Charles: Nice.
[00:18:51] Amanda: Oh, that's so nice.
[00:18:52] Charles: All right. What school?
[00:18:53] Peggy: Babson University. Entrepreneurism.
[00:18:57] Charles: Nice.
[00:18:57] Amanda: Cool.
[00:18:59] Carol: I'll be-- just flying up the highway to Pittsburgh, count. [laughter]
[00:19:04] Amanda: Sure.
[00:19:04] Carol: To get my little darling from college, bring her home.
[00:19:07] Amanda: Yay. Well, that's exciting. Do you have anything else, Charles?
[00:19:11] Charles: Well, any parting thoughts or words for the folks listening at home?
[00:19:17] Carol: [unintelligible 00:19:17]
[00:19:17] Peggy: Look for us.
[00:19:19] Amanda: [chuckle] Well, they might not be there.
[00:19:20] Carol: Yes, might not be there. Well, look for good things to come to the airports. Good things are coming. We're working really hard trying to make the experience for the passenger pleasurable from curb to gate, and just keep an eye out for us.
[00:19:39] Peggy: We also have the new Concourse E coming in Dulles.
[00:19:43] Carol: Oh, yes.
[00:19:43] Peggy: We are totally excited about that. Hopefully, we can see some cool things happening here at this conference to get some great ideas.
[00:19:52] Amanda: Yes. We have a lot of concession space to fill in that new Concourse.
[00:19:54] Carol: Yes. We sure do.
[00:19:56] Peggy: About 40,000 square feet. Yes.
[00:19:58] Amanda: Yes. It should be cool. Awesome. Well, thank you both so much for joining us.
[00:20:01] Carol: You're welcome.
[00:20:02] Amanda: It's always so much fun talking to you guys. You guys are so fun.
[00:20:06] Carol: Thank you.
[00:20:06] Peggy: Okay, cool. Thanks.
[music]
[00:20:12] Charles: All right. Well, that was a great conversation.
[00:20:13] Amanda: It really was.
[00:20:15] Charles: Yes. They have fun jobs.
[00:20:17] Amanda: All three of them sound like they do really fun things.
[00:20:20] Charles: They can almost have their own show.
[00:20:21] Amanda: I know, right? We should bring Peggy and Carol back for a Peggy and Carol show.
[00:20:25] Charles: Absolutely. What was your best part or favorite part about the conversation?
[00:20:30] Amanda: I actually got to attend the conference as it was happening. It was so interesting to see how it all works and hear from some really interesting voices within the concessions community, and see vendors out there. Just get an inside look at how those relationships develop. It was really cool to experience it.
[00:20:54] Charles: There were a lot of people?
[00:20:55] Amanda: There were so many people. Peggy and Carol were absolutely right. The floor, the convention floor, everyone has snacks and food. You can walk around and get the little treats and pick your favorites. There was some really good food out there. It was just a really fun experience.
[00:21:16] Charles: Even though I wasn't able to go, I'm so thankful you brought me back a cupcake.
[00:21:20] Amanda: I did secure the cupcake.
[00:21:22] Charles: Yes. I can't wait until we have the cupcake vending machines in the airports.
[00:21:26] Amanda: I know. Who doesn't love a fresh cupcake from a vending machine?
[00:21:30] Charles: Yes. I can't wait.
[00:21:31] Amanda: Amazing.
[00:21:32] Charles: On a side note, MWAA is a great place to work.
[00:21:34] Amanda: Yes. Agreed.
[00:21:35] Charles: We are always posting jobs on our website that appear every Friday. If you are in a career transition or if you're just looking to find an awesome place to work, you should definitely consider the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority.
[00:21:50] Amanda: Absolutely. You can find those career positions at mwaa.com/careers. Well, that's a wrap on today. Thanks so much for listening.
[00:22:02] Charles: Thank you.
[00:22:09] [END OF AUDIO]