Meet DCA's new Airport Manager, Terry Liercke! Terry has been with the Authority for close to three decades and has spent time at both Dulles International and Reagan National. We also talk about LEGO DCA and he gives us an update on DCA Reimagined! This is a great conversation you don't want to miss!
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]
[00:00:00] Amanda: I'm Amanda.
[00:00:05] Charles: I'm Charles.
[00:00:06] Amanda: This is The Capital Runway podcast. Hello. Welcome back to the podcast. How's it going, Charles?
[00:00:14] Charles: Amanda, summer is going good. It's hot.
[00:00:16] Amanda: Hot, hot, hot.
[00:00:16] Charles: It is good, but it's hot.
[00:00:19] Amanda: Yes, it is so, so hot. I think we had record temperatures this week.
[00:00:23] Charles: Yes. Yes, but I'm looking forward to a vacation or two.
[00:00:27] Amanda: Oh, where are you going?
[00:00:28] Charles: I think a mid-summer Martha's Vineyard.
[00:00:31] Amanda: Oh, okay.
[00:00:32] Charles: Yes, just to get away with the fam.
[00:00:34] Amanda: Funny story, when I was a little kid, I thought Martha's Vineyard was owned by Martha Stewart.
[00:00:38] Charles: [laughs]
[00:00:40] Amanda: I thought that's just where she lived because where else would she live?
[00:00:44] Charles: [laughs] Then maybe Dominican Republic. We'll see.
[00:00:48] Amanda: Oh.
[00:00:48] Charles: We'll see. What about you?
[00:00:49] Amanda: I'm working on a trip to Budapest-
[00:00:52] Charles: Nice.
[00:00:53] Amanda: -and maybe a few other places after that. Yes, that should be exciting. Who are we talking to today?
[00:01:00] Charles: Today we're talking to DCA's new airport manager, vice president, Mr. Terry Liercke.
[00:01:05] Amanda: Yes. I am very excited about this conversation. Terry has a really interesting and great history here at MWAA, both at Dulles and DCA. I got to know him when he was working over at Dulles. He's just so great to work with and such a nice guy.
[00:01:21] Charles: Yes. I'm looking forward to the new energy he's bringing to the airport.
[00:01:24] Amanda: Yes.
[00:01:25] Charles: I'm sure the future is bright.
[00:01:27] Amanda: Yes. Well, let's get into it.
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[00:01:31] Amanda: Today we have a very exciting guest. We are joined by Terry Liercke, who is the VP and airport manager of Reagan National Airport. Welcome.
[00:01:42] Terry Liercke: Thank you for having me.
[00:01:43] Amanda: Why don't you start? Why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself and how long you've been at MWAA?
[00:01:48] Terry: Okay. Yes, I've been with the airport's authority. This is '25, so it's 26 years now. Yes. I started in May of 1999 as an intern. Around that time, my mindset shifted over to, "Hey, there's more to aviation than just flying an airplane." I had worked on the ramp at Dulles for a summer. I had learned about the airport's authority then. As I'm working my way it was my last year in college, I was thinking, hey, what jobs does an airport have? What do they do? I stumbled upon a job opening, a job announcement for internship in airport operations here at National Airport. I read it and I was like, "Wow, that seems pretty cool," and was hired on.
I thought it was great. It was a really exciting place to be, airport operations, working out on the airfield, on the ramp. To me, this was like the next best thing to flying an airplane. Being an aviation enthusiast, I was very excited to be where I was. I realized at the time that this was probably a finite period of time with this opportunity for me. I realized, hey, airport ops at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, that's a pretty special place to be. My mentality was that I was going to soak up as much information as I could and learn everything I could in the short time that I was going to be there.
At the end of that internship, I was able to actually go into a cooperative education program where I actually was able to stay on working in airport operations. Then, I actually graduated December. What I came out with was an aviation management degree from George Mason University. At this point, I'm looking for a job. There happened to be an individual in airport operations who basically unexpectedly gave his two weeks' notice. It was a huge step for me. It was, I think, unprecedented for someone with my experience at my age to get my foot in the door at the time, but luckily enough, I guess I had made enough of a good impression with the management team here at the time, and I was offered the position as, back then, they were called, operations officers.
[00:04:28] Amanda: Wow.
[00:04:29] Terry: That's how I got my foot in the door. Then from there, worked in airport ops here at DCA until, I think, December of 2006, where I moved out to Dulles. Dulles is closer to home for me. I'm about 15 minutes from Dulles. I was duty manager out there in airport operations. Then was able to work my way up as well. I became a supervisor and, construction coordinator out there. Then, actually, again, eventually moved up to become the department manager out at Dulles.
[00:05:06] Amanda: Wow.
[00:05:07] Charles: I love that story.
[00:05:07] Terry: That was my journey through the airport.
[00:05:11] Amanda: What's a day in the life like for you as airport manager? [laughs]
[00:05:14] Terry: Oh, wow. One of the things I enjoyed about airport operations is that every day was different. I'll tell you, believe it or not, that's probably still the same as an airport manager. A typical day for me is actually pretty busy. I'm very programmed, a lot of meetings, a lot of things to do. I think what people don't realize if you're not working at an airport is how much goes on behind the scenes. I tell people that the airport is like a small city. We have a lot of the same jobs as a municipality. I have the honor, I guess, of leading 300 exceptional employees that keep this airport running and going day-to-day, behind the scenes.
It's a great team, and kudos to them. Since I've started at the airport here, we've had a few unexpected challenges. We had a pretty impactful winter weather season. We had some closure early on in the year when we do snow removal, obviously, with our runway configuration. Anytime we have to get out on the runways, we do have to close the airport. Mother Nature has a play in that, obviously. We actually had our boilers, the central utility plant, we lost all heating to Terminal 2. We did pull in some external heating sources. It was an amazing response cross-functionally. I think we had a lot of good support from some external partners. We met that challenge. The team did a really good job to get us back up and running then.
Obviously, we had the tragic midair collision earlier in January. Again, the response by the airport teams, couldn't be more proud of the way they handled that, and our response to that. Then just this past weekend, we had the Army's 250th birthday celebration, which was impacting the airspace just to the north of the airport here. Commercial activity was shut down for about three hours due to that. As we know, there's been a lot of unusual unplanned events in 2025. Again, the airport team, from the airport maintenance, from operations, and our customer service team, of course, our admin folks, even our engineering folks will step in to assist. We couldn't meet and tackle these challenges without them, without everybody working together. Again, I'm honored to be able to lead that team.
[00:08:00] Charles: Well, congratulations on your new role.
[00:08:02] Terry: Thank you.
[00:08:03] Charles: I'm curious, can you tell us a little bit about your transition into your new role, especially going from Dulles to National?
[00:08:10] Terry: Yes. It was like a homecoming, right? I started here, went to Dulles, spent 18 years out there. When I came back here in November, there are a lot of people who are still here at the airport who were here when I left. At first, it was surprising to me. Then somebody said, "Why is that you still here?"
[laughter]
[00:08:33] Terry: I was like, "Well, good point." Yes, I wasn't really prepared for just a lot of the folks that are here, who I had worked with in a different capacity when I went out to Dulles. Again, it really was, like I said, it was a lot like a family reunion, if you will. It was really neat.
[00:08:56] Charles: Great. Can you give us an update on DCA Reimagined?
[00:09:00] Terry: Sure. DCA Reimagined. For folks who don't know, it's a multifaceted project here at the airport that involves concessions redevelopment, renovations of our restrooms in the Terminal 2 area. Then we're installing upgraded and new hold room seating, as well as seating in the National Hall, which is a really good improvement. I think we're getting good feedback from that. You're taking away those old slingback chairs, and we're putting in chairs that got power, you can plug in, modernizing it, if you will. It'll really result in an improved customer experience here at the airport.
[00:09:47] Amanda: Yes, I was just in National Hall and got to use some of the chairs and seating. They're so nice and comfy-
[00:09:54] Terry: Yes, yes. Great.
[00:09:54] Amanda: -and you get a nice view of the planes. Then the bathrooms, which you might not think about, are important, but they really are your travel experience. [laughs]
[00:10:02] Terry: Yes. Yes, yes.
[00:10:04] Amanda: I love that the new bathrooms are so nice and wide and the doors close completely and the doors open out, which is also key for when you have luggage and stuff, you don't want to have to pull it in. Yes.
[00:10:21] Terry: I'll reference-- I'm going to give credit here to Dennis as well. We were just talking about this earlier today, but he mentioned they are the second highly most used commodity here at the airport after the checkpoint. You think everybody's going through the security checkpoint, but after that, right?
[00:10:40] Amanda: Is there anything coming for Terminal 1? That's a question we see frequently.
[00:10:44] Terry: Yes, absolutely. I think it's no surprise that-- The airport's authority just signed a new use and lease agreement starting in January of 2025. There's a multi-billion-dollar capital construction program, which includes a new Terminal 1. That would be what we call replacing, and I'm sure you've heard the reference to the banjo. The old Terminal 1, if you look at it in an aerial photo, it looks like a banjo. It would be a gate-for-gate replacement of that. It would be built off of this 1941 historic building that we're in now. The firm has been identified and procured to start design of the Terminal 1, so it is coming. We know where it's going to be.
[00:11:36] Charles: With all the Terminal 1 improvements, how is that going to impact the passenger experience?
[00:11:41] Terry: Okay, yes, great question. There's a lot of aspects that we have to look into that. We know Terminal 1's coming. Location of the security checkpoint is one thing to take into consideration. Where is that going to be located in the final design? Ticket counters, baggage claim devices, obviously. We've got to consider the roadway impacts. Can there be improvements that are made when we build out the new terminal that can help with some of the congestion that's here at the airport? There is a project actually to look at roadway improvements. Can that be folded in and connected to what's going to happen with the future Terminal 1? Looking at all of those aspects and to weigh out the customer experience with where all those locations are, where all of those entities, pieces of the puzzle would fit are all things that we've really got to look at hard.
[00:12:51] Charles: Yes, great.
[00:12:53] Amanda: Exciting. Let's talk about a brand new thing that's coming to DCA, the Lego DCA.
[00:13:00] Charles: Oh, yes.
[00:13:01] Terry: Yes.
[00:13:01] Amada: We said, "We'll see your Dulles Lego and raise you at DCA," so let's talk about it.
[00:13:06] Terry: Yes, for sure. Right. I think, again, for context, there is an individual out there who's a master builder, very impressive. He put together a Lego model for Dulles. Of course, a lot of people saw that. It's really cool. It was decided, like, "Hey, let's--" I'm not sure. I'm not sure who to give credit to. I don't know if he took it upon himself or if somebody planted the seed. However--
[00:13:38] Charles: It was a podcast.
[00:13:39] Terry: It was a podcast.
[00:13:39] Amanda: Yes, he's been on the pod before. Yes, Richard.
[00:13:40] Terry: Really? Outstanding. All right. You guys can take credit.
[00:13:43] Amanda: We might have been like, "Is there a DCA version coming?"
[00:13:46] Terry: Yes, right. Nice.
[00:13:49] Amanda: What are you building next? What's your next project?
[00:13:53] Richard: Well, I don't want DCA to feel left out, so if anyone is listening, I am always up for another challenge.
[00:14:01] Amanda: Great. Yes, we hope to see that soon.
[laughter]
[00:14:06] Terry: Nicely done. Yes, there is a DCA model coming, and it looks spectacular. I will tell you, again, having worked at both airports, I love both airports. I think I've had the question before, which airport do you like better? I'm like, "Come on." That's like asking which is your favorite kid.
[00:14:27] Amanda: Which is your favorite kid? Yes. [laughs]
[00:14:28] Terry: Yes. You can't-- I love them both. I do, and I've enjoyed my time at both airports. Again, look, the Dulles model, it was spectacular, but I'm telling you, when people see what was built for the DCA model, it's off the charts. It is very impressive. What we've done we were able to procure a museum-quality display case. We have had the model. It has been delivered here at the airport. We are not ready to reveal yet. I think the artist is still putting it together. We're planning to unveil it on June 23rd. It looks really good. We've got it. It's going to be upstairs in the ticket level. If folks are familiar where the old Starbucks was, I think it's a perfect location for it. I think the model will really fit in aesthetically and architecturally with the space there. Again, I can't say enough good things about it. I'm very impressed. Yes.
[00:15:38] Amanda: If anyone wants to start their own DCA Lego journey, we have a Lego store in National Hall for anyone who's flying in or out, where they can go, stop by on their flight.
[00:15:48] Terry: Yes. You can't buy a Lego DCA kit, unfortunately.
[00:15:52] Amanda: That's true. Not yet.
[00:15:53] Terry: Not yet. Yes.
[00:15:53] Amanda: Maybe one day. You'll never know.
[00:15:56] Terry: [chuckles] They do have the architecture series, right? Don't they? I think so. Yes.
[00:15:59] Amanda: Yes.
[00:16:00] Terry: My kids are big into Lego, so yes.
[00:16:03] Amanda: Have they seen it?
[00:16:04] Terry: I have shown pictures. Yes. We've got some pictures. Yes. Yes, they're excited. Yes.
[00:16:10] Charles: Great. We like to ask our guests one final question. Where are you flying to next?
[00:16:16] Terry: Yes. That's a great question. I'll tell you, probably more of my flight journeys are for work than for pleasure. Probably, it could be one of two places. My mother lives in San Diego. We visit often there as much as we can. It's a beautiful place to go, right?
[00:16:37] Charles: I understand that.
[00:16:37] Amanda: Yes. I love it.
[00:16:39] Terry: Yes, so that's a possibility. That would probably be the most likely. Summer vacation is just starting. Today was the last day of school for my youngest. He's in Fairfax County, so they're done. They're all looking forward to some time off in the summertime. Yes.
[00:16:55] Amanda: That's awesome. Any final thoughts before we leave?
[00:16:59] Terry: No. It's a pleasure to be here. Thank you for having me. Like I said, it's been an exciting journey. I've been here seven months now in my role. I'm not going to lie, it feels like seven years, yes, but it's been great. Thank you so much.
[00:17:15] Amanda: Awesome. Thank you so much for joining us.
[00:17:17] Charles: Thank you.
[00:17:17] Terry: Yes, thank you.
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[00:17:21] Charles: That was a great conversation.
[00:17:22] Amanda: It was so interesting.
[00:17:23] Charles: Yes. What was your favorite part about it?
[00:17:25] Amanda: Let's see. He had a lot of really great points. I think, though, my favorite part was when he talked about the Lego display.
[00:17:33] Charles: Yes.
[laughter]
[00:17:35] Charles: If you want to see it for yourself, you can find it at Reagan National Airport on the ticketing level in front of the Alaska Airlines ticketing counter.
[00:17:45] Amanda: It's also, just to note, it's pre-security-
[00:17:47] Charles: Yes.
[00:17:47] Amanda: -so park in the garage, come in, drop your family off, and then come see it on your way out.
[00:17:53] Charles: You won't be disappointed.
[00:17:54] Amanda: Promise. We actually talked to Richard last year.
[00:17:58] Charles: Yes. We were the inspiration behind it?
[00:18:00] Amanda: We really were.
[00:18:01] Charles: Yes. [laughs]
[00:18:02] Amanda: We really were. When we were talking to him about the Dulles display, we, off-mic, suggested maybe he could do a DCA one but-
[00:18:12] Charles: We'll take credit.
[00:18:12] Amanda: -it was very off the record at that point.
[00:18:14] Charles: Yes, but we'll take credit for it.
[laughs]
[00:18:17] Amanda: Yes. What was your favorite part?
[00:18:18] Charles: Again, I enjoyed him talking about his career at the airport and how he started out as an intern.
[00:18:26] Amanda: Yes.
[00:18:26] Charles: Now, he is the airport manager for DCA. That's pretty cool. Yes.
[00:18:31] Amanda: He started from the bottom. Now, [unintelligible 00:18:32].
[00:18:32] Charles: Yes. [laughs] True success story.
[00:18:36] Amanda: Yes.
[00:18:36] Charles: Yes, yes. Him just talking about the whole passenger experience and how they improved that at the airport, I think, is pretty cool, too.
[00:18:44] Amanda: Yes. I love that. We're always thinking about passenger experience and making sure that it's a good one. We're always working to improve it. I think that's something that is really important to everyone here.
[00:18:56] Charles: Yes. Great conversation. I really enjoyed it.
[00:18:59] Amanda: Awesome.
[00:19:00] Charles: If you're listening and you have any questions or you have any suggestions for future podcast episodes, please email us at info@capitalrunway.com.
[00:19:12] Amanda: Cool. Well, I hope everyone has a great rest of your summer. Talk to you later.
[00:19:17] Charles: Sounds good.
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[00:19:26] [END OF AUDIO]