海角社区官网

Then in 2016, Steenstra was tapped to rebuild and revitalize the Fort McMurray Airport Authority in the wake of the wildfire that devastated the community.

鈥淭he airport was still being used for evacuation, still being used for firefighting,鈥� Steenstra said. 鈥淯ltimately, a number of our structures were damaged and destroyed, including the hotel, and ironically, our firefighting hangar where our firefighting equipment is housed.鈥�

After six years overseeing the reconstruction effort as President and CEO of the Fort McMurray Airport Authority, Steenstra began his latest challenge in 2022, helping Ports海角社区官网鈥� which includes the Billy Bishop 海角社区官网City Airport 鈥� rebuild in the wake of the pandemic.

Billy Bishop, which is Toronto’s oldest airport at 85, is the ninth聽busiest airport in Canada by passenger volume, and the fifth busiest transborder airport, employing 150 staff and generating an of $2.1 billion.

Steenstra sees the organization where he is president and CEO as a 鈥渃ity builder鈥� and the downtown airport 鈥� as well as the and the , which Ports海角社区官网also owns and operates 鈥� as key to Toronto鈥檚 future.

Realizing that opportunity, however, will require managing the ongoing fallout of the pandemic, overhauling many of the organization鈥檚 underlying systems and technologies, and connecting the downtown hub to more destinations.

The Star recently spoke with Steenstra about his vision for the airport, why the conversation about loud jets has gone quiet, and why Billy Bishop could be the centrepiece of a future that includes flying taxis and passenger drones.

How did you first get started in the aviation business?

It was a passion of mine at a young age, although I didn鈥檛 build my career around it at first.

My dad was a pilot for Pacific Western Airlines, and he was flying cargo planes on the DEW (distant early warning) line. My mom didn鈥檛 want to live all the way up there, so she moved us from Vancouver back to the Netherlands, where she was born, but after a few years apart we all moved to Winnipeg, which was the closest major city to where my dad was based. My dad eventually got out of the aviation industry, but it remained a passion of mine.

When did the passion become a career?

It took a while.

I earned a Bachelor of Science in anthropology, and then a degree in communications, and then I went over to South Korea to teach English at a University for a few years. When I got back, I worked in communications and advertising, but I eventually decided to go back to school to earn an MBA.

I ended up doing a few different things after my MBA, and ultimately got a call through a search firm out of Edmonton to take on a small central Alberta airport that was underutilized and undervalued as an asset for the community. I started my journey in aviation in my mid-30s, but by that point I had spent a lot of my life in airports.

What was the state of the Red Deer Airport Authority when you took over as president and CEO in 2011?

There was a lot of work that had to be done internally from a system, process and operations standpoint. It was busy from a general aviation standpoint, facilitating pilot training schools and housing a firefighter air spray outfit, but the only commercial carrier was Buffalo Airways, which was based in the Northwest Territories.

I embarked on a path to transform the airport, which started with the team, bringing in the skills that were necessary, working with the board to create a new strategy, and then executing. We did a runway extension, and brought CATSA (Canadian Air Transport Security Authority) screening back, which allowed Air Canada to go in.

It was really a great environment to get your feet wet and understand the entire business. That airport is still my baby.

Next you joined Fort MacMurrary Airport Authority just a few months after the devastating wildfire. What was that experience like?

It was immensely challenging. Not only were we trying to get an airport back into operation, but we were dealing with a community that was really struggling.

There are still people rebuilding and dealing with insurance to this day; in fact, our insurance issues took five years to settle. It鈥檚 something I wouldn鈥檛 wish on any community, and unfortunately, our neighbours down in Jasper are going through this exact thing again in Alberta.

But you know, Fort McMurray has a lot of spirit and a lot of community goodwill, and everyone just got to work to rebuild.

How does Ports海角社区官网differ from other airport authorities you led?

Ports海角社区官网is responsible for three primary business units: Billy Bishop 海角社区官网City Airport, The Port of Toronto, and the Outer Harbour Marina.

Billy Bishop was Toronto’s first airport, which is why we鈥檙e YTZ, and 海角社区官网Pearson is YYZ. In fact, Pearson 鈥斅爋r Malton Airport as it was called originally 鈥� was built as a reliever airport for Billy Bishop in the 鈥�30s.

The Port of 海角社区官网is about 10^th or 11^th in the country in terms of tonnage received out of the country鈥檚 17 major ports, and we do bulk materials like steel, sugar, salt, but we also have a very diverse environment on our port lands. We have a film studio that鈥檚 owned by and leased out to Netflix, and they鈥檙e looking to develop a second facility. We also have a cruise ship business that continues to thrive; last year we had 45 cruise ships start or end a Great Lakes journey in Toronto, which contributed about 20,000 tourist visits.

And then we have the Outer Harbour Marina, one of 鈥� if not the 鈥� largest聽marina on Lake Ontario, with about 700 recreational boats that spend spring through the fall in our waters.

We are self-sustaining 鈥� the revenue we generate is the revenue we use to invest in infrastructure. We have a big mandate to broadly serve the community, and that鈥檚 what we do.

Why do you believe you were chosen as president and CEO of Ports海角社区官网in 2022?

Well, I have a track record of instigating change and dealing with change.

Does that suggest that big changes are coming to Toronto鈥檚 waterfront and downtown airport?

We don鈥檛 like to continue referencing COVID and the recovery, but the reality is that鈥檚 still happening. We were one of the few airports that literally went to zero traffic for almost two years, so there is still an element of getting back to where we were, while looking to the future.

Ports 海角社区官网has been around for over 100 years, contributing to the transition from nothing to industrial to what we have today in terms of a mixed-use waterfront. When I joined the organization had more of a caretaker vision, and working with the board we determined that we needed to set new goals for the future that get back to our roots as a city builder, an economic engine, and a contributor to Toronto鈥檚 economy.

What does that future look like?

It’s really taking a look into how transportation will be needed for this region in the future, and how our organization can lead some of that.

We’re seeing a lot of closures around us 鈥� like Buttonville Airport 鈥� so there’s a significant opportunity for Billy Bishop to serve the needs of 海角社区官网as the city projects out in terms of its population growth, its transportation needs, its connectivity to different city centres.

In 2025 Billy Bishop is going to be opening the country鈥檚 ninth pre-clearance site into the US. Not every airport in America has international customs, so by having preclearance you can go from about 70 to about 270 or 280 cities, so it鈥檚 a massive benefit to U.S.-bound passengers.

We also have the benefit of land, air and sea 鈥斅爋r lake 鈥� so we鈥檙e thinking about how those come together to create a multi-modal environment that connects people and goods.

For a long time, the debate over the airport鈥檚 future centred around jets. Is that still the focus?

It’s not about jets anymore. The agreement that we operate under was written in 1983 when we didn’t even have cellphones for the most part, so we are looking at it in terms of the future.

There are electric aircraft that are being developed that can鈥檛 fly into this airport under that agreement, like electric VTOLS (vertical takeoff and landing vehicles) which many big cities around the world are looking at to relieve congestion. 聽

We want to set this place up to ensure that it’s meeting the needs of the community in a way that enables technology, enables a cleaner environment, and enables a quieter environment.

Are we talking about flying taxis and passenger drones?

Well, it’s certainly an opportunity that we need to look at as transportation modes continue to change, not only locally but around the world. What can it look like? What should it look like? And how can we take advantage of that to serve the community? We believe we can be an ingredient in that, and we will keep looking forward, not backwards.