Rachel opened the presentation. She shared some interesting activities to bring people to the Lincoln Airport and connect with the community.
She shared that the Lincoln Airport is one of the first to partner using the NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) guidelines for college athletes. They have created some commercials using UNL athlete. And, because of the partnership, they have the rights to use UNL images and "the N".
They also created a program for an outdoor movie series. They use the side of a maintenance hanger which is away from the active runways. But they are close and can watch the airplane activity. Food trucks come out at no charge. They have made these into family events - not just movies. The event when they are showing "Cars' will include a car show. An upcoming event showing "Kung Fu Panda" will include local marshal arts schools providing clinics prior to the show.
The Guardians of Freedom Air Show is coming August 26-27, 2023 and they expect 200,000 to attend during the two day event.
Rachel talked about the renovation, expansion and upgrading of the Lincoln Airport. It did not reflect Lincoln or Nebraska. It need to be modernized. The designers incorporated Nebraska into every aspect from the colors to the images and colors. You will recognize the sunsets and other images such as the wild flowers and rolling plains.
David introduced the challenge. The Lincoln Airport service was declining. We lose and gain airline service. We needed to come up with a more stable solution.
They were able to secure ARPA funds (for COVID affected businesses) from the City and County. Everyone recognized the need to provide opportunities to citizens to travel.
They started to work on developing the service - what it might look like. Could they use a private contractor? How would they set up ticketing? What about buying a plane? By partnering with Global-X they were able to make it happen. The Lincoln Airport had to guarantee flying time and number of passengers.
Global X was able to set up a schedule to provide service to/from Las Vegas, Minneapolis, Austin, Dallas, Orlando, Atlanta and Nashville. There is a single plane. So, each destination is on a set day - to and from the same day. But, many people use the service for one way of the trip and use another commercial airline for the other side of the trip.
BIOS
David Haring was appointed as the Executive Director of the Lincoln Airport Authority on August 29, 2014. A native of Pennsylvania, David is a private pilot, an Accredited Airport Executive (A.A.E.), a Certified Member of the American Association of Airport Executives (C.M.) and a graduate of the University of North Dakota. Prior to his appointment in Lincoln, David held a variety of positions at the Cheyenne Regional Airport in Cheyenne, WY, most recently serving as its Director of Aviation from 2007-2014.
Rachel Barth is Director of Communications and Customer Experience. She previously was a marketing manager for U.S. Property, and served as the public relations/media contact and spokesperson for Lincoln Electric System 2016–19. In previous stints, Barth worked in marketing roles for the Nebraska Community Blood Bank, Cabela’s and the Nebraska chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association. She is a native of Bennet and earned her bachelor’s degree in advertising and master’s degree in marketing and communications from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.
