ACI World Toronto 2025

Insights from ACI-NA & ACI World 2025 — where airport leaders are shaping the future of passenger experience.

By Gower Smith

The conference took place in late October 2025, during an ongoing U.S. government shutdown, a backdrop that highlighted the industry’s resilience and operational maturity. Despite senior airport executives being away at the event and the Federal Government shutdown, air travel across the United States continued largely without disruption. In contrast to earlier shutdowns, which strained staffing and slowed FAA programs, this time the system’s continuity underscored how far aviation planning, coordination, and leadership depth have advanced.

More than 2,000 airport executives, government officials, and industry partners gathered in Toronto for the ACI-NA & ACI World Annual General Assembly, hosted by Toronto Pearson International Airport, with support from Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, and led by Deborah Flint, President & CEO of the Greater Toronto Airports Authority. Flint’s leadership, together with that of ACI-NA and ACI World executives, set a confident tone for the week.

Gower Smith with ACI host; Deborah Flint, President & CEO of the Greater Toronto Airports Authority.

While the Airport Experience Conference remains the principal U.S. forum for retail and concession leaders, ACI’s annual assembly provides vital insight into how airport directors and infrastructure leaders shape the environments in which airport commerce takes place.

A Sector Under Construction

With passenger traffic growing about 5 percent annually, global enplanements are expected to double within two decades. Many airports are simultaneously rebuilding terminals and redefining how travelers move through them, balancing construction disruption with the challenge of keeping planes flying. Although ACI’s focus was on strategic infrastructure and operational delivery, the discussions have direct implications for the retail community.

Innovation, Cybersecurity, and Human Capital

Technology and digital transformation anchored many of the week’s discussions. A standout was the Chief Information and Technology Officer interactive discussion, where senior technology leaders shared candid snapshots of their priorities, from system modernization and data integration to AI adoption and workforce adaptation. The spirit was collaboration: leaders came prepared to share information and facilitate honest dialogue among peers.

A strong common theme emerged, cybersecurity. As airports adopt AI and interconnected systems, protecting critical infrastructure and passenger data has become both a technical and leadership imperative. The consensus was clear: when it comes to AI and cybersecurity, even the most advanced airports are only beginning to understand the scale of what lies ahead.

For retailers and commercial partners, these leadership investments, in digital integration, security, and workforce readiness, create the stable foundation upon which airport commerce depends.

Interestingly, while smooth operations improve passenger satisfaction, occasional dwell time created by delays or congestion can have an unintended commercial upside. Extended post-security time often drives higher retail and dining spend, a reminder that passenger experience and commercial performance are intertwined in complex ways.

Likewise, extended security screening times, and the passenger response of arriving earlier “just in case”, have encouraged a steady expansion of pre-departure dwell time.

Policy and Funding Headwinds

Several conversations acknowledged a tougher macro backdrop: policy uncertainty and recurring risks of federal disruption. For airport directors and their commercial partners, this translates into timing risk to capital programs, grant cycles, and staffing continuity, all of which ultimately affect construction phasing, passenger experience, and commercial performance. The message to commercial partners: plan for resilience.

Leadership Lessons and the Future of Flight

A highlight of the week came from Chris Hadfield, astronaut and first Canadian Commander of the International Space Station. His keynote combined gripping video footage of real space missions with insights on leadership, risk management, and the mindset required to guide teams through complexity and change. Hadfield captivated the audience with videos from his space missions and commercial and military flights, illustrating how near-space travel may soon become a practical reality, one that airports and aviation leaders must begin to plan for. Drawing on data and personal experience from his time in orbit, including more than 2,500 orbits of Earth, he underscored how rapidly travel technology is evolving. The International Space Station, for example, circles the planet roughly every 90 minutes, a reminder of how close we already are to achieving ultra-fast global transit. His message connected powerfully to the conference’s broader theme: preparing infrastructure, operations, and leadership mindsets for the next frontier of mobility.

Two years earlier, ACI hosted a forward-looking panel on preparing airports for EVTOL transportation, a topic that now feels less speculative and more operational as vertiport planning and airspace integration accelerate worldwide. Hadfield’s reflections on future mobility echoed that same sense of readiness for a new era of flight.

Emerging Concepts and Conversations

The exhibition hall and side meetings underscored the sector’s convergence of travel, retail, and technology. Although Shinstarr did not exhibit, I had highly engaging discussions with several airport leaders about our OLHSO autonomous restaurant solution, exploring how robotics and AI can deliver consistent high-quality chef curated meals any time night or day at disruptive economics. The concept aligns with ACI’s vision of adaptive, passenger‑centric infrastructure where hospitality, automation, and efficiency meet.

Community, Culture, and Connection

Beyond the sessions, collaboration and camaraderie defined the week. SSP America facilitated a networking reception on opening night and the following evening Paradies Lagardère, with co-hosts Plaza Premium, Lea Elliott and Stantec, hosted one of the most popular evening events. On the exhibit floor Avolta (parent of HMSHost and Hudson) demonstrated their integration of food, retail, and traveler experience whilst handing out delicious salmon and caviar hors d’oeuvres. Leaders from Marshall Retail Group and OTG were among those engaged in conversations about retail and dining innovation.

While the evening events created a social atmosphere, the deeper value of ACI lay in the openness of its professional exchanges. I met directors from large and small ‑sized airports who regularly communicate with peers managing similar operations. Their discussions around terminal upgrades, construction phasing, and funding strategies offered pragmatic advice, often helping others avoid pitfalls encountered in previous projects.

The Takeaway

The 2025 ACI‑World Assembly affirmed that airports are no longer just transportation hubs, they are dynamic marketplaces where technology, retail, and human experience converge. For commercial and retail leaders, the signal from Toronto was clear: the airports of tomorrow will think like retailers, operate like technologists, and host like hoteliers - serving travelers who expect more, connect faster, and return often.