Phoenix Airport’s Strong Recovery Faces Workforce Challenges
Photo Credit: Skift / Edward Russell
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The Phoenix Airport has risen from the the pandemic like the mythical bird it's named after. But even though travelers are back, workers aren't and that means issues for travelers.
One would think leading Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport out of the pandemic would be easy. The airport checks many of the boxes that have proven to be pluses in the recovery: An outdoor-oriented destination in a growing U.S. Sunbelt city with significant leisure-travel demand.
Yes, all of these are pluses City of Phoenix Director of Aviation Services Chad Makovsky said in an interview. But there is also a downside: The airport faces many of the same issues that the airline industry is struggling with, particularly around staffing, even as travelers continue to return in significant numbers.
“My number one, two, and three problems right now are workforce, workforce, and workforce,” Makovsky said. Entry-level custodial and concession jobs are where the airport faces the biggest challenges. The consequence of that is only 60-70 percent of Sky Harbor’s concessions are open despite passenger numbers running at 95 percent of 2019 in March, which Makovsk
