Airports are filled with energy all day, every day. People coming and going, carrying different emotions along with their luggage as they hurry to and from business meetings, vacations, family reunions, funerals, weddings.
For Glenn McCoy, Vancouver International Airport’s (YVR) senior vice-president of finance and chief financial officer, this is exactly what he loves about his job.
“It’s one of the reasons I’ve been in this industry as long as I have,” he said. “Aviation and travel, there’s so many dimensions to it, people coming and going with all that emotion, it’s just a really interesting industry.”
McCoy, who’s been with YVR since the inception of the Vancouver Airport Authority back in 1992, holds a position that offers as much variety as the airport itself.
“At YVR we’re responsible for an airfield, but we’ve also got a whole terminal to manage, three and a half million square feet, all the retail, food and beverage, the duty-free. We’ve got a land leasing and development business, we manage car parking; there are a lot of different aspects related to the business of air travel so it’s really fascinating, and it makes it a pleasure to come to work each day.”
As Canada’s second-busiest airport behind Toronto Pearson International Airport, YVR had 19.36 million people pass through its gates last year, oversaw more than 310,000 aircraft takeoffs and landings and handled about 256,000 tonnes of cargo. Since the international terminal was built in 1992, the airport has had a 96% jump in traffic, going from a small point of entry and departure to an international gateway.
“For YVR, our strategy is to be a connecting hub between Asia and the Americas – a local market can’t support services to all the cities that we fly to. We need connecting traffic, so that’s the whole idea of being a gateway. When I started here, and now, Vancouver has had that geographical advantage; we’re still the closest point to Asia in North America aside from Anchorage.”
Paul Langley, a certified financial analyst and partner at Capital West, has worked with McCoy and YVR on assignments including YVR’s acquisition and financing of air-cargo-focused real estate adjacent to the airport. He said McCoy is the perfect man for such an all-encompassing position.
“Glenn has an uncanny ability to boil down highly complex financial issues and articulate them in a clear way. And in addition to his financial expertise, he is highly effective in leading teams on key strategic initiatives, keeping his eye on the details while at the same time having a firm grasp of the bigger picture.”
Originally from Winnipeg, McCoy started his finance career there in the aviation industry in 1988 and has been in the sector ever since. When asked about his own favourite airport – outside of YVR – McCoy mentioned Chicago Midway International Airport, which is located just outside the downtown core of that city.
“That’s a pretty interesting little airport; it’s called the busiest square mile in aviation. It’s literally a square-mile airfield, and it’s got to be one of my favourites.”
Looking back on his long association with YVR, McCoy said one of the most memorable challenges came during the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Thirty-four U.S.-bound wide-body aircraft carrying 8,500 passengers were diverted to Vancouver. McCoy said the aviation world’s response on that infamous day was nothing short of amazing.
“To get those passengers off the aircrafts, to find them places to stay here in Vancouver, and then after the three days of airspace closure to then, with aircrafts parked all over the place, to get that all sorted out, all the while taking care of passengers and doing the best to make sure that they had as good of an experience as they could given the circumstances, the airport community really pulled together, and that was right across the board.”
Glenn McCoy will be honoured at the BC CFO Awards gala dinner on June 2nd at the Fairmont Waterfront Hotel. For tickets and event info visit www.biv.com/events/cfo .
