Introba Joins Dar Group Partners to Map Out Innovation in Mobility and Aviation at FTE Global

By Mat Loup

The airports of the future were center stage at this year’s Future Travel Experience Global. “Air Transport 2030” was the theme at the Long Beach Conference Center in California, USA, in September, which drew a who’s who of attendees from the aviation industry.

Introba staff teamed up with colleagues from Dar Group and Sam Schwartz/TY Lin to moderate and keynote two well-attended sessions. For those who could not attend the event, here are the key talking points.

Innovation Best Practices in Aviation

Chris Runde, Introba’s Director, Corporate Strategy + Innovation, moderated this session with representatives from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, Transportation Security Administration (TSA), United Airlines, Allstate Ventures, and aviation innovator, BagID.The panel looked at how air transport can go to the next level and learn from other industries. Our firm is well positioned as the innovation expert due to our track record of navigating critical topics for innovation including:

• Failing fast – Aviation does not have the luxury of taking events slowly. As an industry, we must learn faster and find ways to iterate without massive failure. However, when big failures do happen, such as Denver’s US$2 billion baggage failure, we must capture those lessons and apply them to the next project.

• Creativity in crisis – Defining the role of innovation in times of crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic was a major disruption to the aviation industry, which accelerated topics such as health safety screening.

• Gaining momentum – Build buy-in for innovation with quick wins, even if the major, longer-lasting impact is down the runway. At the same time, the panel recommended creating an ecosystem of advocates to try new things and expand the minds of inevitable detractors.

Future Infrastructure for Advanced Air Mobility (AAM)

Catherine Tobiasinsky, Dar Group Chief Growth Officer, keynoted this session that examined the future of mobility and its infrastructure, including examples in network planning, place-making, and sustainability. Her presentation captured our three primary frameworks for AAM infrastructure at Dar Group:

• Sustainable – Using the Living Community Challenge framework pioneered by Perkins & Will’s Jason McLennan, our teams build communities around the Flower Petal framework. We ensure that resilience and equity are part of the planning alongside environmentally sustainable applications.

• Integrated – Sam Schwartz’s Open Transit framework guides our holistic mobility planning, which looks at existing and emerging modes for moving people and things. The framework simplifies customer transit decision-making by removing friction between options ranging from connected communities to mobility-as-a-service offerings.

• Welcoming – We believe in creating beautiful, engaging spaces. Our approach is based upon the Human Truths framework that was trademarked by Portland Design, which analyzes local sentiment and culture to craft unique place-making with connection, creativity, and convenience.

Beyond the speaking and moderating engagements, our team members across the family of companies shared insights and ideas on advanced engineering and design principles with aviation leaders. They also contributed to the Baggage Innovation Working Group and are working with FTE leadership to provide ideas for international FTE events such as FTE APAC, as well as next year’s global event.

“Collaborating with true experts is always inspiring, which is what makes FTE such a rich experience,” says Chris Runde. “It is impossible not to be uplifted when we are crafting the future of aviation and mobility through the lenses of resilience, sustainability, digital transformation, and human-centered design.”

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Further reading

How a unique global collaborative is paving the way for a resilient future for the air transport industry – FTE News on the Ground