London Inc. April 2022 - 20

10 Minutes With
LOFTY AMBITIONS
London International Airport CEO Scott McFadzean
talks past and present, the way forward, courting
business and why YXU is better
SCOTT MCFADZEAN, 41, is the new CEO of London
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International Airport, coming to the position after spending 20
years at Diamond Aircraft. He grew up in Brantford and came
to London in 1999 to study commercial aviation management
at Western - the year that program launched. Later, he earned
his commercial pilot licence in the Western aviation program.
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He started at Diamond in 2002 as an intern and left as CEO.
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He and wife, Roxanne, have two daughters, Lucy, seven, and
Ruby, five. In addition to family time, he enjoys a variety of
sports, including skiing, hockey and tennis. The family has
season tickets to the Knigights and also attends the Grand
heat
Theatre and other concerts and events.
Ruby, fi
Congratulations on the new job. Presumably,
everyone running an airport anywhere in the world
is looking forward to 2022 and the resumption of
travel. How is London different than other airports,
if it is? It has been a challenging two years for all airports
and airlines during the pandemic and all of us very much
look forward to returning passengers for business and
leisure travel. London is unique in that we offer an easy,
comfortable, friendly and stress-free airport experience.
Rather than drive two-plus hours on one of the busiest and
most dangerous highways in North America to get to a larger
airport like Pearson or Detroit, we offer the convenience
and simplicity of travelling directly from your home airport
and removing the stress, costs and risks associated with
travelling to the larger airport.
New job. Same commute. You left Diamond Aircraft,
where you were CEO. Why leave? I had a very
successful 20-year career at Diamond Aircraft, and I have
a lot of respect and love for the people and the products at
Diamond. I left the company with record sales, revenue and
profit, so I feel very good about what I was able to accomplish,
but I was ready for a change and a new challenge in
my career. I had been looking at some opportunities in the
United States, but when I saw the CEO position opening at
the London International Airport, I was very excited about
the opportunity to lead the airport to new heights. It was the
perfect fit and London has such a great community and so
20|londonincmagazine.ca|APRIL 2022
much opportunity and potential. To become the CEO at the
London International Airport and give back to my city and
community is very motivating for me.
I assumed Diamond would have suffered from the
pandemic in step with airports. But that's not the
case, is it? Diamond is - forgive me - flying high.
Ironically, record sales of aircraft were achieved by Diamond
Aircraft during the pandemic. This was also the case for
other aircraft manufacturing companies. There was a lot of
capital injected into the markets and I think many people
still wanted to travel but didn't feel comfortable getting on
an airline during the pandemic, so many decided to purchase
their own aircraft or learn to fly. I also think the pandemic
made people realize that life is short, and you never know
when your time here will be up, so why wait to buy that
airplane that you always dreamed of? The flight training
market has also been extremely strong and the need for
training the next generation of airline pilots is critical to the
growth of the aviation industry. Diamond is also very strong
in the flight training market, so this was also a key factor to
record aircraft sales.
You succeeded Mike Seabrook as airport CEO, and
like Mike, you are a licensed pilot. He built his own
plane, an RV-8 tandem-seat. Have you gone that
far? Yes, I am a licensed pilot, but I have not gone as far to
build my own aircraft, although I guess I could claim that I
London Inc. April 2022

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