When a young Todd Hauptli decided to major in government and political science at the University of California, Santa Barbara, his parents were, he says, “dismayed.”  

“My dad in particular had hoped that I would pursue a business degree or something like that, where I’d be guaranteed some kind of employment,” Hauptli told CEO Update in a Zoom interview from his office at the American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE) in Alexandria, Va.  

As it turns out, Hauptli has worked for AAAE for 32 years and has been its CEO since 2013.  

Two days after college graduation, the California native bought a one-way ticket to Washington, D.C., “with no job and no place to stay after my first night.” 

He started as a Capitol Hill aide, working for the House Republican Research Committee, then became associate director of Cabinet affairs late in the Reagan administration. Hauptli landed at AAAE as a lobbyist in 1991. 

All those years representing executives who manage airports paid off during the pandemic as AAAE helped secure federal aid for the sector when flights fell more than 90%. Hauptli and his staff had to advocate for such aid while holding the association together as its finances experienced a hard landing.  

It took layoffs and deep pay cuts for staff — including Hauptli — to enable the association to continue its critical advocacy mission on behalf of a devastated industry. 

Even more amazing than the fact that Hauptli has worked at AAAE since 1991 is that he is just the third chief executive in the association’s 95-year history. (It lacked a chief executive for its first 30 years.) And Hauptli plans to remain another five years to see the association through its centennial celebration. 

Excerpts from the interview, edited for length and clarity, follow: 

CEO Update: How did 2023 go for AAAE? 

Todd Hauptli: It was a really good year for us. We had record revenue. We’re above our pre-pandemic highs with net income. We’ve also pushed out a record number of scholarships this year from our foundation. 

CU: You celebrated your 10th anniversary as CEO on Dec. 1. How do you feel looking back on your tenure?  

TH: It feels great. When I was going through the selection process to get the job, at a time when I was AAAE’s chief lobbyist, I wrote a book detailing my vision of the future for the organization. And one of the wild-ass, audacious things I said was, “Pick me and we’re going to become a $100 million organization by 2028.” We were then a $33 million group. But we were able to reach that $100 million a year in five years rather than 15 years. If you get great people aligned around a shared vision, you can achieve amazing results.  

CU: You wrote a book during the CEO interviewing process? 

TH: (Holds up his self-published hardcover book, “AAAE: The Road Ahead.”) It’s not a long book, 40 pages or so. But it was my vision for the organization and what I thought my qualifications were. I felt we were at a crossroads in terms of our need to innovate. It wasn’t supposed to be a New York Times bestseller, it was only intended to influence the seven people on the selection committee. Even though I had worked at AAAE for 23 years, I didn’t want to take anything for granted. I wanted to demonstrate a seriousness of purpose, and I wanted people to see that I had a plan and a vision for the future of the organization.  

CU: How have you imbued the organization with an entrepreneurial spirit? 

TH: AAAE has a somewhat unique business model in the association world in that dues represent less than 2% of our revenue. We have 15 different lines of business. We run lots of meetings and conferences. We have different business solutions for problems in the airport space. The entrepreneurial spirit in the organization was alive and well long before I became CEO. But we’ve been able over the past 10 years to focus on solutions that deliver great impact for the members. 

CU: Tell us about some of those business solutions. 

TH: Years ago, we created a revenue-management system for ride-share companies that operate at airports. Back when Uber and Lyft were in their infancy, they would have drivers just show up at airports and get in fights with cab drivers. We developed a revenue tracking system, so we now know when an Uber or Lyft comes on airport property, picks somebody up, drops somebody off and leaves airport property. It’s a great service to our members and a major source of association revenue.  

CU: How do you approach advocacy? 

TH: One of the strengths that airports have is that airports exist in virtually every community. Often, airports are a big economic driver. We’ve tried to take advantage of that strength that we have with grassroots efforts. We don’t have access to all the money some trade associations do, but what we do have is a lot of impact in local communities. 

CU: How has technology changed what you do? 

TH: You think about the instantaneous nature of information dissemination. When we were going through the pandemic, our advocacy team had daily calls with airports to give them an update on what was going on with COVID relief efforts, infrastructure funding and all those kinds of issues. We had up to 500 people a day on these calls, and we got COVID relief early on. But we still today have weekly calls with up to 200 airport directors and airport people, so the pandemic showed our members how critical our advocacy efforts are, and their engagement level has remained extremely high. 

CU: You had to lay off staff during the pandemic. Have you been able to hire back? 

TH: Dues being such a small portion of our revenues, less than 2%, we rely very heavily on aviation activity to fund the organization. In a matter of five or six weeks, aviation dropped 94%. We knew very quickly that it was going to be very tough on AAAE. So, we moved aggressively early on. We had to lay off 25% of the staff and the remaining staff took pay cuts anywhere between 20% and 40%. We’ve been gradually able to add folks back. We’re still not where we were in 2019. But we went from 72 people down to 50-something and now we’re at 65. 

CU: And you took a pay cut as well. 

TH: Yes. I was the one who took a 40% cut. But you want a team that acts and feels like owners. And the thing I’m incredibly proud of is the way the team came through the pandemic and worked together, including people who took those significant pay cuts, because they understood how important that mission was, and that this was what we were going to have to do to get to the other side. (Lost pay for Hauptli and his staff has since been restored and compensation has increased.) 

CU: Is AAAE’s work schedule still hybrid?  
TH: Our staff is in the office three days a week, Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, with the option to work remotely on Wednesdays and Fridays. I’d say about 80% of the people take that option. 

CU: Do you hope to increase that to four or five days in the office at some point? 

TH: We started 2024 in the same pattern that we’ve had, but I don’t know that we will end this year with the same pattern. Personally, I would prefer to have people in the office more. But I understand the flexibility arguments and it’s hard to argue that staff are not getting the job done.  

CU: What are the most essential leadership traits for an association executive? 

TH: I have sort of an “Oh, s---” file in case something happens to me: 10 key skills or attributes to look for and develop and measure in future CEO selection. Of those, strategic vision ends up being critical. And financial acumen is really important. And communications ability and being able to be a charismatic leader.  

CU: Is strategic vision a skill that can be developed?  

TH: I think so. I wasn’t born with that capability. As you spend time in a career and an organization, you get to know the ins and outs of it. I think you can develop that. It can be nurtured.  

CU: What has been the biggest challenge you’ve overcome as CEO? 

TH: By a long shot, the pandemic was the biggest challenge. It was an existential threat to the organization. I was very intentional about being transparent and candid with the team. All we can do is the best we can do. I’m proud of not only getting through the pandemic but the way the team responded, and getting through the pandemic in a way that allowed us to have great impact for the membership. 

CU: You mentioned scholarships as a major accomplishment last year. How much money is involved and who are the scholarships for?  

TH: It’s a big focus for us. Our AAAE Foundation gave out 138 scholarships last year, totaling $482,000. A big chunk of it is for people on the uphill part of their career trajectory who are pursuing MBAs, who are interested in careers in aviation management. We’re trying to help build the pipeline for future leaders, any industry. We have scholarships for women in aviation. We have scholarships that I created for innovation and entrepreneurship, and we’ve got a couple of diversity, equity and inclusion scholarships. When I took over 10 years ago, the foundation had about $2 million in it and we gave out about $174,000 a year in scholarships. Today we have $8 million and we give out about half a million dollars a year. 

CU: Where do you see yourself in five years? 

TH: The hundredth anniversary of AAAE is in 2028. It was founded in 1928. For the first couple of decades of its existence, there was no permanent professional staff in place. Starting in 1958, they hired their first staff leader, and he led from 1958 to 1983. The second staff leader was with the organization until 2013, when they hired me. I am the third. If everything goes according to plan, in five years, as we celebrate our hundredth anniversary, I will be in my final year as the staff leader of AAAE. 

Did you know?  

Political bug: As a political science major, Hauptli was inspired by one of his visiting professors, a former U.S. Senate chief of staff: “He told these wonderful stories about how Washington really worked, as opposed to what the textbooks said.”  

Now you’re cooking: Hauptli is a good enough chef that he invites professional chefs to his house for dinner. He is also the author of a cookbook called “Chez Hauptli.” 

Losing it: Like many people, Hauptli purchased a Peloton exercise bike during the pandemic, and he said it became an “obsession.” His weight is down from 240 to 175. “I’m proud to say I’m 75% of the man I was,” he quipped.