Toronto airport CEO "going at the top of my game"

Think of Lloyd McCoomb as mayor of a metropolis that never sleeps and a city that is a powerful hub of the Canadian economy. That city is Toronto's Pearson International Airport, which provides jobs for 38,000 people, houses 128 shops and restaurants, and handles 32 million passengers a year, constituting half of Canada's air traffic. In early 2012, the 66-year-old engineer will retire after five years as CEO of the non-profit Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA). The job capped McCoomb's three decades in planning and operating roles in transportation, and helping to shape the place he proudly calls "my baby."

Why leave now? I'm going at the top of my game. Our traffic is growing and our new corporate strategy, which aims at adding 20,000 more jobs over five years, is taking root. I have a long list of personal things to do and time's a wasting. Given my experience, I'd like to do some consulting, and more teaching. I want to give back. My church has a sister church in Cuba and I'd like to volunteer some time there.

What was your worst experience as CEO? Christmas 2009, when the so-called underwear bomber flying from Amsterdam to Detroit caused bedlam. The U.S. had reason to be concerned, but thousands of people here were inconvenienced and we had a mad scramble trying to sort it out. It's heartbreaking trying to serve the public and see this. But one lesson was the importance of working together. It's what we call adaptive challenge—with some problems, there is no textbook solution. You have to learn your way through them.

Haven't passengers complained about being nickelled and dimed to death ever since the GTAA was founded in 1996? Fees are a controversial subject. Take one example: My chief commercial officer is constantly on my case, saying, "For goodness sake, Lloyd, provide the baggage carts for free." I won't do it. We did it when we were part of Transport Canada, but everything provided for free is abused. People with one little bag would take a cart. Then some poor little old lady with three big bags couldn't get one. And why should all the people who don't use carts subsidize those who do? I'm sympathetic with airlines for charging for bags. It costs money to fly that bag.

Is the airport appreciated as an economic engine? We hear the right words being spoken, but then we see certain actions, such as the ground rent charged by Ottawa. If I have one regret, it's my failure to articulate the inappropriateness of the rent formula. The Canadian public deserves a return on its investment in the site, but this particular formula, based on airport revenues, is so unfair to Toronto. We failed to get this message to the public.

The GTAA is an airport authority, but how much authority do you really have? So much of the passenger's experience is influenced by people not under our control—customs and immigration officials, the security agency and the airlines. But one thing we work on with our executives is informal leadership—trying to influence others to do what we believe is in the best interests of the community.

What causes you to lose sleep? We can't fail. Unlike many other CEOs, you don't have the luxury of saying, "Gee, I'm sorry. We're going out of business." There's also the fear of a call at 3 in the morning, when something we've done has brought the entire airline check-in system to a halt. Everything has backed up and you have to fix it—now. After all, it's the Canadian economy. Can you imagine if the airport in Toronto stopped?

How do you stay so composed? I've grown up with it. This is not something I was parachuted into. I started working on runway expansions and then the little train we have—the monorail that links the terminals. It's been a 30-year love affair with this place and I really understand the machinery. And let's cut to the chase: It's really fun. Just go out there and stand at the end of the 24-left runway at night and look at the lineup of lights—the string of pearls, lining up to come on. You really get charged up—this is what I trained my whole life for.

Is it a low-profile but high-impact job? The joke in our business is true: When you die you don't know if you're going to heaven or hell, but you know for sure that, at some point, you will go through Pearson.