Lisa M. Hughes
Age: 37
Assistant Vice President of Planning
Dallas Fort Worth International Airport
- Alma Mater: Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach Campus
- Fun fact about yourself: I enjoy riding my husband’s motorcycle
- Favorite book: favorite genre of books are Legal and Crime Dramas, both fiction and non-fiction
- Favorite TV show: just like the books…legal and crime dramas, such as, Law & Order, CSI and Blue Bloods
- Favorite movie" Flight of the Intruder
- Favorite hobby(s): boating with my family
Lisa Hughes looked up into space for her initial interest in aviation. “I remember being fascinated with airplanes at a young age, but my original interest was the Space Shuttle program and the teacher, Christa McAuliffe, who became a member of the Challenger Shuttle crew,” she said.
For Hughes, the aviation industry is a very dynamic environment, with many opportunities. “There’s no shortage of new planning work at DFW or in aviation. In my role, I work to take airport infrastructure projects from plans to reality,” she said. “It gives me a great sense of accomplishment to see my plans come to life.”
Since joining Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) in 2010, Hughes has been very involved in many aspects of planning at a large hub airport including terminal, gate and hardstand planning, accommodation of large aircraft, airfield operations, capital programming, passenger facilitation, demand/capacity analysis, FAA, TSA and CBP coordination, customer service improvements, and accommodation of corporate aviation. In the past year, she managed a $6 million on-call services planning contract, helped finalize agreements between DFW and TEX Rail and managed the airport’s 10-year capital improvement program (CIP).
Her nominator noted that Hughes is not limited by “what has always been,” but instead anticipates “what could be,” to better serve the needs and requirements of DFW’s customers. She’s credited with implementing Innovative ideas including automated passport control kiosks, applying analytical solutions to winter weather operations planning and developing a spreadsheet tool for forecasting ground equipment for hardstand operations that feeds into the CIP. She’s also working with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Innovation task force to prepare the airport for automated screening lanes.
“I like having the opportunity to positively affect millions of people passing through DFW each year. I can make changes and solve problems that help passengers using our airport every day,” she said. “For me, the thought of helping those traveling around the world is important and rewarding.”
