Vaughn College welcomed guest speaker Lysa Scully, the general manager of LaGuardia Airport to campus on Friday, October 31, 2014.  She was the first presenter in a speaker series hosted by the management department.  At LaGuardia, she is in charge of ensuring 19 million passengers are properly served each day. During her presentation, Scully emphasized education’s importance as a factor for students’ success, and urged students to take full advantage of their available time in the College’s labs, as it is beneficial to longevity and progression in the field of aviation.

“My educational opportunity was the best thing that ever happened to me,” she said.  “Hard work and determination can manifest into unimaginable opportunities if you put your mind to it.”

Scully also shared important information regarding the development initiatives being brought to New York City airports by Governor Andrew Cuomo.  The new design layout is projected to fit 17 million passengers as apposed to the 8 million passengers that it fits today.  It will also relieve crowded ticket areas and allow faster screening and safer passenger security.

The main goals of this project is to minimize disruption for tenants and to maintain smooth and safe operations for the airport while staying within the guidelines of the FAA.  With the new designs in place, Scully estimates that LaGuardia will be able to accommodate 34 million passengers by the year 2030.

The management department’s speaker series will next welcome the Hon. Chris Hart, chair of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and John Allen, vice president and chief safety officer of JetBlue to campus on Friday, November 21.

LysaScully

Lysa Scully introduces new plans for LaGuardia Airport.