Windy City Plays Host to 2026 JumpStart
More than 570 attendees converged upon Chicago June 8-9 for the 2026 JumpStart Air Service Development Conference. Known as North America’s premier air service development conference, the annual event began with a day of educational sessions, followed by two days of airport and airline meetings.
Monday’s programming was kicked off by keynote speaker Scott McCartney of Airlines Confidential. The popular podcast co-host focused his comments on the ongoing metamorphosis of air travel.
“In a sense, you are all here to bring about some form of metamorphosis, bringing new service to communities, and finding new markets to grow your airlines,” McCartney said. “That is change.”
McCartney went on to talk about the bigger metamorphosis of the industry, noting it is, “a change we don’t fully appreciate yet.
“I really think this is a profound historical time in this business,” McCartney stated, noting that the pandemic changed travel dramatically. “Much, much has changed and it is permanent change and the metamorphosis that I think we don’t fully appreciate yet. Traveler attitudes have changed, travel patterns have changed, traveler preferences have changed, airline products have changed. Most profoundly and importantly, travel demand has fundamentally changed.”
Following McCartney’s remarks, attendees gleaned insights from industry experts on topics ranging from the evolution of low-cost carriers to partnership-driven growth to destination marketing strategies in subsequent educational panel sessions.
A highlight of the event came with the presentation of the Air Service Achievement Award to Louisville Regional Airport Authority Vice President of Air Service Development and Strategic Development Anthony Gilmer.
Networking breaks, including breakfast, lunch and evening receptions, allowed representatives from 215 North American airports plentiful opportunities to engage with airline counterparts throughout the duration of the event that concluded with one-on-one, airport-airline meetings Tuesday and Wednesday. The Windy City drew a varied audience to the annual event, with 25 percent of attendees new to the conference, and 22 percent classified as Young Airport Professionals.
