Well, they say airports are like mini cities. The size of our airport is really what helps make that unique is because everybody knows everybody. There's a lot of like unsung logistics that go into running the South International Airport. How [music] is he playing the piano, controlling where he's going, making sure he's not running into passengers. Awesome. You know, people are like, whoa.
How have [music] you seen the South International Airport evolve over the last decade? From South Bend to Evansville and everywhere in between, this is Get In, the show focused on the Hooser State and the incredible stories happening here today. I'm Nate Spangle, founder of Get Indiana, and I will be your host for today's conversation. Before we dive into today's episode, a quick shout out to our friends at NCW, the team that's been building one of the fastest growing staffing and recruiting companies in America for over 25 years. They specialize in the skilled trades. But here's [music] the thing, they're also growing their own internal team.
If you or someone you know is [music] interested in recruiting, sales, or just making businesses run smoother, you'll want to check them out at teamncw. com. This is just another job pitch. NCW has been voted a top workplace by the indie star, landed on the IBJ Fast25 list, and made the Inc. 5000 [music] list multiple times. I'll tell you, I've got plenty of friends who work there and they all love it.
[music] Go check out teamncw. com. Now, let's get into the episode. My guest today is Julie Curtis and she is the vice president of marketing and air service development at Southbend International Airport. [music] There she helps tell the story of one of Indiana's most important gateways and works on the strategy behind attracting and growing air service. SPN is in a major growth moment with new routes, record passenger momentum, front drive improvements, multimmoal connections, and economic development opportunities that reach far beyond the runway.
Today, we're going to be diving into all that. the story of Southbends International Airport and your record-breaking year in 2025. Julie, welcome to the show. Thanks for having me, Nate. I one, I appreciate you making the trip down here. Now, I know, did we catch a flight from from South Bend to India or do we take US 31?
We took US 31. You know, that's fair. Uh, understanding. Uh, but we get to talk about all things flights out of South Bend and the incredible year you guys had in 2025 where you surpassed 1. 1 million passengers, which was the best since I believe 1997. We had to talk about new improvements.
Uh, some creative ways that you guys are uh I mean, I think we talked about I saw a video not too long ago about a bus that also like hooks into an airport in Chicago. There's a lot of really innovative, cool stuff happening in South Bend and I'm really happy to dive into uh the the story today. What I want to start with, you're not originally from Indiana. You were uh you're a transplant from the Mitten State that was only supposed to stay for a few years. Correct. That's correct.
So, I grew up in the Detroit area. My husband's job brought us down here at the time. We did not have any children. We thought we would be in Southbend, Indiana for 3 to five years and here 23 years, two kids. Our youngest is graduating high school this year. There we go.
What high school? Uh Adams. Oh, Adams. That is the Eagles. Yes, it is. I I did on I went on a journey to memorize all the high school mascots.
Let's go. There we go. Okay. So, when did you start working with the airport? So, I started in 2012. So, I've been there about 13 and a half years.
Um it was late in the year then. Um and they say once the smell of jet fuel gets in your blood, you don't leave. And that truly is true. The industry is so um exciting. It's constantly changing for better or for worse. Um and there is no end in sight.
You know, the work that we do is continual and I have not wanted to go anywhere else. That's awesome. How have you seen the Southbend International Airport evolve over the last decade? Oh gosh, it has changed so much. We've added two new airlines since I've been there. Countless new routes.
I was trying to think on my drive down here, you know, how many routes we had when I started and I think we were at eight or nine. Has it always been an international airport? It has not. Um I think it was back in 2014 that we announced that we were constructing a general aviation facility and also a federal inspection station. Um I believe are those are those requirements to be an international airport? They are.
Yes. So the general aviation facility is to clear the private and business uh class jets and then the FIS is what's needed for commercial international passenger flight. Okay. So I am working on those. I do expect those to happen one day. I just don't know exactly when that's going to happen because you're in charge of all things marketing and air service which uh I know a lot of people will know what marketing is but what exactly is air service?
So air service is working with the airlines uh to whether it is retaining the service that you have because sometimes that is really good just not to lose any of the service that you have growing the existing routes that you have and of course getting those new routes and those new airlines. So you guys are coming to different airlines and saying like, "Hey, will you add a new route that goes from blank to blank and trying to bring data maybe to like prove that there's like what are what are the busiest routes out of the South Bend International Airport?" Of the busiest routes that you that that you're going to have are those that you already have because they are already served. But then we look at what are our busiest routes that are unserved. We have to do a strategy that aligns with the airline strategy. So, one of our top uh demanded routes is Denver.
So, we've been working with the airlines on that. Um I will go and talk to them at conferences. We'll make headquarter visits. But basically, we work with consultants. There is all kinds of data through the DOT um where we will put together a business case because we are in such close proximity to Chicago. We have a lot of what's called leakage.
So that's people that are getting in their car and driving to Chicago. We always say we want you to fly to your connection, even if that means, you know, taking a flight from Southbend to Chicago or one of our many other hubs that we have for you to get to your final destination. So it's almost like economic development where you're almost doing like site visits and saying like, "Hey, bring another connecting route. Bring another route to South Bend. Take us from Southbend to Denver or Southbend to wherever." today.
Where what are the most trafficked routes from South Bend? Like where do you fly the most people to? Oh gosh. Uh well, our Florida routes, the Midwest has a lot of demand down to Florida, and we have a lot of uh routes down to Florida. So, that is huge right now, but Denver is really big. So, you do have a Denver one.
We don't have Denver, but that there are still people that are going every day to to Denver and they're just taking a connecting. Oh, so like fly into Chicago or somewhere and then down there. Wow. Okay. Yeah. Um, so New York City is a big demanded market.
Um, and then internationally, Cancun is the international market. That makes a lot of sense. Directly, Southbend. So, how many different cities does Southbend fly direct to? We currently fly to 16. So, 16 on five airlines.
Six. Okay. What are the five airlines? American, Delta, United. Those are the three legacies that connect to seven of the largest hubs in the United States where that you can get one stop whether it's domestic or internationally most destinations. And then we have Allegant and Breeze which are your lowcost carriers that really do mainly pointto-point flying on specific days of the week and what you trade off for daily service.
Um you get that lower cost because they only fly you know maybe two to four to five times a week. Wait uh one I've never heard of Breeze. What is Breeze? Yeah. So, Breeze is a newer airline. It started in 2021.
Um, you could just start air that's wild to me. Like the fact that someone just like, "Yeah, let's start an airline." Yeah. So, it is uh owned by David Neilman who uh also started JetBlue, another carrier you probably have heard of. and um he saw an opportunity to have kind of a premium lowcost carrier model still that pretty much pointto-point flying from smaller cities but offering that first class feel extra leg room and then the economy seats as well. So you can go for as inexpensive as you want or you can add on and and it really is still economical.
Wow. Breeze Airways. I mean, I feel like especially with uh the recent Spirit news, like Breeze is going to be in a pretty good position uh to step in there. Like again, on their on their main page of their website, snag a flight from $44 one way. It is wild to me. Like I was always so confused about that with Spirit that it was like $64 to get from here to Florida and back.
And I'm like, they can just not be making money. Turns out guess they I guess it wasn't working out. Um so like how hard was it to get Breeze to come in in 2020? when did they come to South Bend? So, they started service in 2024, late 2024. We announced it early 2024.
Um, that gave us some gave them some time to ramp up ticket sales, being a new airline to, you know, get their ticket counter established and all of that. Um, but they started, they announced two routes non-stop to Orlando International and then Washington Dulles. shortly after they announced those two routes. Um they also announced seasonal service to Fort Meyers International Airport. So um yeah, so we've got three routes with them. Uh Washington, DC and Orlando are year round and then the uh Fort Meyers route is seasonal.
Wow. Okay. So from a marketing perspective, it's not just convincing locals to buy tickets through South Bend to go other places. You're also convincing airlines to give more routes to Southbend for it's kind of like a two-sided marketplace there. It really is. I mean, if you think about it, an airline is not like your big box store that, you know, has to build a big brickandmortar location.
They can fly their asset in one day. And we always say a community receives the air service it supports. And that really is true because we can bring the service, but if the community isn't supporting it and isn't flying those routes, the the airlines will leave. So, yeah. Well, and so what you're combating in there is people driving down to Indie to fly or driving up to Chicago to fly versus going through South Bend and out to the world. Yep.
So, our biggest point of leakage, that's what that is. When people are in your market and they're driving to another airport, um the biggest is to Chicago. We get some people that are coming down here to Indie. Yes, you guys have a bigger airport than what we do. Um, but there's some people from your area that actually come up to us because they might like some of those Allegiant flights or Breeze flights and they like the days of the week that they're flying better. So, that kind of is a wash.
The same with Fort Wayne, even up to Kalamazoo and Michigan. But, we really have the opportunity out of that to get people off the road to Chicago and get them starting and ending their travel at Southbend. Why do you think there is so much leakage? Do I mean obviously they have more flights out of Chicago? You know, more times the whole nine yards there, but like are you really saving that much money if you drive from Southbend to O'Hare versus just flying out of South Bend? Yeah, it's funny cuz we didn't even talk about this in advance, but uh No, you really don't.
So most times people end up paying more for that cheaper ticket out of Chicago by the time that they add up their tolls, mileage, their time. Parking is significantly more than what it is in Southbend. That total ends up being about $300 more. So people say, "Well, it was $50 cheaper for me to fly out of Chicago." And I tell them, "Well, you just paid $250 more for that inconvenience." Like if you live in South Bend and let's say you know again a ticket might be $50 difference or whatever it is there and it how nice is it though to like get back and you're in South Bend and you're just like oh I can take the 12-minute drive home or whatever.
That's what it is. You don't have to travel to travel. You're home. You don't have to travel to travel. But you guys also have some creative options too that use Southbend. I saw a video I don't know maybe a year ago or nine months.
I don't know when it was. But like there are not just planes that are exiting the Southbend International Airport. Talk to me about the new creative solutions you guys have to connect uh Southbend to Chicago. Okay. So um American started in our market back 2017 2018 time frame. They had been in Southbend but had been gone for many many years.
I don't even know how long it was. It was way before me. We brought them back. They started service to two of their hubs, Dallas and Chicago. At the time it was twice daily to both of those hubs. They've grown that service and what they were finding is that people that were American Airlines frequent flyers that you know it doesn't matter what the airfare is going to cost, they're going to fly on American because they get th those points and miles.
There were certain destinations that they were going to that it didn't make sense for them to fly over Chicago or Dallas. So they would say, "Well, I'm just going to drive to Chicago because I would rather do that." We did not have non-stop service to Chicago on American. And so they partnered with a regional motor coach company, the Landline Company. And what they have done, and they've done it in Philly, so this has been going on for some time, where they are connecting their passengers to smaller communities via this luxury motor coach. So, think of it as an airplane on wheels.
So, what happens is you book your ticket. Let's say I'm going Southbend to Seattle. I'm going to book on American. I'm going to take the first leg is Southbend to O'Hare and then I'm going to connect to my flight and I'm going to go O'Hare to Seattle. I will get to the airport if I'm checking a bag. I'm going to go to the American ticket counter.
I'm going to check my bag. I'm going to go through our super short TSA lines. I'm going to go grab something at one of our concessionaires, get down to the gate, and then I will board the bus just like you would born a board a plane. You're not on a jet bridge. You just walk outside a door onto the ramp and onto the bus. If I have a carry-on, they stow that carry-on for me.
I get on. It is luxury. Like I said, it's a luxury 35 seat motor coach. Think the biggest first class seats, all of the electronic outlets that you need, all the different types. You can sit there and work. Free high-speed Wi-Fi.
Um, and then you get to Chicago, you go inside their fence, they take you to a gate, you get off the bus. If you are um if you have your carry-on, you grab it from them. If they're if you had that check bag, they get that to your connecting flight. You walk through the terminal to your next gate. So it's gate to gate. So it's essentially a flight on wheels.
That is awesome. Yeah. Now, do they just take the normal road to get there? They do. Yeah. So the other great thing is that let's say you booked a ticket out of Chicago and something happened and traffic got crazy or there was an accident or something that you weren't expecting.
Uh you do not you have to rebook yourself. If you're on American on this service with the connection and something happens, just like if you were on an airplane, they would rebook you if you missed a connection. So, yeah. So, and and again, it's the convenience of not having to stand in the TSA lines at Chicago to have the less expensive parking in Southbend, all of the ease and convenience of starting your journey from a small airport. And again, it is gate to gate. Wow, that's pretty sweet.
Like I saw a whole like recapping the the flight experience and I was like, "Oh, that's pretty nice. You can not have to drive, you could work, you can do whatever you want to do." Like, yeah, you're you're traveling to Chicago, but it's like you you can just park in South Bend and you be ready to rock. Yeah, I took it um and I opened up my laptop, sat there working, was not even paying attention. It was as if I was at my desk. I looked up and was blown away that we were already in Chicago cuz I was so engrossed in what I was doing.
And it made for an easy connection. Yeah. Okay. So, the other thing I want to talk about was 2025 you guys welcomed 1. 1 million passengers which is the most of all time. Yes, it is.
And it was the most since 1997 where I believe you had what? 9. 9. No. Uh yeah. Well, 9.
1. Uh so 900 I guess 9. 91 99,000. So, in 1997, you welcomed 991,000 guests into the Southbend airport. And in 2025, you welcomed the 1. 1 million.
One, why were so many people flying into Southbend in '97? Well, back then, we had many more airlines. This was long before consolidation. There was at one point, I think we had 11 or 12 airlines. if you were to come get a tour of South Bend, and I know that you've been there cuz you're from the area, but we used to have ticket counters the entire length of our terminal building. So, obviously there are not that many airlines uh with mergers and consolidations these days.
Um, but it's funny because we've expanded our parking now two or three times and I honestly don't know how they did it back in the '9s with uh cuz we couldn't have done it without the expanded parking. wondering what people were flying in for too, like what was going on. I don't know. Uh because one big thing obviously is a lot of tourism to Southbend revolves around the university, revolves around Notre Dame. Uh and when like you know when they're good and people are flying in for games, like what does game day at the South Ben International Airport look like when Notre Dame is playing? Game day is something special to see, let me tell you.
So game day starts um as early as the Thursday before a home game. um especially if it's a really big game. Um most people want to get in early cuz they want to be able to go to the pep rally on Friday. They just want to spend as much time because for many people this is a bucket list trip for them. So if your team is lucky enough to be playing Notre Dame if you're lucky enough you're lucky enough to pull an away game in Southbend. Yeah, absolutely.
You you te defin definitely make it make it your your wish. So, not only do we welcome Notre Dame fans from all across the country because it is a national brand, um, but those away teams coming in. So, you will see Notre Dame sweatshirts, the away team, and that is just in the terminal. We partner with Visit Southbend Mishawaka. Um, they put up some amazing signage, welcoming people. It's great photo opportunities.
One of the really cool things that they did last year that we're going to do again this year is um they had a strolling piano. welcome fans and they would play the fight song. So, it was the guy, this is hard to envision, but think of it as almost like a Howl at the Moon like piano player, but he's on a um on wheels and there's a guy that looks like passenger. You never notice him. And he's the remote control and he's wheeling him all around like baggage claim. So, this guy is just playing the piano singing and you know, people are like, "Whoa, where like how is he controlling?"
The first time I saw it, I'm like, how is he playing the piano, controlling where he's going, making sure he's not running into passengers? That's awesome. It Yeah, it is really special. And then, so that's the commercial side of things. Then you have the general aviation traffic. So all of the private jets that are coming in.
Um there is no way for us to count the jets that come and go for the weekend. what we do to have an apples to apples comparison for every game is count the number of planes on the ground at kickoff. So we have had in excess of 300 aircraft on the ground. So we have had to close taxiways. We've had to close a runway to have pavement to park these aircraft on. No way.
Yeah, it is. It is. We become very very busy. I live not far from the airport and you will hear I mean it's plane after plane after plane coming and going. Awesome. Yeah.
People just flying the private jet in for for an Irish game. Come on. And um when you're looking at Okay, so game traffic starts on Thursday. Are other carriers are are they making special routes just to get people in for Notre Dame games? Yeah, they definitely are. So American, Delta, and United all add additional flights for uh game weekends.
They typically come in on Friday and depart on Sunday. Where do you feel like the biggest hub of Notre Dame fans are? Where do they add extra service from? So New York City is the biggest one. Yes. So we'll have flights from LaGuardia on Delta and American and then Newark on United.
So like a uh let's just like use this as an example. How many how much service from New York to South Bend is there in the spring versus on game day on game weekends in the fall? Well, on game weekends in the fall, we have those non-stop flights which is really great. The other great thing that we will see is some mainline aircraft. So Southbend is typically served by those carriers by the regional jets and we will actually see some of those mainline aircraft coming in which is really exciting as well. And a couple of years ago we actually just last year we finished a 5-year um taxiway realignment and ramp reconstruction project.
The reason that project was so important was that prior to that on our ramp we could only hold mainline gates at two of our gates and now we can put mainline aircraft at every single gate. What is mainline aircraft mean? So mainline aircraft means the big so when you if you pay attention when you are flying from a southbend and you look at the credentials of the flight attendant oftent times it might say like Sky West which is a regional carrier. Republic. Yes, exactly. They service a bunch of stuff.
It's like whitelisted where it's like they are acting on behalf or contracted out by the Delta or United of the world. Yes, that's correct. So, they're flying a Delta plane or a United plane or an American plane, but it's that regional carrier, whereas the main line is actually Delta PL pilots. Are they different sizes? Oh, yeah. It it's going to be anything from a 717.
So our largest regional jet is 76 seats. So you really get into the 90 plus seats. I got you. Okay. So looking to get more mainline like direct delta coming from New York to Southbend on game weekends. Yeah.
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Now, let's get back into the episode. Like are there other misconceptions around the South Ben International Airport? Like I know if you could just go out there and shout it to all the local residents up there, what would you say to them? I think the biggest one is that I can't get there. I hear it regularly. I just can't get where I need to go from Southbend.
I would challenge you that you can get to where you need to go and most often with just one quick connection, but there is still that belief that, you know, a drive to Chicago and getting on a non-stop flight is quicker. Um, and I can show you that often times it's much more convenient to start and end your trip in South Bend. And also what that does is the more people that continue to choose to fly Southbend, that helps us get those new routes. So people will say, "Well, when you get the flights, then we'll start flying." And it doesn't work that way. The airlines have to see the demand in your market, even if it means making a connection.
That helps us with our air service efforts. What's the most convenient flight out of South Bend, like to where? Oh gosh. I It really it just depends upon where you're going. You know, like I said earlier, American, United, and Delta all have service to seven of their biggest hubs. We have a ton of traffic down to Florida.
So, Allegian and Breeze are great. But then, you know, there's people that will take the United America or Delta to those places as well because they need to get there on a specific date and with daily flights over their hubs, you can get wherever you want to go. Yeah. I'm like looking what you have like a Sarasota and then a Tampa and St. Pete and it's like if you live in South Bend, like you can get down there pretty quick. Yes.
Y that's not bad at all. Okay. you're also doing um more improvements and renovations and things that are happening. Talk to us about what are the next big projects that the South International Airport is putting together. So, one of the things that we just broke ground on is SPN upfront. So, it's our front drive modernization project.
So, the goal with this project was um as we've gotten busier and busier, we're a one-way uh traffic loop into the airport and you know, we've gotten busier and busier and people will tend to drive a little quickly around that front drive. So, they also would tend to um stay in their cars and wait to pick up people. So, what we're doing is we're modernizing that front drive all in the name of safety. So, we are creating what we're calling a transportation lane. That's where you're going to go if you are grabbing an Uber or a lift. Um if you need a taxi, um if you're taking a hotel shuttle, you'll go into that lane.
It'll be separated by a median. So that'll take that that traffic off the front drive. We are no longer allowing um people to park. When I say park, parking in their they're they're they're sitting there waiting for people. Um but they can no longer do that. We're having them park in the in the cell phone lots and then when the passenger is ready, you call the person that's picking you up, they'll come around to the front drive and then there will be less congestion.
We're adding um raised crosswalks to help with the um uh the speed on the front drive and also safety. Right now, when you get into our building, we do have ADA ramps, but there are many steps as well. So everything is going to be lowered to be one smooth surface. Those crosswalks will guide people so it's not just willy-nilly people crossing all over. And then finally with that we are beautifying the whole front facade. And that includes new um canopies covering the front so that you know we have plenty of snow and rain here in North Central Indiana and um so that when people are getting dropped off they can do so under the covers.
Wow, that's awesome. And like really I mean comes down to when you're if you're going to continue to serve more than 1. 1 million people annually you definitely have to start you know modernizing and thinking about congestion like are there other things where it's like uh with increased scale or other like other things you have to think about from logistics of of having people in the door from pickup to drop off to like the the really passenger experience that that starts when you travel from South Bin International Airport. Definitely. So, I talked about that uh taxiway realignment and ramp reconstruction project. With that, we also installed common use um gate systems so that we can have any airline operate at any gate out of South Bend.
Prior to it was Allegant used these gates, Delta used these gates, uh United use these. This allows our operations team to be able to manage the flow of airplanes. So we have plenty of capacity. People will ask me, you know, well, are we getting close to being full? No, we we can handle many more passengers, but that was done very intentionally. We also have uh modernized the restrooms on the public side.
We did that because of the funding that we had got that had to be done on the public side. We're currently under we're doing the engineering for the restrooms on the uh sterile side, you know, post security and so the st. That's what they call that. That's what that's called. Yeah. Sorry, I used uh aviation lingo there.
Uh industry terms, right? Yes. Yes. Wow. Okay. The other piece, does the train station also operate the Southshore?
Does that operate out of the airport? It does. So, it's currently on the far east end of our terminal. Um so, we'll get questions like, "How far is the train stop from the terminal?" Well, it comes right in. You walk maybe 10 steps right into our terminal building.
Um there is some work being done by the Southshore to get some funding um to be able to reroute that to the west side of our terminal building. And what that will do, it'll uh shave off I think it's about 15 minutes many many atgrade crossings because once the train gets into Southbend it takes quite some time for it to kind of loop past the airport around to come into that east side. So for it to come into the west side will be a lot more efficient. And as we've been expanding and making plans, we are working with the Southshore and making plans for that move to happen should they get the funding to do that. But they are just a tenant of ours. Yeah.
So this is like a true though multi- multimodal transportation hub. You have the motor coaches, you have the Southshore, you have air travel like and then you have to worry about like like Ubers, lifts and taxis. Yeah, like there's a lot of like unsung logistics that go into running the Southbend International Airport. Yeah. Well, they say airports are like many cities and it really is true. So, we have our own safety officers that are policemen, they are firemen, they are EMTs, um we have, you know, it it's really a relatively small team that runs the actual airport authority, which is who owns and operates Southbend International Airport.
There's a team of probably about 80 of us or so. Um, 80 employees run the whole airport. Is that including like the Because this is also interesting too. People who work at like a ticket desk aren't part of the airport authority. Like how does that all work? Like the ecosystem of like who's tenants, who is staff?
Yeah. [snorts] You know, and how does that all work together? So the St. Joseph County Airport Authority is who I work for. We own and manage Southbend International Airport. So we consist of the administrative team.
So that's everything from marketing and air service to accounting to properties. Um we have our maintenance team. So they do everything from plowing snow in the winter to mowing the grass, making sure the paint markings on the runway are are accurate. Then we have our safety team. So, like I said, they all are firemen, law enforcement officers, and also EMTs. And then we have our operations team.
And the operations team is kind of orchestrates everything that happens on the airfield. Everybody else is tenants. One of the things that people don't realize is the airlines all operate independently of the airport and of one another. So when you get to South Bend, if a plane arrives a little bit early and people see an an open gate, they get frustrated and think the airport is not ready for us. And many times the pilots will say that, but it's not the airport. We can't touch an airplane.
If that airline had another airplane land maybe a little bit late, they're operating and handling that plane before they can get to your plane. So it's why many times at bigger hubs you'll you'll have to wait out a bit before you can get into a gate because it's it's all gate management and the staff around it. So it's almost like running an airport is very like real estate like like running a you know operating a a building where you have retail space and office space and then maybe some people living like it's a lot of different like landlordships. Yeah. So I say the easiest way to think about it is a shopping mall. Yeah, the shopping mall does not tell the individual stores what product to sell or what price to sell those products at.
They are just tenants and that's how we are. We manage the infrastructure and it's all the other businesses is the air who is the air traffic controller an employee of the FAA. So the federal government wait okay wait so I I got to get this. Wait the all the different stakeholders of an airport. So you all the St. Joseph County Airport Authority.
Airport Authority. You guys own the structure. Yep. You own the property. And then the the product that you're putting in there would be you get you have five different airlines, five different airlines that run flights out of there. But basically once you get, you know, Breeze or you get United or American or whoever signed up, it's like cool.
Now you are in charge of when a person walks through the front door that you guys own, they have to go to a United representative have to take a gate or the baggage claim. Then United employees take that through all the stuff and get their bag on the plane. That's all those are all United. So like the little uh like go-kart, you know, things out there, gators, those are United property. Yeah. So I we actually don't have those because of the size that we're at, but if you have to if you have say wheelchair assistants on your reservation.
Yes, it is one of the airline employees that will push you through. Yes. Okay. So you have that you have airlines, five different airlines. Then you have FAA/TSA, also independent companies. Yep.
So like how does that work? So they the airports are highly highly regulated industries and um so the TSA we have an amazing team. We get so many compliments on them even throughout the government shutdown that we had. You know they were showing up to work. We weren't having the call offs that that the other bigger airports were seeing. People were getting very panicked saying how early should I get to the airport?
Just your normal time. All of our people are showing up. They really do operate as a family, but they're also our partners. So, we work very closely with their management and the size of our airport is really what helps make that unique is because everybody knows everybody. This is wild. Okay.
So, you talk about any airport authority, whether it be Indie, Southbend, could be any of those. Like the leader, the CEO, is there a CEO of the St. Joseph airport authority? the CEO of the airport authority. Government shutdown happens is now you can go out and like host more interviews to bring in new TSA agents. No.
Like because they're not technically your employees. Yeah. They're not our employees. No. So we have a board of directors. So yeah, that's what we say.
Every entity that operates is independent of us. So it's a it's a fine balancing act that we do. How many how many employees are part of the airport authority? I would say probably about 80 right now. Okay. 80.
But how many employees does it take to run an airport? Oh gosh, there there are hundreds to thousands because you think about we're just talking about the av commercial aviation side of things. We have Sky West has a maintenance space on our property. We have um tenants that have hangers. We have uh FedEx. We have UPS.
We have um all kinds of different businesses that operate on the you know talk about food like cleaning like there and those are probably okay wait so we didn't even get to this portion of it so we have again if we're we're looking at the whole business the the shopping mall that is an airport you have FAA you have the TSA you have the airlines but then you also have all the concessionaires you have all the different like independent and Those aren't operated by you guys either. Nope, they are not. So, we actually have a new master concessionaire that uh just started actually on June 1st. Uh we're super excited to welcome them in. Previously, we had one spot post security where you could get whether it was a cocktail, a coffee, a bite to eat. Um the new operator is has really come in and expanded and re-imagined us.
So, they are partnering with a local restaurant in South Bend, the Lobber. They're going to be expanding the space. Um, and we will have full service dining for the first time ever before it was counter service where you would have to go up and and get your food. So, we're really excited about that. But then also a Dunkin Donuts and a Jimmy John's. So, many more concession opportunities and gift shops and whatnot.
Yeah, that is wild to me. I had never thought about that. when it comes to the economics or the the business model that is an airport. Yeah, it's definitely unique. Like do you have to give like stipulations and and you kind of like set the almost like the uh oh what do they call it like the neighborhood the HOA? You got to set the HOA like hey we want you to maintain like these kind of hours or these kind of it really varies based on the entity.
So, um, we we contract out like our our custodial, for example. Um, they focus on the areas that we want them to cover. Um, the airlines obviously operate their schedules. So, you've got the Delta, American, and United. They're going to have flights as early as 6:00 a. m.
So, their ticket counters are going to open 2 hours prior to the departures, and that's their standard um operating procedures. But then you have the the Allegiance and Breezes that operate a couple of times a week. So their ticket counters are not going to be open at 6 a. m. because they don't have a flight that early. I got you.
Now, here's an interesting question that I have because then I do want to talk kind of all things Indiana marketing. Yeah. It's not like your focus is directly selling tickets because that would be operated by the individual uh carrier, right? like, hey, take the take the breeze flight from South Bend to Fort Myers or wherever. Yeah. So then like what is the marketing like the overview?
What message are you trying to get out there and and focus on? So that's you bring up a very valid point. We don't sell a product. We don't even have access to the airlines reservation system. So, we always want to be in the consideration phase when people are searching for their air travel to remind people that they really can get anywhere from Southbend International Airport. So, while we're never going to get to 100% of the travelers in our region choosing our airport, we should always be part of that consideration phase.
So, we want to let people know how convenient it is to fly. You can get anywhere from here. where we will give inspiration, ideas of where they can travel to. When we do have a new route, we will do route specific marketing. Um, we work with the carrier on that. So, yeah, you're you're just kind of saying, "Hey, travel from Southbend International Airport, not necessarily book a ticket today to get down to spring break or whatever it is, like this specific thing."
We can do that based on the time of the year. Yes, we will be like, "Hey, spring break travel is coming. Book your ticket today." Um, you know, show shots of amazing beaches and and all of that, but letting people know that we're top of mind and should be in that consideration stage. You know, maybe we want to inspire travel to the mountains for hiking or golf in the winter when, you know, there's many people in our area that love to golf in the summer and want to take a winter trip out to Arizona. So I guess I had always thought right it was like about selling tickets.
But the more I think about how again how the business of airline or airports are they're just different than airlines like you're you're just trying to convince people to travel and when they park their car to take off they're bargaining it in South Bend. Yep. That's wild. Do you guys see a lot of business travel? Yeah, we have pro. It's hard for us to say exact because you know, you don't know the exact reason that people are traveling.
Um, but I would say we're probably 60% leisure, 40% business. So, that's pretty good. Yeah. Wow. Yep. So, there is a lot.
You know, we've got the RV industry um right next door to us. Their salespeople are always on the road, too. They They really are. like that. Uh I'm sure there's like the Monday morning flight out is uh Yeah. All the business crew.
Wow. Mondays are one of our biggest uh busiest days. Yep. Yeah. So, business travel is Okay. Well, this next question is brought to you by our friends at JC Hart.
They're a leader in creating enjoyable living experiences at apartment communities all across Indiana and beyond. Check them out at homejart. com. So, my question for you, Julie, why do you call Indiana home? Like we talked about at the beginning, I was only supposed to be here 3 to 5 years, but there's something about this place that really um roots you. I know I've listened to many of your podcasts and some of your other guests have said the same thing.
You really get in what you put in. So, um I I I've been involved in different things. I came here as a young professional, got involved in a young professionals network through the chamber. Um, have sat on various boards throughout my time. And I think one of the great things is just the community. We're that smallized community, but still have all of the amenities that you need of a bigger city, but we don't have the traffic.
You know, having the University of Notre Dame right there is great. We also love um the access to the lake shore. That's fantastic. Um it we're close to Indie. You know, we've done many kids sports events down here. Travel for personal down this way.
I think that that and the people are what makes it so special. How When did you move to Southbend? 23 years ago. Yeah. Okay. So that would have been 2003.
2003. How has Southbend changed over the last 20 years? it has changed immensely. So, um, that is one thing that as an outsider, it's really easy to see how much it has changed because I think for some people that have lived there their entire life lives, you know, we do battle the, oh, there's nothing to do in South Bend, there is, and when I say Southbend, I mean the South Bend, Mishawaka, entire region, there is plenty to do. You just need to know where to look. Um, if you look at outside of Notre Dame, Notre Dame when I first moved here was in their own little bubble of campus and now they have expanded tremendously.
Um, they're actually working on a project in downtown Southbend. They're bringing more and more concerts to the arena, you know, to get more people there. Yeah. Like I mean, what a couple months ago you had Luke Combmes. Like that's a heck of a show. Like what?
Last year it was Zack Bryan and Shane Gillis. Like these are G. Brooks a few years back too. Like these are legit acts that are coming to South Ben to play at Notre Dame Stadium. Like that is no joke. Plus you have Four Winsfield where I mean I saw the All-American Rejects like two or three years ago there which was also a vibe.
But you have baseball, you have the casino. There's like a decent for I mean that's kind of all like vicy type of stuff but like but like I that's stuff that I enjoy and my friends up there all enjoy going to do. Well and you talk about four winds field you know the Southbend Cubs that transformation it used to be the Southbend Silverhawks that stadium. I loved the I got to be a ball boy or something for or a bat boy for the Silverhawks for a game. Great mess. Great mess.
[laughter] But like yeah like the Southbend Cubs it's it's awesome and I feel like that even though it is like a single A baseball team it doesn't necessarily feel that like it feels like a premium experience. No. And have you been there recently? Uh two years ago probably. Oh okay. You need to go back because they have done some massive renovations.
It is completely different experience. some awesome uh premium spaces for for groups and whatnot and and just the the buildings that they've built. It it's it's been a great anchor for that side of downtown. Yeah. And I feel like downtown just in general, it's way more like walkable, you know? There's a lot of cool stuff that you can do right in that space and like kind of vibe new restaurants and cocktail lounges and stuff like I don't know.
I mean, when you think about what were you doing on the weekends 20 years ago in South Bend versus what do you have the opportunities to do now? Have you seen a big shift? Most definitely. And I think the biggest shift is downtown Southbend and also um Mishawaka along the Riverwalk. Um that has just completely transformed as well. So you you can't tell me that there isn't things to do.
The restaurant scene is vastly different. I'm a big fan of, you know, local, local, local local. And there's no shortage of places to go. Whereas when we first moved, it was pretty much, oh, go to Grape Road. And yes, which [laughter] was cool back then. It was like in the in the 2000s/ like early 2010s, it was like you had to hit up the the Olive Garden, the like Cheddars that was over there.
RIP. They had my favorite. Scotty's Brew House that was over there was awesome. But it was like that was going to the Olive Garden again. We were just south of town about 30 minutes and it's like if you took your Saturday night date up to Olive Garden, got unlimited soup and bread sticks. You were really livid and then go across the street to the mall.
Uh and so yeah, the whole uh reimagining of the local spots, local restaurant tours, the cocktail lounges, it's it's a vibe for sure. and all of the entrepreneurs that are making this happen. That's what's super cool, too. Yeah, absolutely. I I mean, I would say we spent because this is another piece when you're from the area. How often do you act like a tourist in your hometown?
Like, not that often, but I got I got to go back last year and I spent a whole weekend and I had never stayed on Notre Dame's campus. Kind of like by Eddie Street, but like stayed in the hotel that's right there. That's like the nicest hotel. Was it the Embassy Suites or were you on campus as well? No, I don't think I was on I wasn't on campus. I was right across Embassy Suites.
Is there like a There's like a bookstore in the whole nine yards and you're like a stone throw away from Eddie Street. It was electric. Yeah, we're actually hosting a conference uh an aviation conference later this fall and we are going to be doing it at that Embassy Suites because, you know, getting people to Southbend, the airlines, the uh other people that do what I do in the industry, being able to showcase Notre Dame and all the great things that are happening here. I think they're going to be thrilled. Yeah, absolutely. Okay.
Um, well, I this section that I had in my notes was just like, I want to hear the pitch on Southbend. That's the pitch. Like, and even if you live in the area, spend the weekend as a tourist. Go to a Notre Dame game. Like, go check it out. Go walk around downtown.
It's super cool. I had one of the best breakfast at the Dainty Made. Oh, I love that place. Phenomenal. The Dainty Made food hall. Yeah.
You can go with a group of people and you all get whatever you want. Bougie coffee, too. It was fire. Okay. What's your favorite destination to travel from the South Bend International Airport to? To be honest with you, last year I had three international trips.
So, um, last year it was Croatia via Rome. Uh, so I went, we flew from Southbend to Chicago, uh, Chicago to Rome, spent a couple of days in Rome and then took a lowcost European carrier over to Croatia. And, um, that was kind of a trip of a lifetime. So that's why I tell people, you know, when you you really can get anywhere that you want to go from South Bend. But my my bucket list is so big. And so that's one of the things I'm excited about becoming an empty neester is being able to travel.
Yeah. Shout out. Okay. Now, here's a question. If you work for the airport authority, do you get travel bene flight benefits? I knew that question was coming and no, we do not.
[laughter] Short end of the stick. That is the number one question that we get asked. Um, the biggest perk that I get is I get free parking. I was literally going to say I had to be [laughter] free parking, right? Yeah. And then if I'm traveling in the middle of winter and it's really cold and snowy, I can walk in in my boots, leave my boots in my office.
And if I'm going to a warm, sunny beach, I can put my sandals on and hop on the plane. So those are That's messed up. You can work for an airport and not get travel benefits. No. If we got flight benefits, I would travel nonstop. So, yeah, it' probably be pretty tough to get people to come into work.
Yeah. Yeah, it is hard when you see the planes pull up right outside your office, especially when you know we're in the middle of a snowstorm and, you know, want to get away. That's a wild one. Okay. What is the best uh travel airline snack? Like when you load up before you get on a flight, let's say you're going you're doing some distance, what are what are you shopping for at the South International Airport?
Okay, so I usually will get things that travel very well like granola bars. I always purchase a big water because that is super key is um I do have a cocktail before I get on the plane. Got to relax. Um but staying hydrated, I say between that and sanitizing your hands constantly on airplanes, that is my key and you will not get sick. Absolutely. I love that.
But things that are in like wrappers to where you don't have or you eat with like a fork and a knife. Whoever pulls up with like the tuna fish salad. Like those people are crazy to me. Uh actually talking about like um like flight hacks or whatever. I just got to fly my first airplane. Oh, cool.
With Lift Academy. Have you heard of them? Yes, I have. They do like a bunch of flight training and I was like, "Okay, I'm going on a ride along." Like cool. This is a good They called it a a discovery flight.
So I get there and they're Yeah. You ready to fly? And I'm like, "Yeah, absolutely." We get on the runway and the pilot, it's like, it's like a driver's ed car. And the pilot's like, "Okay, you ready to take this thing off?" I was like, "Sure, man."
Yeah. Yeah. All right. You're going to do it. It was crazy. Like I grabbed the joystick and he we started to like get full power and we're driving and I'm like pulling up on the joystick and it's like taking us off the ground and I was like, "This is one of the craziest things I've ever done in my life."
It was It was actually insane. Um, so that's just my recent I had to talk about that because it was a Yeah. So if this whole podcast thing doesn't work out, I'm about to come become a pilot. [laughter] So when you're not flying Mhm. I want to know best weekend trip in Indiana. We love coming down here to Indie.
Yeah, it's a it's a very boring drive, uneventful. [laughter] I wish the speed limit were a little higher. Uh, but that being said, there is so much to do down here. so many different restaurants, so many great shops. Um, have been down here so many times over the years for a variety of kids sporting events and tournaments, you know, Grand Park, all of that. Um, like even the South Bend to the north side of Indie, probably like just over two hours.
Yeah, maybe right at two. It's like right at two now with the 31 completed. Yeah. Like if you go from again from South Bend and you're staying somewhere like Karma Westfield somewhere up there, it's not that bad at all. And both ways like people from there coming down and being tourists in Indie and then people from uh people from Indie going up and spending the weekend in Southbend I can't again I cannot recommend it more. Okay, we've come to our final three questions of the show where we get to talk all things Indiana.
So, this first one, it's your opportunity to shed some light on a part of the state that more people need to be talking about. What is a hidden gem in Indiana? The airport is on the west side of South Bend, and I also live on the west side of South Bend. There is a Mexican restaurant that is in a kind of a little strip mall right off of 31. It's called El Ariero and it is authentic Mexican. They have the best I always get Mexicanstyle tacos because if you're going to get tacos, they need to be Mexican style.
Um, and then what is the secret is they have amazing homemade hot sauces, but you have to know to ask for them. Oh, so and there is one in Warsaw, too. But wait, I have I have driven past this. So, we were on we were on our way up there and we were picking up one of our buddies, Chase, and we went right by there cuz it's right by the pizza place, right? Yep. There.
Um, what is it? Um, oh, I'm spacing on the pizza place's name cuz we always go to the Mexican restaurant. Yeah. [laughter] Uh, so we were right there and he goes, "Dude, you have to check out this me Chivos." Yes, Chivos is the pizza place. Uh, we like, "You have to go to this Mexican restaurant cuz it is so fire.
It's really, really good." Oh, we supported them so much during co cuz we're like they can't close. We'll go get takeout. And um there it's just a great and I I consider it a hidden gem because it really is kind of tucked off away. You know, when I say it, most people are like, "What? What are you talking about?"
When you say Mexican restaurant in South Bed, everyone thinks about Hianda, which is great. I'm a fan of Hiendanda, but this is a that's a hidden spot. Yeah. Okay. This next question is where we source ideas for new guests and learn about other people that are doing cool things. Who's a Hooser we need to keep on our radar?
Someone who's doing big things. So, I talked a little bit about it earlier, but Visit Southbend, uh Jeff Dernaki, the executive director there. Um he is leading his team, has grown his team. We've gone through strategic planning. Um, a lot of what is happening in the area is a direct result of the efforts of that team. There's actually a big multi-day music festival coming to the fairgrounds in August.
Boots Around the Bend that was uh their brainchild that's supposed to bring uh tens of thousands of people each day to our area. So, I think um he's just been doing amazing things. Yeah, absolutely. Like I I read their annual report last year and they're just crushing like and that means you guys are all crushing you know like you're all doing it takes you know uh what does it say uh many hands make light work you know like rising in time lift all ships the whole night big cliche Southbend is on the rise and and what I love about Southbend too is it there's a ton of history like it's very interesting I could spend I literally did spend most of the day at the studio baker Museum over there like So many interesting, fascinating pieces that I absolutely love. Uh, y'all are doing great work. We have one final question for you.
Think back. You've lived in the state of Indiana now for 23 years. As you think back through summers, winters, football seasons, the whole nine yards. What is your favorite Indiana memory? Selfishly, I think I have two and they're directly tied to my job. Um, but it is very cool to have air service wins.
It's cool to have a new route, but being able to bring two new airlines to our airport, that is huge. I mean, we had three airlines when I started. So, like I said, new routes are exciting, but new airlines, there there is nothing like that when we get to do the put those celebrations on. Absolutely. And so, two two being Breeze and American. Breeze American coming to South Bend.
That's that's good stuff. And it just creates more opportunity for Hoosiers in the 574 to get to travel around more. I love it, Julie. It's been a pleasure getting to hang out, getting to learn more about the Southbend International Airport, the different ways that you're you guys are I mean, I just am fascinated by the business that is uh airports. Yeah. Like from all the different tenants and you talk about the Southshore being a tenant and you talk about the, you know, the motor coaches that are helping connect you up to Chicago, talking about the economics of taking a flight or driving up to Chicago.
Like I I just think it's so fascinating and the work y'all are doing is incredible. The best year since 1997 and 2025. Really excited to see how 2026 shakes out. Hopefully we're on track to surpass 1. 1 million. We're so far through April we're up 3.
7% year-over-year. So yeah. So if you live in South Bend, travel and travel local. Isn't that crazy? It's like shop local but for airplanes. Fly local.
Fly local but fly far away. like you can go far away but still fly local. Uh I love it. It was great getting to hang out and we'll talk to you soon. Sounds [music] good. Thanks.
This show is made possible by our friends up at Sweetwater. Whether you're looking to start a podcast or take your content to the next level, click the link in the description to see all my gear recommendations at [music] Sweetwater. If you want a behind-the-scenes look at everything we're doing across the state, make sure you follow me on Instagram and Tik [music] Tok, Nate Spangle. Thank you so much for listening and being a part of what makes the Hooer State great. We'll see you next time here on Get