Samantha Spencer didn’t come into aviation with a family connection or a head start. While many of her classmates already knew the industry language, she was learning it in real time, asking questions, taking notes, and showing up anyway.
She didn’t even know airport operations was a career until she discovered it, pursued it, and built her path through grit, internships, and relentless curiosity.
Today, Samantha is the Operations Manager at South Bend International Airport and a standout example of the next generation of aviation leadership: prepared, calm under pressure, and confident, leading without waiting for permission. The workforce context
Airport operations is one of the most underrecognized pipelines in aviation. It is the role that keeps the ground side safe, compliant, and moving, so the sky can stay safe too.
This work lives inside an enormous U.S. system:
Those numbers are big, but they become real when you listen to Samantha describe what a normal day can include.
Leading without waiting for tenure
Samantha’s story is especially powerful for young leaders because she does not try to lead by pretending she has been in the industry for 20 years. She leads by being prepared, consistent, and willing to step in wherever needed.
She also names a reality many young professionals recognize: in airport ops, there is a saying that you “move out to move up.” She has been fortunate to grow into progressively more responsible roles at South Bend, but she is direct about the stigma young leaders face and how she responds.
Her approach is simple and strategic: build credibility through performance, through how you show up, and through the standards you protect.
The stress test that defines airport ops
South Bend becomes exponentially busy when Notre Dame hosts a home football game. Samantha says the airport can see hundreds of private jets, commercial traffic up gauging from regionals to mainliners, and overall traffic that can double or triple.
This is not just “busy.” This is a real-time leadership test. Ramp capacity. Safety. Coordination. Communication. Documentation. Decision-making under pressure.
The airport does not rise to the moment by luck. It rises to the level of its systems and the people running them.
The work itself
Samantha describes airport ops as having her hand on the heartbeat of the airport. Her responsibilities span the kind of work most people never notice until something breaks: safety inspections, compliance, badging, snow operations, incident response, and constant coordination across teams.
She gives a perfect example of what that means: airport ops might handle a fuel spill, a raccoon on the runway, a runway closure, a diversion with hundreds of unexpected passengers, and incident reporting, all before lunch.
It’s controlled chaos, made to look smooth.
Building what is missing
Samantha did not just learn the work. She built a leadership identity within it.
While in college, she completed multiple internships at different airports and supported other students as an academic success educator. She graduated with two majors and a minor, summa cum laude, then started as an operations specialist, worked her way into supervisor roles, and kept moving forward.
She also points to credibility built outside the job, including industry involvement, learning opportunities, and recognition for impact. She shares achievements she is proud of, including milestones tied to standards and performance at her airport, as well as recognition such as being named to the 40 Under 40 list.
This is the pattern: when the pathway is not obvious, young leaders build it.
What must change
If we want more leaders like Samantha, the industry has to make the pipeline clearer and more accessible.
That means:
Visibility: more people need to know that airport operations exists as a leadership track.
Early exposure: internships and hands-on opportunities that show what the work really is.
Development that matches capability: give young professionals real responsibility with real support.
A culture that values steadiness, not just seniority: because resilience is built by competence.
Moving forward
Samantha’s perspective is forward-looking because it is grounded in what airports are becoming: more complex, more dynamic, and more dependent on leaders who can communicate, coordinate, and stay calm when the pace spikes.
She ends with a line that feels like a modern leadership mantra, not only for aviation, but for life:
Be happy, be humble, and know your worth.
If you work in airport leadership, workforce development, or talent strategy, what are you building today to help young leaders grow into roles like this?
Samantha Spencer is an Operations Manager at South Bend International Airport and the featured guest this week on the AVIATE podcast.
This podcast conversation is now available on all podcast platforms. Listen now.
About AVIATE
AVIATE is hosted by me, Shaesta Waiz, the 8th woman in history to fly solo around the world in a single-engine aircraft. Along that journey, I met people everywhere who wanted to talk about the same themes that inspired this show.
AVIATE stands for Acknowledging those in our industry, Vocalizing our experiences, Inclusion, Acting on our passions, Travel, and Evolving.
Now in its eighth season and exclusively sponsored by Atlantic Aviation, AVIATE is heard in over 100 countries.
Until next time,
Shaesta