Tampa airport's new EVP takes over terminal expansion planning
By Henry Queen
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Mar 22, 2024

Smitha Radhakrishnan climbed Mount Kilimanjaro despite a lifelong fear of heights.

"I love to push my limits. And I revel in that," she said in an interview weeks into the new job. "I still have a fear of heights. I'm never going to outgrow that. ... [But] every so often I'll do the whole leap and really try to face my fears on something."

Radhakrishnan recently took another leap by accepting the job at TPA — further cementing the airport's pipeline from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. CEO Joe Lopano and EVPs Damian Brooke and Chris Minner all had roles at DFW before coming to Tampa.

She will lead 233 employees across two of the airport’s departments: planning/development and maintenance. A major part of her job will be planning Airside D — TPA's first new terminal in almost two decades. The Hillsborough County Aviation Authority awarded Hensel Phelps Construction Co. the progressive design-build contract for the 16-gate terminal in May 2023.

Other major ongoing projects include expanding the security areas at Airsides A and E, new shuttle cars on Airside A and C and the new red side express curbs.

"This role is very personal [to me,]" Radhakrishnan said. "I'm an avid traveler. This role allows me to have an influence on the built environment that passengers travel in."

Radhakrishnan sat down with the Business Journal to discuss her expansive career. Responses have been edited for brevity.

Was it bittersweet leaving the Dallas airport? What were your favorite parts of your job and how will it prepare you for here? I was in Dallas for 22 years. Right out of college, my first job was in Dallas [at Balfour Beatty Construction]. I was fortunate enough that I had building blocks in my career. Before working on the owner side, I worked as a general contractor and developer. I'm an architect by undergrad, so I saw all the different vantage points. My career grew organically. Even in the private sector — before I got onto the planning side — I got to do the implementation first. It helped me see different vantage points.

What is most useful about that? When you have those strong relationships, it helps in the implementation. When you know how the other party thinks, even if it can be a contrary and conflicting vantage point, you can build strong partnerships. A lot of the players in the aviation sector are all national. So it's a strong suit that you can carry with you no matter where you go.

Why did you take this position? Even before this opportunity, I heard a lot about the Tampa airport. It has a very good reputation in the aviation industry. Joe and a part of the leadership team is from DFW. Tampa is a well-run airport. Then I came in for the interview; I got to meet the people and experience many of those things for myself. And this area really impressed me, too. I spent a part of my childhood in a small town. Tampa has a great mix: you've got the urban vibe, the beach vibe and the small town all together. That spoke to me.

What were some of the biggest challenges you faced at DFW? Construction and design are not clockwork. It's going to be fraught with the unexpected. You can plan for many things, but there's a lot you cannot. You should be nimble and keep the vision on track no matter what. On the construction side, there haven't been big productivity advancements like what you see in the manufacturing and technology industries. It's ripe for disruption. If you have to bring these bold visions to reality and not disrupt the public and make sure these constructions don't drag on forever, you have to think outside the box. One thing I was proud of leading at DFW, in many instances, was the whole modular construction component. My team was the one who did the very first modular restrooms. That parlayed into the modular parts of the terminal building. That saved over four months in construction time and a lot of money. And before the airport, I was also involved in a 3D-printed building. All these are different ways of improving productivity.

What first sparked your interest in construction? I always had an inkling for drawing. I used to be an artist. From the get-go, I always sketched by hand and pencil. My mom was a big influence. I remember our very first house in India. She doesn't have any architecture [training] but made a styrofoam model of the house she envisioned. She had carved out every piece. You could lift it up and take different parts and pieces of the puzzle and see through it. And I still vividly remember how she crafted that. Then she gave it to the architect and said, 'Hey, put this on the drawing and make it permanent.' She was gifted.

Up close

Name, title: Smitha Radhakrishnan, executive vice president, planning and development and maintenance, Tampa International AIrport

Education: Bachelor of architecture at National Institute of Technology (Tiruchirappalli, India); master of science in construction administration at the University of Oklahoma

Previous role: VP of planning at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport

Family: Husband, 14-year-old daughter, 10-year-old son

Reading: "Think Again," by Adam Grant; "The Forty Rules of Love: A Novel of Rumi." by Elif Shafak

Favorite vacation destinations: Iceland and Italy

Beach or mountains: 60% beach, 40% mountain

Favorite cuisine: Japanese and Indian