STRATEGIC CONSULTING AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
for the aviation and transportation industries
Bringing together commercial strategy, legal acumen, and stakeholder engagement.
ABOUT
BOTH SIDES OF
THE BUSINESS
NextGate Consulting, LLC is a boutique strategic advisory firm helping public and private entities navigate complexity and advance opportunities across the airport and transportation sectors.
Drawing on 28 years of experience from both sides of the business—as airport in-house counsel and as an executive with a global airport operator managing a North American portfolio—NextGate brings a unique combination of legal, commercial, operational, and stakeholder insight. Through trusted relationships and informed engagement, we help clients navigate planning, governance, contracts, compliance, and strategic opportunities—and align the right people, perspectives, and priorities to move initiatives forward.
EXPERIENCE
Courtney Thornton
NextGate’s perspective is grounded in years of aviation leadership, a track record of delivering results, and trusted relationships across the industry. Courtney Thornton has served as a C-suite advisor to executives, industry boards, and business partners; led government and external affairs initiatives supporting a $15 billion portfolio; and served as executive lead for a North American Advisory Council and key relationships with organizations including ACI, AAAE, AMAC, ARRA, and AX.
She has led high-value business pursuits and helped improve win rates across major markets including O’Hare, Colorado Springs, Los Angeles, JFK, Dulles, Salt Lake City, Boston Logan, Dallas Fort Worth, and Oakland. Her experience also includes building governance and management pipelines for more than 50 projects, developing airport landlord communication and reporting frameworks, and creating enterprise-wide models to monitor joint venture compliance.
Through leadership roles on industry boards—including AMAC, ACI-NA, and the Airport Restaurant & Retail Association—she brings both an operator’s perspective and an industry-wide view that helps clients solve complex challenges, identify and pursue opportunities, elevate their profile, and turn strategic priorities into results.
28
Years of experience on both sides of the business
$15B
Portfolio supported through government and external affairs initiatives
50+
Projects with governance and management pipelines
9
Major markets with high-value business pursuits
INDUSTRY RELATIONSHIPS
AMAC
Airport Minority Advisory Council
ACI-NA
Airports Council International – North America
AAAE
American Association of Airport Executives
ARRA
Airport Restaurant & Retail Association
OUR APPROACH
Complex environments require more than expertise, they require perspective, judgment, and the ability to move people and priorities forward.
NextGate advises aviation and transportation leaders navigating governance, compliance, procurement, commercial, and stakeholder challenges where the path forward is not always clear. We identify emerging risks and opportunities, provide independent analysis and strategic perspective, strengthen commercial and procurement strategies, support contract negotiations, and engage stakeholders critical to successful outcomes.
With experience on both sides of the business—inside the airport and alongside the businesses that serve it—NextGate brings a uniquely informed perspective to complex decisions. Our role is to create clarity, align interests, mitigate risk, and turn strategy into action—helping clients make informed decisions, capitalize on opportunity, and achieve meaningful progress.
SERVICES
How NextGate Helps
Strategic Planning & Execution
Advise on airport strategies aligned with capital development programs
Integrate concessions planning into terminal design, passenger flow, and revenue models
Support feasibility analyses, business case development, and implementation roadmaps
Stakeholder Engagement & Government Relations
Trusted advisor to leadership, public agencies, and regulatory bodies
Navigate political, community, and regulatory environments in highly governed settings
Lead consensus-building across diverse stakeholder groups
Regular communication to ensure client is meeting/exceeding client expectations
Airport Projects
Full lifecycle support: planning, procurement, leasing, development, and operations
Advise on extensions and/or RFP/RFQ creation
Retail, food and beverage and duty-free program strategy and optimization
Master planning aligned with passenger demographics and enplanement forecasts
Intentional relationships with airport authorities, operators, and local stakeholders
Legal Acumen
Review and negotiate agreements, leases
Governance support
Advise on procurement compliance, risk monitoring, and regulatory frameworks
Ensure alignment with federal, state, and local aviation and contracting requirements
Joint Venture Partnerships
Advise on joint venture models, and strategic alliances
Align stakeholders across developers, operators, brands, and airport sponsors
Facilitate innovative models and revenue-sharing frameworks
Project Management
Manage concurrent pursuits and initiatives
Develop governance model to track performance
Cross functional coordination (legal, design, operations)
Support partners in achieving measurable outcomes in revenue and passenger experience
CONTACT
Let’s Start a Conversation
For partnership opportunities, advisory engagements, or upcoming pursuits, reach out to Courtney Thornton by email or the contact form.
LET’S CONNECT