" … Five million, that's roughly how many air miles Sir Ken Stevens has logged selling his baggage-handling and security systems to the world’s airports. The founder and Chairman of West Auckland-based Glidepath is the ultimate exporter, to the extent that even after four decades in business he still spends at least 100 days every year overseas. His hot tip for conquering a foreign market? “Go there,” he says.⠀ That attitude has transformed family-owned Glidepath into a world leader in its field, providing hundreds of terminals across 68 countries with the carousels, conveyors, bag drops and security systems that keep luggage moving through a modern-day airport. Recent additions to Glidepath’s resumé include a multi-phase roll-out at Santiago’s international airport (the centrepiece of which was a 1.6km conveyor), and a contract for a terminal under construction in Bermuda.⠀ It’s something of a surprise, then, that when the 70-year-old answers his cellphone he’s not in Mumbai or Capetown, but on a downtown Auckland bus. Despite the knighthood for services to export, the induction into the Hi-Tech Hall of Fame and other business honours – and notwithstanding all that flying – he has stayed grounded.⠀ Glidepath is very much in his image, a roll-up-your-sleeves pragmatist, with engineering nous. “Airlines and airports see us as the ‘get-it-done boys’,” he says."⠀ … excerpt from Matt Philp's feature on Sir Ken Stevens and Glidepath in the April 2018 edition of Kia Ora, the @airnz in-flight magazine.⠀ Photography by Adrian Malloch for Kia Ora magazine.⠀ …⠀ #airport #baggage #conveyor #carousel #baggagehandling #export #nzbusiness #business #management #portrait #strobist #locationlighting #canon #canonnz #canon6d #auckland #aucklandairport #newzealand (at Auckland Airport)