Interview with Brian Dranzik, June 5, 2020

Partial Transcript: [John]: To start Brian, just some-some background questions, uh, where and when were you born?

Segment Synopsis: Director of Milwaukee's Mitchell International Airport, Brian Dranzik, breifly comments on his early life, with the fact that he was born in Milwaukee, and has largely stayed in and around Wisconsin his whole life.

Keywords: Childhood; Education

Subjects: 1970s; Milwaukee, WI

Partial Transcript: [John]: And so being the director of, uh, the main airport in Milwaukee, um, how has your job changed during the pandemic?

Segment Synopsis: Dranzik answers the question of how COVID has affected his job and how he thinks airports will be affected going on, commenting that the scope of the job did not change as much as the focus. With activity levels going down, various adjustments had to be made regarding the budgets of various aspects of the airport, and that they were (as of the interview) going back up in terms of activity.

Keywords: Airport; Focus; Mitchell International Airport; Pandemic Response

Subjects: 2020; 2020s; COVID-19 Pandemic; Career; Milwaukee, WI; Pandemic

Partial Transcript: [John]: How has, um, the experience of passengers flying that are through Mitchell right now, how-how has that changed since the beginning of this?

Segment Synopsis: Dranzik comments on how the experience of a passenger flying through Mitchell has changed since COVID. He says availability of direct flights and service has been scaled down dramatically because of the scheduling. In terms of the actual passenger experience, he talks about how both the procedures for flying and the requirements in terms of masks have changed. Cleanliness standards have also increased, making sure that surfaces are cleaned suffieciently as to not spread the virus, as well as closing off some areas of the airport to "decrease the footprint".

Keywords: Airport; COVID; Mitchell International Airport; Pandemic Response; Passengers

Subjects: 2020; 2020s; COVID-19 Pandemic; Career

Partial Transcript: [John]: Um, so, you mention that the industry kind of, uh, caught onto this in early February. Is that your earliest memory of COVID-19? Or how-how did you first learn of COVID.

Segment Synopsis: Dranzik exaplains his first recollections of COVID-19, commenting that he had heard of something coming from China, and talked about January/February of 2020 was when the airline industry first began to see the effects of COVID on travel.

Keywords: Airport; Pandemic Response

Subjects: 2020; 2020s; COVID-19 Pandemic; Career; Pandemic

Partial Transcript: [John]: Sure, um, how has the pandemic, uh, changed your personal life?

Segment Synopsis: Dranzik talks about how COVID affects his life personally in his day-to-day, as his work remains largely the same, but he talks about virtual interaction being the new standard, calling it a "whole different way of doing business".

Keywords: Job; Pandemic Response; Personal Life; Virtual

Subjects: 2020; 2020s; COVID-19 Pandemic; Pandemic

Partial Transcript: [John]: Sure, um, this is a kind of open ended question, uh, so, what do you value most during this time?

Segment Synopsis: Dranzik talks about what he values during COVID, and he reflects on how his thought processes have changed, claiming that he has a greater appreciation for his old life that he took for granted, eagerly awaiting the time to "go back".

Keywords: Pandemic Response; Values

Subjects: 2020; 2020s; COVID-19 Pandemic; Pandemic

Partial Transcript: [John]: Um, one last question, um, being that you know, we have a museum and collections and whatnot like that, we like to ask this question just to see what people think. Um, if you had to choose one object that defines your life during COVID-19, what would it be?

Segment Synopsis: Dranzik answers the question of if one object could define his pandemic life, he chose a face covering, as it had become a staple of life at the time when it never had been before.

Keywords: COVID; Pandemic Response

Subjects: 2020; 2020s; COVID-19 Pandemic; Pandemic

Partial Transcript: [John]: Right on. um, so, the Recombobulation Area's still there right?

Segment Synopsis: Dranzik explains the story behind Mitchell's "Recomobulation Area", the area after the TSA checkpoint where passengers put things back together and collect themselves, leading to the word "recombobulate" coming in second for word of the year.

Keywords: Mitchell International Airport

Subjects: Humor