XNA looks at turning the page on airport leadership

NWA Democrat-Gazette/BEN GOFF @NWABENGOFF
A view of the main entrance on Thursday March 3, 2016 at Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport in Highfill.
NWA Democrat-Gazette/BEN GOFF @NWABENGOFF A view of the main entrance on Thursday March 3, 2016 at Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport in Highfill.

HIGHFILL -- Regional airport board members discussed Wednesday how they will replace people who run the airport when they retire.

"Terry and I are both getting older, and it is time for the next generation of airport leadership," CEO Scott Van Laningham said about Chief Financial Officer Terry Franklin.

Moving on up

A four-level parking deck with a roof will add 1,400 parking spaces at the regional airport. The cost is estimated at $30 million and the structure should be finished late this year or early 2018. The deck is being built in front of the terminal. The structure will also house car rental companies initially.

Source: Staff report

Board members agreed to hear proposals from two executive search firms next month and expect to hire one to do succession planning for the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport. They'll also look at how duties will be divvied among top management.

"What does the next generation of airport leadership need to look like?" Van Laningham said. "What are the skill sets needed? What do the compensation and benefits packages need to look like? Are there some people out there now that we don't know about?"

Van Laningham, who said he might retire late next year, said he expects a chief executive officer to be the first priority so that person can be involved in hiring the others, including a chief finance officer, a chief operations officer and possibly a chief business development officer, which would be a new position.

The regional airport has 47 employees and a 2017 budget of about $24 million.

"The other nice thing about these firms is they have the ability and the contacts to find people who might not be actively seeking a new job," VanLaningham said. "They have the ability to recruit good folks in the industry that fit into the process."

ADK Consulting & Executive Search of Atlantic Beach, Fla., and Russell Reynolds Associates, whose closest office is in Dallas, are expected to make presentations to the board Nov. 15.

On other matters, airport officials updated enplanement numbers for 2015 and 2016 after they learned an affiliate carrier for United Airlines failed to report monthly numbers beginning in late 2015, according to Kelly Johnson, airport director.

Enplanements for 2015 were adjusted from 647,530 to 649,741 and 2016 numbers were raised from 669,847 to 699,672. Johnson said measures were taken to make sure the numbers are accurately reported in the future.

Based on the corrected numbers, total enplanements for 2015 were up 1.43 percent from 2014. The increase in enplanements from 2015 to 2016 went from 3.3 percent to 8.05 percent.

United has agreed to pay the airport about $160,000 to cover the discrepancy. The airport bills the airlines based on the landing weight of the airplanes and based on the number of passengers are on those planes, according to Van Laningham.

In addition, some charges for the use of common areas in the terminal are spread among the various airlines based on their shares of the number of total passengers, he said. The under-reporting by United meant other airlines had been charged more than they should have. Those airlines will get a credit from the airport.

Johnson said XNA wasn't the only airport to encounter the problem.

Board members agreed to award about $321,000 to Wittenberg, Delony & Davidson Architects for planning and overseeing an expansion of the security checkpoint in the terminal.

The new parking deck at the airport is on schedule, according to Jeff Gattis, senior project manager with Nabholz Construction. Concrete pouring has been completed on the third level and is almost complete on the fourth level, Gattis said. The first concrete pour for the roof was underway Wednesday. Electrical and other interior and exterior work is ongoing on the lower levels.

NW News on 10/19/2017

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